What Happened To Loki Between Thor & The Avengers & Why He Changed So Much

Though the Marvel Cinematic Universe didn’t show it, a lot happened to Loki in between Thor and The Avengers. Since his first appearance in the MCU, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki has been a fan favorite Marvel antihero. Hiddleston plays the role of Loki with bravado and charisma, but he also recognizes that Loki is a broken character, projecting his pain onto others. Now, an old video reveals some insight into how he got that way.

Avengers: Infinity War presumably marked the end of Loki in the MCU. Early in the film, he was killed by Thanos, who proclaimed there would be “no more resurrections” this time. The death scene seemingly completed Loki’s redemption arc, as he sacrificed himself while trying to take down the Mad Titan. However, Thanos spoke too soon. Time travel shenanigans in Avengers: Endgame allowed a past version of Loki, the one who attacked New York in The Avengers, to reenter the MCU. This pre-redemption version of Loki will now have his story continue in his own upcoming Disney+ series, aptly titled Loki.

Loki seemingly fell to his death at the end of the first Thor movie. The entire film was a struggle for the character as he dealt with living in Thor’s shadow, learned his true Frost Giant lineage, and desperately tried to prove himself to his adoptive father, Odin. Seeing his efforts were all for naught at the end of Thor, he let himself fall into a wormhole created after the Bifrost was destroyed. When the character showed up again in The Avengers, he was changed for the worst. No longer out to win the love of Odin, he was vengeful and emotionally scarred. The Avengers didn't detail what happened to Loki after he fell into the wormhole, but now a resurfaced video is shedding some light on the situation. In a Conversations for a Cause panel from 2013 (via Nerd HQ), Hiddleston took a fan question asking him what happened to Loki during that gap of time. The actor said he and Avengers director Joss Whedon had worked out a backstory, and it gets pretty dark.

Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Tom Hiddleston as Loki in 2011 Thor Movie

According to Hiddleston, Loki basically “goes through the seventh circle of hell.” He got lost in the wrong places and met unsavory characters in the backstreets and alleyways of the universe. He was also carrying around a “reservoir of pain” from the events of the first Thor. The whole ordeal made him stronger and more dangerous. The actor said: “We kind of established that there’s this terrible, almost yearlong, journey that he goes on. Through, as it were, the jungle of the universe, and it is deeply scarring, and it hardens him. It’s kind of like the Asgardian version of Apocalypse Now.”

Hiddleston’s answer filled in the gaps of how Loki went from jealous brother trying to prove himself in Thor to the ruthless conqueror in The Avengers, hellbent on taking over the Earth. Loki was worse off after having gone through that wormhole, and now he cared even less who he hurt along the way. With this version of Loki—the hurt, hardened, vengeful version—showing up in the upcoming Disney+ series, Hiddleston’s answer gives valuable insight into what’s ahead.

The new Loki series has the chance to fill in even more gaps in the character's story. The Disney+ show will explore Loki’s adventures at the Time Variance Authority, with the character supposedly trying to fix the timeline that he helped break in Avengers: Endgame. Given that the show is all about messing with time, the series could have ample opportunity to explore the specifics about what happened to Loki between Thor and The Avengers. Though, with the family-friendly nature of Disney, it’s doubtful fans will get a full-on Asgardian Apocalypse Now.

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