How Tom Hiddleston Found Loki’s Humanity On Screen
Tom Hiddleston opens up about shaping Loki, revealing the surprising film performance that guided his approach and the legacy it left on superhero cinema.
Few actors have become as closely associated with a single character as Tom Hiddleston has with Loki. Since his first appearance as the Norse mischief-maker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hiddleston has made the role his own, popping up in seven films, two seasons of his own series, and even a couple of Simpsons promos for Disney Plus. Not a bad run by any measure.
In a 2024 chat with Backstage, the bloke from The Night Manager looked back at his earliest days as Loki, starting with his debut in Thor, the third film in the then-fledgling MCU. Hiddleston had a bit of a leg up on the competition, having already worked with director Kenneth Branagh, who was at the helm for Thor. Still, he knew he had to tread carefully when bringing such a well-known comic book figure to life for the first time.
He remembered,
“I remember thinking, ‘This is almost Shakespearean, this language’,”
and wondered,
“What’s the best example I can [look to] of an actor who managed to humanise and make real this elevated world of myth?”
Alongside the mythic roots of Loki in both Norse legend and Marvel’s pages, Hiddleston drew inspiration from a range of sources, including the legendary Peter O’Toole, especially his turn in The Lion in Winter.
Finding Inspiration in Superhero History
But when it came to grounding a larger-than-life character in something real, there was one performance that stood out above the rest for Hiddleston: Christopher Reeve’s Superman from 1978. He said,
“He’s masterful in that film. In a way, it’s a similar premise: He’s a god or he’s a being from a different realm, and it’s not naturalistic in the way that we might expect. He does it so truthfully, and it’s so clear and clean and open and honest. I thought, ‘If I can even approximate or get close to the kind of clarity that Christopher Reeve had in those films, I’ll be lucky’.”
Reeve’s take on Superman set a standard that’s been tough to match. His mix of charm and sincerity made the character believable, even when the storylines got a bit out there. Every actor who’s donned the cape since has, in some way, followed the path Reeve laid down. Without his easygoing appeal and knack for making the impossible seem relatable, the original films—and maybe the whole superhero genre—might not have taken off the way they did.
The Lasting Impact of Iconic Roles
Even after Reeve’s passing in 2004, his influence lingers. His son Will is set to appear in James Gunn’s 2025 reboot of the ‘Man of Steel’, a nod to his dad’s legacy. Hiddleston, for his part, took what he could from Reeve’s approach, and it’s paid off—both actors are now forever linked to their alter egos, for better or worse, and both played a big part in the success of their respective franchises.
As with Brandon Routh, who stepped into Superman’s boots after Reeve, you’ve got to feel for whoever eventually takes over from Hiddleston when he finally puts down Loki’s sceptre. Those are some mighty big shoes to fill, and the shadow cast by such memorable performances is a long one.