The MCU’s original version of Loki may have died a brutal death at the beginning of "Avengers: Infinity War," but his variant from the "Loki" series accessible to Disney+ subscribers is finally and truly “burdened with glorious purpose,” albeit not the one he originally envisioned for himself. Falling into the latter category of the Season 2 finale’s wacky and emotional elements, Tom Hiddleston’s character capped off the season, and possibly the show as a whole since Season 3 is up in the air, by becoming the new guardian of the Marvel multiverse. Now Hiddleston himself has shared with CinemaBlend how he really feels about this Loki’s fate.
The actor chatted with our own Erik Swann following the arrival of the "Loki" Season 2 finale, titled “Glorious Purpose,” and along with giving clarity on his comments about concluding Loki’s journey and addressing whether he’d return to the MCU, Hiddleston opened up about how that “glorious purpose” line from 2012’s "The Avengers" has defined what we’ve seen from the character for more than a decade.
The actor chatted with our own Erik Swann following the arrival of the "Loki" Season 2 finale, titled “Glorious Purpose,” and along with giving clarity on his comments about concluding Loki’s journey and addressing whether he’d return to the MCU, Hiddleston opened up about how that “glorious purpose” line from 2012’s "The Avengers" has defined what we’ve seen from the character for more than a decade.
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00:00 So I want to start with this. Years ago in the Avengers, Tony Stark told Loki,
00:05 "There's no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top."
00:10 Well, he has a throne now, but in your mind, is he on top?
00:14 Eric, can I just say no one, no one else has mentioned that or pulled that quote.
00:22 That's a deep cut and I just need to pay my respects out aloud.
00:28 Wow. Yes, he does say that. And it's really going back to something that he learns across
00:34 both seasons of this series, which is, he's always defined himself by that iconic line,
00:41 "I am Loki of Asgard and I am burdened with glorious purpose." And the lesson, this variant,
00:48 the guy who picked up the Tesseract in Avengers Endgame because Hulk took the stairs or Tony had
00:54 a cardiac arrest, is ripped out of time and reality and processed by the TVA. And through
01:00 his experiences with Mobius and with Sylvie and his relationships with them, he's given a second
01:06 chance because he's shown that his idea of a glorious purpose is fraudulent and meaningless,
01:12 that he was destined to lose to make others look good. There was no glory in it ever.
01:18 And the whole of these 12 episodes are actually about rethinking and redefining
01:23 that sense of purpose. Most purpose is more burden than glory.
01:28 And I haven't said this yet, but you just really made me think of it.
01:31 We talked a lot about this absolutely great poem or a series of poems by T.S. Eliot called
01:39 The Four Quartets, an absolutely extraordinary piece of writing. And the poem is about time
01:45 and grief and the past and making peace with the past so you can move forward
01:52 through the present and into the future. And there's a line in it which actually goes like this.
01:57 And what you thought you came for is only a shell, a husk of meaning from which the purpose breaks
02:06 only when it is fulfilled, if at all. Either you had no purpose or the purpose is beyond
02:14 the end you figured and is altered in fulfillment. And your point is like, is he on?
02:22 Is it the throne he always wanted? And is he on top? I think it's that he didn't realize,
02:28 he would never have known that the purpose he thought he had was going to come in a different
02:34 shape at a different time and from a different lens. And so I think it's a kind of surprise to him
02:42 that that is where he's supposed to be.