Loki Season 2 Interview: Tom Hiddleston Reflects On Loki’s 14 Year Arc & Relationship With Thor

The second season of Loki seems to bring the Asgardian’s arc within the MCU to a close. After spending the entire season trying to save his friends and the timeline from the multiverse war that He Who Remains warned him about, Loki finds an unexpected solution in a selfless act that shows how much he has grown. Saving the TVA and not only the sacred timelines, but the other timelines as well. Loki is now holding the position of power that He Who Remains once did. The question remains whether this is the finale of Loki’s story or if his new powers will come into play as the Multiverse Saga continues.

Loki season 2 is led by MCU veteran Tom Hiddleston, who is joined by returning cast members Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino, Jonathan Majors, Wunmi Mosaku, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tara Strong, and Eugene Cordero. Ke Huy Quan joined the cast for the second season. Directing team Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead and head writer Eric Martin helmed the second season of Loki.

Screen Rant interviewed Tom Hiddleston about the finale of Loki season 2. He reflected on how far Loki has come from when he was introduced in Thor, and whether Thor would recognize this version of him. Hiddleston also explained why Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot was a major inspiration for him and the Loki series as a whole.

Tom Hiddleston On Loki Season 2

Screen Rant: Tom Hiddleston, yo. Loki season two was off the chain, by far the best Disney+ content on that channel. I loved it.

Tom Hiddleston: Thank you.

Of course, of course. This series sees Loki at his most vulnerable, facing hard truths about his character and finding his family and friends. I wanted to know, was there any particular book or music or research material that you found helpful conveying some of these themes throughout the season?

Tom Hiddleston: Well, yes, there was, actually. I mean, we were drawing on so much of the last 14 years of my life as Loki and all those movies and all the work of those directors and those writers. Actually, it’s important to say that. The screenwriter of those films, from Don Payne who wrote the first Thor movie, all the way up to Michael Waldron, who wrote season one and Eric Martin who wrote season two.

But something I talked very early on to Eric Martin about, and Kevin Wright, our producer, was the Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot, which is, I think, one of the most extraordinary pieces of writing in English literature about… Well, it’s just an extraordinary piece of writing in its own right, but it happens to be about time and reality and the past and confronting the past in order to live in the present and move into the future and his ideas of meaning and purpose. And Eliot wrote it in the wake of the Second World War, I think as a way to try and make sense of that collective suffering.

But it’s very abstract and so obviously the historical context is interesting if that’s where your curiosity lies. But it’s so abstract that it’s really how you choose to interpret it because I think it’s very profound and there are lines in it which became almost riffs that we would quote in development. The first four lines, I think, read time present and time past are both perhaps present in time future and time future contained in time past. In episode one, Loki’s time-slipping between the past and the present and future.

But in Little Gidding, which is the fourth quartet, there’s a passage which reads like this. “And what you thought you came for is only a shell, a husk of meaning, from which the purpose breaks only when it is fulfilled, if at all. Either you had no purpose or the purpose is beyond the end you figured and is altered in fulfillment.” And there is this passage about purpose which seemed to resonate with me as regards to Loki, this character, who came down to Earth in Avengers and says to Nick Fury, “I’m Loki of Asgard and I am burdened with glorious purpose.” And it seemed to be a jumping-off point or a diving board for a conversation that we all had.

Eric Martin, the head writer, Kevin Wright, our executive producer, Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Dan DeLeeuw, and Kasra Farahani, our directors, we were all thinking, “Okay, purpose. What does that mean?” Especially if your purpose is revealed to you in a shape you didn’t recognize. And I think every character is wrestling with their sense of purpose. Mobius, Sylvie, B-15, Casey, O.B. Are we in charge of our own story? Are we in control of where we’re going? How do we make peace with where we’ve been? So, it just became a very fruitful and fascinating conversation after that, that I hope those themes are resonant for the audience as they watch it.

They absolutely are. Actually, I want to piggyback off of that a little bit because in Loki season two, I feel like the character really comes around full circle. In the first Avengers film, he says, “To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power, and for what? A warm light for all mankind to share.” Has Loki become that warm light for all mankind to share by the end of season two?

Tom Hiddleston: That is a deep cut, Joseph and I salute you. It’s an amazing line. I remember saying it too. I do think that is the strength of the writing of Loki’s arc, and I am so grateful to everyone who has been stewarding the story in that direction. Kate Herron, Michael Waldron, all of our directors who I’ve mentioned, and writers, because I think the Loki who says that in Avengers is defensive. Yes, on the exterior, he’s charming and he seems in control and he’s playful and he’s mischievous, almost provocative, but I think he’s alone and he’s incapable of trust and he’s almost dismissive of the idea of human connection. He’s alone and he wants to be. I think at the end of season two, he is completely redefined what his sense of belonging is, what his purpose is, and he’s come a long way from that place.

Screen Rant is celebrating its 20th anniversary in just a couple days. Can we get you to wish Screen Rant a happy birthday?

Tom Hiddleston: Screen Rant, happy birthday, 20 years old. My goodness. Time flies. They say time works differently in the TVA, but not here on Earth where Screen Rant is 20. I loved being 20 years old. It was a very long time ago, but I had a really good time. So, Screen Rant, I hope you have a big party, full of lots of joy, and I hope you get a piece of cake. Happy birthday Screen Rant. We’re grateful to have you with us, and thank you for talking to me on your 20th birthday.

Look, Tom, you are incredible. This series is incredible. The last question I have for you is, do you think Thor would recognize Loki at this point in his life now?

Tom Hiddleston: It’s a really good question. I think they would be very surprised by each other. In some ways, Thor and Loki have never been further apart, but they’re also closer together. They’ve been through so much. They’ve been confronted by so much. They’ve had to endure so much and suffer so much. But it’s curious, isn’t it? It’s curious if people change, if people move on, if they’re brave enough to make peace with the past and acknowledge their mistakes and missteps, sometimes those closest to you find it hardest to accept that you’re different, that they cling to older versions of you somehow. It would definitely be an interesting conversation.

About Loki Season 2

Along with Mobius, Hunter B-15 and a team of new and returning characters, Loki navigates an ever-expanding and increasingly dangerous multiverse in search of Sylvie, Judge Renslayer, Miss Minutes and the truth of what it means to possess free will and glorious purpose.

Check out our other Loki season 2 interviews:

• Kevin Wright
• Christine Wada
• Dan DeLeeuw
• Kasra Farahani
• Eric Martin