Tom Hiddleston Reflects on Marvel’s Decision to Reveal Loki is Bisexual

Tom Hiddleston shares that Loki coming out as bisexual was very important to him and to the entire team behind Loki. Hiddleston has been playing Loki since 2011, when he was first introduced to the MCU in Thor as the titular hero’s adoptive brother and archenemy. Since then, he has appeared in six MCU movies, and in 2021, he starred in season 1 of his spinoff Disney+ show. Fans had long hoped that Loki would officially come out in one of the movies or shows he appears in. His character is based on a god from Norse mythology who has a fluid gender and sexuality, and Loki is written as queer in some of the Marvel comics.

Loki finally confirmed his sexuality in episode 3 of his self-titled show, during a conversation Loki has with Sylvie, a female variant of himself. As they discuss their love lives, Sylvie asks, “How about you? You’re a prince. Must’ve been would-be-princesses or, perhaps, another prince.” Loki then replies, “A bit of both. I suspect the same as you.” This conversation cemented Loki as the MCU’s first queer lead character.

While that episode aired last year, Hiddleston shares in a recent interview with The Guardian that he hopes Loki’s coming out was as meaningful to fans as it was to him and the creators of the show. While his statement is celebratory, he also acknowledges that it was a small step, as Marvel has a very long way to go in terms of writing queer characters. Hiddleston admits that the Loki coming out scene was so short, people could have easily missed it. Check out his full quote, below: 

I…hope Loki coming out as bisexual was meaningful to people who spotted it. It was a small step, and there’s further to go. But it was definitely important to all of us.

After the episode in which Loki came out was aired, fans and creators of the show alike celebrated the MCU’s first queer protagonist. Loki director Kate Herron tweeted shortly after the episode came out that it was important to her, as bisexual herself, to share Loki’s sexuality. However, some fans were also disappointed in Loki‘s queer representation, as the show doesn’t dig deeper into either characters’ gender or sexuality beyond that one, two-sentence snippet. They felt that, after ten years of blatantly ignoring this important aspect of Loki’s character, one short conversation wasn’t enough to undo a decade’s worth of disappointment.

Despite the small steps forward made in Loki, Marvel creators have continued the pattern of turning characters who are queer in the comics into watered-down versions of themselves in the movies and shows. Most recently, many fans were disappointed in the portrayal of America Chavez in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In the comics, America is a lesbian who has two moms, but her sexuality is never mentioned in the movie, and there’s only a very brief scene in which viewers see her parents. Herron has stated she wants to explore Loki’s bisexuality in Loki season 2, but it’s unclear whether studio executives will approve that decision.