Every Time Loki “Died” In The MCU

WARNING: The following contains SPOILERS for Loki, episode 4, “The Nexus Event.”

The titular star of Loki has had more onscreen “deaths” — whether real or fake — than any other character in the MCU. When it comes to cheating death and returning in a future film or series, Marvel’s reigning champ is undoubtedly the devious Loki. From falling into bottomless voids to literally being murdered by Thanos, it seems there’s very little in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that can keep Loki down for long.

First introduced to audiences back in 2011’s Thor, Loki (played with charismatic charm by Tom Hiddleston) is the half-brother of Thor and the adopted son of the great Asgardian king, Odin. Since first causing trouble for Thor and Asgard in the original film, Loki, the God of Mischief, has gone on quite the whirlwind adventure through the overarching story of the MCU. The character has appeared in no fewer than six films in the franchise, as well as headlined his own original show on Disney+. Throughout all of his adventures, Loki has transformed from a power-hungry antagonist into a more sympathetic anti-hero. However, he’s never lost his quick wit, trickster ways, or his self-serving attitude.

In addition to his penchant for smarmy sarcasm and his ongoing quest to become comfortable with his past and identity, Loki’s defining trait in the MCU seems to be his stubborn refusal to stay dead. To date, Loki has died — or at least appeared to have died — no fewer than four times in the MCU. Here’s a look at every time the fan-favorite character avoided death.

Falling into the Abyss – Thor

The first of Loki’s many onscreen “deaths” comes at the finale of the original Thor. As an introductory movie for both Thor and Loki, the film reveals plenty of history for the characters. One of the most important pieces of this history is the revelation that Loki is not, in fact, Asgardian. He’s actually a Frost Giant, and was rescued as an infant by Odin. This is a fact that Loki discovers for the first time during the events of the film, and the reveal only further drives him into the darkness of his own soul. Forever in the shadow of his powerful brother, Loki feels both alone and deceived.

Understandably in a dark place, Loki orchestrates a way to destroy the Frost Giants once and for all. Unfortunately for Loki, his efforts prove to be in vain when Thor destroys the Bifrost. In the resulting explosion, Loki falls from the destroyed bridge and is caught by Odin before he can fall into the Abyss. But instead of pulling himself up, Loki lets go and allows himself to be pulled into oblivion. Thor and his family mourn Loki, believing him to be dead. However, the nefarious trickster not only survives but finds a new ally in Thanos. This, of course, leads directly into the world-changing events of 2012’s The Avengers, in which Loki serves as the chief villain.

Being Killed by Kurse – Thor: The Dark World

Loki’s next death was originally intended to be a permanent one. Following the events of The Avengers, Loki is returned to Asgard and imprisoned for his role in the invasion of Earth. If not for the discovery of the Aether and the invasion of Asgard by Malekith and the Dark Elves during Thor: The Dark World (2013), it’s possible that Loki could’ve stayed locked up for years or centuries. However, the theft of Jane Foster, whose body contains the Aether, prompts Thor to free Loki and set out on a quest to chase down Malekith. During a dramatic fight against Malekith and his minion, Kurse, Loki jumps in the way of an attack on Thor and is fatally stabbed. Thor can do nothing as his brother expires in his arms.

Of course, this death doesn’t stick, and in the film’s post-credits scene, Loki is discovered to not only be alive but impersonating Odin, making him the ruler of Asgard. The decision to include this scene came late in the production of Thor: The Dark World; as originally shot, Loki’s death was real and not staged. However, negative audience reactions from test screenings prompted a last-minute change to the ending, and Loki was allowed to cheat death once again and play a big part in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok.

Choked by Thanos – Avengers: Infinity War

After four films of outrunning death and defying the odds, fate finally caught up with Loki during the brutal opening sequence of 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. The beginning of the film sees Thanos and his followers massacre the surviving Asgardians until only Thor and Loki are left alive. Loki, hoping to lull Thanos into a false sense of security, pledges his loyalties to the murderous titan once again. Of course, Loki’s true intent is to kill Thanos, but the ruse doesn’t work. Thanos grasps poor Loki around the neck and literally crushes the life right out of him as Thor helplessly looks on. As Thanos drops Loki’s lifeless corpse on the ground, he makes it clear that Loki won’t be coming back when he says, “No resurrections this time.” The scene is easily one of Infinity War‘s most tragic deaths, but while the Loki that Thanos murders stays dead, his statement only ends up being partially true.

Being Pruned – Loki

Even after being definitively killed by Thanos, Loki still refused to stay dead. In 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, the elaborate Time Heist organized by the present-day Avengers results in a slight temporal hiccup when the 2012 Loki — still fresh from his defeat during the invasion of New York — ends up with the Tesseract and teleports away from his captors. Of course, this Loki ends up running afoul of the Time Variance Authority, or TVA, and is the version of the character seen in the Disney+ streaming series Loki. In episode 4 of the series, Loki ends up on the receiving end of a process the TVA calls “pruning.” Essentially, when a person or timeline is pruned, it is supposedly removed entirely from reality, and the climax of episode 4 shows Loki falling victim to this fate. However, a post-credit sequence seems to indicate that when someone is pruned, they don’t vanish completely from reality, but end up going somewhere else. When Loki awakens, he finds himself surrounded by alternate reality variants of himself. Whatever fate the Loki series might still hold for its titular character, one thing is for certain: no matter how final the circumstances might seem, it’s impossible to keep a good trickster god down.

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.

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