Loki’s Infinity War Death Was The First Scene Written

The very first scene written for Avengers: Infinity War was Loki’s death. Following a few years of running from Thanos after he failed to invade New York in The Avengers, the God of Mischief’s past finally caught up to him in the 2018 Joe and Anthony Russo film as he came face-to-face with the Mad Titan.

Marvel Studios had been teasing the existence of Thanos in the MCU since Phase 1 with the villain’s first appearance in 2012’s The Avengers where it was revealed that he backed up Loki’s attempt to take over Earth. It was also when it became clear that the franchise was building towards the Infinity Saga as an overall narrative with two Infinity Stones — the Tesseract/Space Stone and Scepter/Mind Stone playing major roles in the movie. But the villain’s proper debut wouldn’t be until Infinity War and in an effort to establish him as a worthy adversary to the Avengers, the Russos needed his initial introduction to have a lasting impact in the universe. And what better way to do that than have him kill one of the most beloved characters in the franchise in Loki.

Coming from his team-up with the God of Thunder in Thor: Ragnarok, it seemed like the God of Mischief was finally on his way to redemption when his death took place at the beginning of Infinity War. Tom Hiddleston told Empire (via Digital Spy) that Loki’s demise was actually the first idea that the Russos came up for Infinity War and he was informed about it before he even began work on the Taika Waititi-directed movie.

“It was the very first scene the Russos, Joe and Anthony, had [come up with].

They told me about it in person when I went in to meet [Marvel Studios president] Kevin [Feige] and he was walking me through the loose sketch of the story for Thor: Ragnarok. This was May 2016.

So I knew, before I started Ragnarok, the endgame… no pun intended. Then it came time, three days in 2017 in the spring – I went out to Atlanta, and there was such a generous atmosphere from people on set. Some I’d known since the early days.

I remember meeting him, actually, when I landed, before we started filming. He just enveloped me in a big hug and said, ‘I’m sorry, man’. It was a big day, and a big moment.”

The timeline checks out as the Infinity War directors and writers, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely starting work on cracking the film’s story just around the time of Captain America: Civil War‘s release. Admittedly, having Loki killed at the beginning of the 2018 film, coupled with Thanos quickly taking down Hulk, effectively set the tone for the blockbuster. It proved that Thanos was unlike any other villain that the MCU had seen before. In conjunction, it also set Thor on a revenge quest that ultimately failed after a brief lapse in judgment. In his final moments, however, it’s hinted that Loki had finally reformed himself, maybe not fully, but the fact that he didn’t betray his brother and the Asgardians to save himself backed this up.

While Marvel Studios killed Loki in the prime MCU timeline via Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame‘s time heist, and the upcoming exploration of the multiverse allowed them to continue using the character. Hiddleston will star in his own Disney+ series, Loki, which is set to premiere in June 2021. This alternate timeline version of the character is pre-redemption, however, and perhaps maybe at his peak villainy since he’s just lost in The Avengers. But as with his prime counterpart, expect some kind of vindication waiting for the character in the show.

Source: Empire (via Digital Spy)

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