Major spoilers for the Season 2 finale of Loki, “Glorious Purpose,” lie ahead.
Viewers were graced with a truly wacky and emotional Loki Season 2 finale last week. The fateful installment saw the titular character save his friends at the Time Variance Authority (which works in weird ways). And he also finally obtained that glorious purpose he’d long been searching for. Tom Hiddleston – the man who has brilliantly brought this character to life – recently made headlines when he said he viewed the episode as the conclusion of his journey as the character. However, he provided CinemaBlend with some clarity on those comments while addressing whether he’d be open to returning for upcoming Marvel movies or shows.
During the final moments of the finale, the former Asgardian mischief-maker managed to save all of reality by destroying the Time Loom at the TVA and revitalizing the dying timeline branches. With that, he took his place as the God of Stories at the End of Time, where he’ll now watch over all the various branches. Such a development feels like a fitting conclusion, so one can understand why Tom Hiddleston would refer to it as such. However, when I spoke to the actor, he wanted to set the record straight on that:
Well, yes, I suppose what I meant… Perhaps what I should clarify is that I feel very satisfied with the finale of Season 2, because it seems to contain echoes and resonances of the entire journey. It's almost like a piece of music, where in that last episode, you hear strains of, you know, whether it's in lines of dialogue, we are circling the same themes that I've always circled with Loki. But he's a character who is engaged with ideas of belonging, ideas of identity, ideas of purpose. That's who he was at the very foot at the beginning in the first Thor film, wondering where he belonged, which family he belonged to, wondering what his role was in all of this. Thor was destined to be king of Asgard. And who am I? Who is Loki? And I've been asking that question the whole way. Like, who does Loki think he is? Who's he think he is, and who is he really? And then through the series, in Season 1 and Season 2, I think the confrontation with Mobius and the mirror of Sylvie is another excavation, we go deeper into those ideas.
This is a very interesting take and one that is completely understandable. His sentiments on ending his journey were more based on the sheer feeling of satisfaction he feels over his character’s current position. I feel the same way, especially given the points the actor so eloquently mentioned during our conversation. The show (which is available for Disney+ subscribers) does indeed maintain the themes of identity and self-worth that have been synonymous with the antihero since his introduction in 2011’s Thor. So if this is his swan song, that’s surely one heck of a way to go out.
With that being said, there are still MCU productions on the docket that could serve as prime places for the character to return. (Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars come to mind, immediately.) Tom Hiddleston went on to tell me that he appreciates the “poetic” nature of the 2023 TV schedule entry's Season 2 finale, yet it sounds like he can’t say for sure that he won’t reprise his famous role again at some point:
So the end of this was just, it felt like a poetic redemption like the end of a piece of music, but I don't know if it's… I mean, I've made the mistake before of saying goodbye and saying goodbye to this great team at Marvel. And it's been emotional, and we swap notes and [they’re] saying, ‘Look, we'll love you. You’re always part of the family. Come see us anytime.’ And then the phone rings a year later. So I'm keeping an open heart and an open mind.
It’s definitely true that this isn’t the first time fans have been under the impression that the former Tesseract wielder has reached the end of the road. He was meant to be killed off in 2013’s Thor: The Dark World, and it seemed almost certain he was done after his death at Thanos’ hands in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. So in short, you really can’t keep a good Loki down, and I’m eager to see whether Tom Hiddleston dons those golden horns again one day.
For now, both seasons of Loki as well as all of the MCU films in which he’s appeared are available to stream on Disney+. Those looking forward to more small-screen adventures set in this continuity can find out what comes next by checking out the schedule of upcoming Marvel shows.
