Following the show’s Season 2 finale, “Loki” star Tom Hiddleston appeared on “The Tonight Show” and told Jimmy Fallon that the episode marked the end of his 14-year journey with Marvel.
Fallon had Hiddleston on as his first actor guest who could talk about one of his big projects following the SAG-AFTRA strike ending.
Hiddleston was careful not to reveal too much, telling Fallon, “If you haven’t seen it, I will not spoil it for you, but I will say this: It all comes full circle.”
“It’s the conclusion to Season 2 … It’s also the conclusion to six films, and 12 episodes, and 14 years of my life,” Hiddleston said.
Hiddleston noted that he was 29 when he was first cast as the villain, eventually turned antihero if not hero — he’s now 42.
“It’s been a journey,” Hiddleston said. “I do think, in the finale, there are echoes and resonances of every version of Loki that I’ve played.”
He pointed to the title of the finale episode, “Glorious Purpose.”
“If you remember, in the first ‘Avengers’ film, Loki comes down to Earth, looks straight at Sam Jackson as Nick Fury, and I say, ‘I’m Loki of Asgard. I’m burdened with glorious purpose,’” Hiddleston recalled. “And he’s arrogant, and he’s hubristic, and he’s entitled, and he’s puffed up, and he’s going to take over the world. And then, you know, it doesn’t go so well for him — we’ve all seen ‘Infinity War.’ Face to face with Thanos, not so glorious.”
Looking back to the beginning of “Loki” Season 1, Hiddleston praised Owen Wilson’s performance as Mobius, calling him the “best ever.”
“He basically shows Loki that the ‘glorious purpose’ was a fallacy, and [Loki] gets kind of a second chance,” Hiddleston said. “And that, I think, was the most exciting thing about this show, was seeing Loki try to rethink and rediscover that sense of purpose.”
Hiddleston pointed out the universality of that consideration.
“Which we can all relate to. You know, I think we all wonder if we’re in charge of our own story,” Hiddleston said. “Can a leopard change his spots? Do we have any free will? And in exercising your free will, you make choices in your own life — you get a black coffee or a latte or a cappuccino, that’s a choice. I mean, it’s a small choice.
“Every choice you make adds up to the picture of your life, and do those choices inform your purpose?” Hiddleston continued. “And I think all of us, as people, want happy lives, but we also want lives with a purpose. And that’s really what the show is talking about.
“In the end, it comes back to meaning and identity and family. Which is really what Loki’s always been about — it’s always been about purpose and family,” Hiddleston said.
Fallon also ran through “Loki” fan theories. While Hiddleston noted he didn’t know how much he’d be able to say, he did react. When asked if there was a secret connection between “Loki” Season 2 and “The Marvels,” Hiddleston said, “I mean, there are connections. Some secret, some not-so-secret.” But, he added, he wasn’t sure what fans believe is the secret connection.
Hiddleston also noted that his fiancée, Zawe Ashton, is in “The Marvels.”
When asked if Miss Minutes has been controlling everything all along, Hiddleston said it was “a good question, with many answers. I mean, we’re all watching out for AI, right? AI is the thing that’s coming. And as a sort of slightly borderline malevolent cartoon clock … Watch your back.”
On whether “Loki” Season 2 sets up other Marvel Cinematic Universe projects like “Deadpool 3” or “Avengers: Secret Wars,” Hiddleston played coy, dodging the question. Fallon also asked if Loki could use his time-slipping abilities to go find Tony Stark/Iron Man.
“This guy. This is investigative journalism, here,” Hiddleston said. Carefully answering, he continued, “Time-slipping, technically, gives Loki some interesting moves he can make. I suppose, yeah, he can move from past, present, future. I know that I can time-slip, I don’t know that other characters can time-slip. Speaking for myself, Loki’s died a few times, come back — ‘I’m still here.’ I don’t know that death is necessarily … I mean, death is up for grabs as an existential question. That’s all I can give you.”
The actor opened the segment talking about his experience playing each year as part of the Soccer Aid for UNICEF game, which features both former players and, as Hiddleston described himself, “keen amateurs.” The game features teams representing England and the rest of the world — and, well, the world won.
“We didn’t, sadly. The world won — that’s good for the world, we’re rooting for the world,” Hiddleston quipped along with Fallon. His opposition included the lightning-fast Usain Bolt.
But even on the soccer field, Hiddleston couldn’t escape his MCU persona.
“As I say, I’m keen, maybe not entirely skillfull, but I put in a bit of a sort of hard challenge on my opposite number. And she was like, ‘Oh, ref, you need to see that challenge,’” Hiddleston related, “And the ref was like, ‘He’s Loki. He’s using his magical powers. What can I do?’”
Both seasons of “Loki” are available for streaming now on Disney+.
