Do you ever just *clenches fists* think about the fact that Thor and Loki would have actually been such great characters with contrasting character arcs
Thor’s problem is that he is arrogant. This is established in the first Thor movie. Other than that, he is also heavily dependent on Odin for proving his self worth, which is also evident in the first Thor movie (he had a breakdown when he couldn’t lift the hammer). His entire character arc should be about learning to be more humble, actions have consequences, don’t be reckless etc.
Loki, on the other hand, needs to learn to assert himself. It doesn’t seem like it, but the thing is, he’s very adamant on proving himself to be Thor’s equal, yet he is never recognised as such. In The Dark World deleted scene, he conjured up illusions of his greatest fantasies - one where he has Thor’s friends and Thor’s hammer. Think about this - to Loki, being himself is not even enough. His character arc should have been about realising that he is, in fact, enough. He doesn’t and shouldn’t have to measure his own worth by others’ standards. At least, the “assert yourself” should be a part of his character arc.
They are brothers, and their character arcs could have poetically mirrored each other - yet these aspects of their characters are either not developed at all, or suggested and then abandoned at the hands of different directors.
YES. I’ve long had an idea about them also switching positions as troublemaker/responsible brother now that Thor has matured and Loki doesn’t need to restrain Thor and himself.
Fucking hell, this so much. It’s so frustrating how Marvel completely dropped the ball on character continuity for the Thor franchise. I think part of the problem is they didn’t really know what to do with Thor and were too chicken shit to fully commit to the fantasy elements, i.e. “magic is just advanced technology and they’re not really gods”, so they ended up with all this handwavy magic science that they never bothered to explain (and totally nerfed Loki lolsob).
Anyway I feel like the characterization probably suffered because of that, and all of the rewrites and reshoots and stuff. If you have someone write a script and then start making the movie and then have someone else come in and rewrite it then yeah, it’s gonna be a hot damn mess. If you don’t let the damn director edit his own damn movie, it’s gonna be a hot damn mess. It’s probably mostly because of Hiddleston’s genuine love and commitment to his character that Loki’s narrative is as coherent as it is.
