Warning: This post contains spoilers for Loki Episode 5
Loki star, Tom Hiddleston, has revealed that the proclaimed God of Mischief's skills with sharp weapons came about completely by accident. Marvel's mercurial demigod has long favored bringing knives to a gunfight, stretching all the way back to his first appearance in the MCU with 2011's Thor. While the character's sharp skills just weren't fast enough to help him escape a grim death at the hands of Thanos in 2018's Avengers Infinity War, Loki has since been revived in an eponymous Disney+ series, gleefully embracing his weapons of choice once more. Old habits, like Marvel characters, clearly die hard.
While Loki's brandished a gleaming sceptre and his trademark sorcery, the Asgardian anti-hero has proven time and time again that daggers are a worthy choice against all manner of adversaries. From backstabbing Dark Elves in Thor: The Dark World to his iconic knife-flip slaying hordes of the undead in Thor: Ragnarok, he's more than capable with a blade. The rigorous training the MCU requires of its stars is well-documented 13 years in; not only must its characters be in impeccable physical condition, but they must also train with all types of uncanny weaponry.
In a recent interview with EW, Hiddleston shed some light on just where Loki's affinity for knives, and his apparent acrobatic skills, come from. In episode 5 of Loki, "Journey Into Mystery," the trickster god is confronted by a cabal of otherworldly 'variants,' one of whom, Richard E. Grant's Classic Loki, scoffs at the original's use of daggers when he can wield magic. Before detailing why he loves using them so much, Hiddleston said that the impressive knife flip and catch from Thor: Ragnarok actually happened unintentionally. He shared a story from the set of Thor: Ragnarok and explained that he caught the knives by chance. Read Hiddleston's full quote below:
So there's a big sequence on the bridge at the end of the film, and we all had these sequences of choreography while Chris and Cate Blanchett were fighting together, and myself and Idris and Taika [Waititi, the director] had all these pieces we had to do with the fantastic stunt department in their motion-capture suits.
And we were doing that run, it was an afternoon, and it was myself and Idris and maybe Taika. I can't remember. Definitely, Idris was there, and it was a two-shot of us fighting these fantastic athletes that are the stunt guys. And I ran out of choreography. Basically, I think I finished my moves before Idris, and he was still rolling, and I didn't want to just be standing there like a lemon, not doing anything interesting. So I just flipped the knives, and caught them by chance."
Idris laughed about it. We watched it back. He was [like], 'Oh, god, he's gone and done a knife flip at the end of it.' Because he was finishing his fight moves. But, yeah, it ended up staying. I've since tried to do it. Every time I try to do it with wooden spoons, it never works, and I always drop one. So it was one of those things, but lightning never strikes twice.
Marvel movies are occasionally scored for their considerable scale, yet it's clear that so many disparate elements – and actors – assembling can often lead to a lot of happy accidents. Hiddleston seems to have been lured to Loki by he and Branagh's mutual love of the stage; Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok, however, was lauded for its comparatively gonzo tone. It may surprise some fans that it was potentially Branagh's advice regarding the Asgardian's action scenes – and not his successor – that led to one of the character's standout scenes, one that made it into so many promotional materials for the movie.
While in the comics, the God of Mischief has used every trick in the book, knives have never been as synonymous as they are right now with Loki. It's only natural that the on-screen incarnation of the demigod would fall back on them, given that so many of his powers were recently stripped away by the bureaucratic Time Variance Authority. Considering how mercurial the many versions of the Loki are proving to be, longtime MCU fans should be heartened to know that, even after a decade playing the demigod, Hiddleston acknowledges that a bit of improvised mischief on set really can lead to movie – or TV – magic.
Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.
Source: EW
