Tom Hiddleston has two 2011 releases where he’s working with directing legends, a featured player in both Woody Allen‘s “Midnight In Paris” and Steven Spielberg‘s “War Horse.” But undoubtedly, most audiences will see him as the villainous Loki in this Friday’s “Thor.” But could it be that Hiddleston will also be involved in another blockbuster a year from now?
It looks like the rumors were accurate and Loki will return in a big way in next year’s “The Avengers.” Speaking to Vulture, Hiddleston, who originally auditioned for the lead in “Thor,” essentially confirms that he will be the primary antagonist in the 2012 superhero smashfest. “Well, I think it was a plan from the get-go, but it wasn’t really dead-set until near the end of ‘Thor,'” says the thesp. “I’m really so flattered that Marvel and Joss [Whedon] think I can take them all on. In ‘Avengers,’ it’s going to be me versus seven of them, and I say ‘Good luck to them,’ frankly.”
“The Avengers” is currently shooting, but we still haven’t received confirmation as to the storyline. With what we know of the Marvel properties so far, we can assume it will take its cues from “The Ultimates” stories featuring an Avengers team that barely assembles to save the world, distracted by their own bickering, infighting and petty jealousies. Though Loki appears in “The Ultimates,” we wonder if his prominence is more in-tune with the earlier issues of the original “Avengers” comics of the sixties, where he was able to utilize magic to manipulate the Hulk for his own bidding. Though Hiddleston claims he won’t just be a one-dimensional baddie. “Let’s put it this way,” he clarifies. “He has really big, evil plans that will take more than his thunderous brother to put a stop to, but that doesn’t mean that the layers aren’t still there.”
“The Avengers,” with Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Clark Gregg, Stellan Skarsgard and Tom Hiddleston is on track for a May 4th, 2012 release.