You know you’ve made it when they offer you a “Muppets” cameo. From John Cleese to John Krasinski; Tina Fey to Ty Burrell, Kermit’s is a team worth pitching for. And the latest to get the Henson seal of approval is Tom Hiddleston, who eagle-eyed fans at the Muppets Henson blog (via Comic Book Movie) have spotted. The actor has joined the cast of the lazily-titled “The Muppets… Again!” as ‘The Great Escapo.’ For Hiddleston, it’s both a pat on the back and, let’s face it, a chance to get to play something other than Loki in a Marvel movie (which, with this year’s “Thor: The Dark World,” he’ll have done three times in three years).
The British actor, who (pre-“Avengers”) had racked up some respectable work in “The Deep Blue Sea” and “Midnight in Paris,” also commented this week on the “Avengers” sequel in an interview with BBC Radio 1. “I know that it’s happening, but I don’t know what happens in it,” adding, “Everyone at Marvel has just given Joss [Whedon] some space, some time to write it.” On reprising his role as the supervillain Loki, he remarked that there had been no indication that he should “clear his schedule,” but that none of the cast had as yet been officially signed for the 2015 follow-up.
As great as Hiddleston is in the part, the franchise could probably do with a break from Loki at this stage, so if Whedon does decide he wants Hiddleston involved, we can’t imagine it’d be as more than a cameo. In the meantime, “The Muppets…Again!” is scheduled for March 2014, but Hiddleston will be seen before that in Jim Jarmusch‘s “Only Lovers Left Alive,” and in a new film from his “Archipelago” director Joanna Hogg, both of which should be on the festival circuit before this year is out.