More hope for Loki

quu-kii:

So I went ahead and listened to the full IW spoiler podcast (not just the part directly relating to Loki) with the Russo brothers and feel like actually maybe there is hope for Loki based on what they said. One particular part, which is Joe Russo’s response to the interviewer prodding for a hint about the title for Avengers 4, caught my attention:

Joe Russo: “Everything with the fans, which is great about this
universe, is that everything is studied, everything has meaning. If you do go
back and you look at the film a second or third time, you will find lots of,
you know, tidbits and little pieces of information that have been, breadcrumbs
that have been laid for you. And titles can also be a real source of debate, and frankly
can lead you towards what the narrative is, and we’re trying to keep people
away from what that narrative is.”

Based on this segment, the Russos seem to be very aware that fans are clever and study every little detail of the movies. Additionally, the Russos have shown themselves to be very detailed and to put a lot of care into their movies in the past. For example, they went about trying to “Honest Trailer-proof” The Winter Soldier to make the script free from any plot holes. Because of this, I really don’t think they would be sloppy in dealing with something as key as the opening scene or Loki’s character and death. Details like Loki’s conspicuous disappearance from the opening scene for over three minutes, which feels so deliberate in my opinion that there is no way it is some sort of mistake or oversight, and Loki’s specific choice of words could very well be some of the meaningful breadcrumbs that Joe is talking about that point to something happening with Loki that is beyond what is shown at face value.

—

There is one more point I would like to bring up. In a recently released MCU featurette about Loki, Tom Hiddleston said the following regarding Loki’s role beyond Thor Ragnarok: “The next chapter of Loki’s journey honors what has come before, but will be surprising for the audience in terms of what they expect next.“ It is quite a vague statement, but to me it sounds more optimistic than negative. Having a few minutes of screen time at the beginning of the movie and then dying hardly feels like a chapter to me and could imply that there is more in store for Loki’s journey in Avengers 4.