Though initially portrayed as a villain, Marvel’s Loki went on to become one of the most beloved characters from the franchise. A physically weak yet highly mischievous character, the so-called God of Mischief made its way into the audience’s hearts as his story unfolded with each new Marvel movie, and Tom Hiddleston made sure to portray the character in the best possible way.
But it would come as a surprise to fans that the Wallander star wasn’t the director’s initial choice for playing the second son of Odin. Instead, there was a time when comedian Jim Carrey and even renowned Oppenheimer star Josh Hartnett nearly beat Hiddleston to it and threatened his MCU debut as Loki.
Josh Hartnett Threatened Tom Hiddleston’s MCU Debut As Loki
Tom Hiddleston‘s character Loki was initially despised for his power-hungry and vengeful personality in the starting movies, with his misusing of his gift of sorcery for pranks and fooling around adding fuel to the fire. However, as his story unfolded with the later movies along with his true personality, fans couldn’t help but fall in love with the character.
While Hiddleston did an exceptional job in playing the Prince of Lies, it would come as a shock to most fans to find out that he was not the first choice for the part. According to the reports circulating at the time, Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer co-star Josh Hartnett too was in talks of playing the mischievous character.
Back when the first Thor movie was still in production, rumors had it that Hartnett had meetings with the director of Thor, Kenneth Branagh, and that he was apparently one of the few shortlisted to play Loki. Although this was a very different style of character for the Oppenheimer star, fans were interested to see how he would play it.
But the chance never came, for Tom Hiddleston managed to steal the role from Josh Hartnett somehow and thus made his debut in the now-multi-billionaire franchise, that would last for several years in the coming.
Also Read: Who is Victor Timely – Kang the Conqueror’s Variant Explained in Loki Season 2 Trailer
Jim Carrey Was Also A Contender For Playing MCU’s Beloved Character Loki
Another surprising choice for Loki was none other than the comedian Jim Carrey. As per reports, Marvel wanted to have as much star power as possible as it was still starting small, and thus saw the A Series of Unfortunate Events actor as the perfect contender for playing the Prince of Lies.
But while he was another one of the shortlisted actors for the part, Carrey seemed to have other plans for himself. Bailing out on the role and declining the offer, the comedian claimed that the role and the story just weren’t up to his niche, thus inducing ‘creative differences’.
And despite Carrey’s renowned portrayal of exaggerated comic book bad guys, his overall vibe didn’t quite fit in with the Prince of Lies. So out went this shortlisted contender as well, and the movie ended up being handed to the best candidate to date, who played the role so fine that it went on to get even his own personal TV show being produced and becoming a fan-favorite.
Source: ScreenRant
