Last November, Idris Elba got our hopes up. Idris dropped some major gossip during the course of an interview, revealing that he and Tom Hiddleston had shot some scenes for The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Until that point, most people believed that Hiddleston’s Loki would not be making any kind of appearance in Ultron, villainous or otherwise. But Idris led people to believe that he and Hiddles agreed to do some kind of cameo in Ultron, just for fun and to further the story. The Daily Mail even claimed that Hiddleston had to film some EXTRA scenes at the very last minute last November/December. But as more and more critics (and now regular people) saw the film, many wondered: where was Hiddleston again? Apparently, Loki was nowhere to be found. MTV’s Josh Horowitz asked Joss Whedon about Loki’s absence directly, and Whedon admits that they shot some scenes with Hiddleston but they had to cut them.
There was no trace of Tom Hiddleston anywhere in the anticipated sequel, as signaled last year by fellow heartthrob Idris Elba, who proves yet again how much of a heartbreaker he is.
“Tom is not in the movie. Idris [Elba] misspoke…twice,” director Joss Whedon told MTV News in a video interview posted on Friday. “We did shoot something and it didn’t play…the movie has so much, is so filled and we didn’t want to feel overstuffed. And I really wanted to have Loki in it but I understood the decision…that it was just like, ‘OK, now there are too many voices in the chorus.'”
Elba, who plays Heimdall in the Thor films, had told the U.K. newspaper The Telegraph in November that he had filmed a scene for The Avengers: Age of Ultron with Hiddleston, who reprised his Thor and Avengers role as Loki, and Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor, a key cast member.
Heimdall did make it into The Avengers: Age of Ultron. You can, however, expect to see Loki in the 2017 movie Thor: Ragnarok, the third film in that franchise.
My thought – and this probably makes no sense because at the end of the day, I couldn’t care less about Marvel, DC or any comic book adaptation – is that the Avengers pulled together to Mean Girl poor Tom Hiddleston because Tommy is easily the most popular actor in the franchise. Too far? Probably. After all, more people know RDJ’s name and Sam Jackson’s name and they know Chunk-Butt Evans as “that Captain America dude.” It’s silly to think that Hiddleston somehow would have more name-recognition or popularity than the rest of those guys. But still… I always get the feeling that Loki as a character is the most popular with the real Marvel nerds. And Tom has always been game to have fun with that. So, was this Mean Girling? Or was Whedon correct in saying that it was just too much of a good thing? The thing is… watch the video and it seems like it wasn’t Whedon’s call. If he had his way, he would have left Loki in.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
It sounds Iike it wasn’t his call, but it doesn’t sound like mean-girling either. From what I saw, putting Loki in might have given too much away about their plans for Ragnarok. Don’t forget, the movies don’t stick exclusively to comic book canon.
But I so wanted MOAR LOKI!! I even wore my Loki shirt to the movie. Because that’s how this nerdgirl rolls. And because it’s the only Avengers apparel I have/wanted. 😀
I agree it would have given away too much of the future films, which aren’t even fully written yet. As I said below, Thor thinks Loki is dead and the others probably do too.
I don’t think it was either. It sounds like a purely editorial decision.
I do think Loki is the most interesting one, along with Natasha and Bruce. Stark’s an a-hole and the others are so painfully boring. I haven’t seen Age of Ultron so I can’t comment on the new people.
And Tom is easily the most interesting person to watch in interviews, along with Spader and Bettany.
Second that – no one supplies quite the wit and irony of the Loki-tron. The film sorely needed Loki’s leavening.
I can’t tell him from Fassy sometimes.
Yep, Loki is the most popular character in this franchise, most people would agree.
The others are just meh.
Loki is fun to watch basically.
But I think he got pulled because Idris let the cat out of the bag and he shouldn’t have, and now it was no longer a surprise.
Or they did it on purpose to draw more people in who were left disappointed then.
Loki is more popular with the fangirls. He’s not the biggest draw or the most popular in the franchise. If that was the case the Thor franchise would have made so much more. There was no need for Loki to be in Ultron, no reason at all.
I agree on both counts. Ironman is the biggest draw (regardless of what is written about him here, most fans don’t pay attention to his interviews), Loki had no reason to be in this film and it was enjoyable with the overstuffed cast as it was.
You’re right, Ironman is the biggest draw overall, objectively.
If Loki’s the most popular character in the franchise, why is RDJ the highest paid actor on the planet?
Joss Whedon’s original cut of the movie was 3 1/2 hours. They had to cut a LOT out. As Loki isn’t an Avenger, it’s pretty easy to see why his scenes were cut.
I would have loved to see Loki in it but the movie is long and has a ton of stuff and people to track in it, even adding new characters in the last half hour, so it makes sense from that point of view not to add Loki, who would have changed the dynamic somewhat. Thor and the other Avengers believe that Loki is dead. Most of them still think Coulson is dead too. So, bringing in Loki would have taken them off on a tangent about how he isn’t dead and Thor probably would have had to leave to go deal with Loki.
Tom is definitely missed on the PR tour but Spader didn’t do much PR either, so maybe they’re zoning out the villains on this round.
Did Spader do any PR? And would he have to if he is just a voice?
No, but he may have been filming Blacklist. I saw this NYT article last week, which was lovely:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/movies/james-spader-prepares-for-avengers-age-of-ultron.html?_r=0
Ah, I was thinking he might be filming his show. Makes sense.
Spader did a brief interview on Kelly and Michael. He was great! He was explaining how they shot scenes with his character and the special effects they used, it was a great interview but I love Spader so that helped.
I think Joss is being honest here. There are so many characters running around in Ultron, why bother with Loki? He’s a big gun. Save him for Thor 3.
I agree. Loki is a bigger character than Peggy, Falcon, Rhodey, and Heimdall. But, he’s not as big as Ironman, Thor, Captain, America, Hulk, Black Widow, etc. Save him for when it counts.
From a comic book perspective, Loki in an Ultron storyline does not make any sense.
True, and I totally understand why he wasn’t in it, but the movie suffered a little bit for it.
I highly doubt the movie suffered from the lack of Loki. He’s not an Avenger (not yet anyways).
Absolutely correct, rrabbit! Why waste our time with Loki in Ultron?
*potential spoiler* I don’t know the comic books well but I felt the scene in which people believed he would have been was far more effective with just Heimdall. We know Loki is Thor’s Achilles heel, having Heimdall be the messenger made the scene much more about the message.
Unless that isn’t where Loki would have appeared in which case, please disregard me entirely.
I think saying he got mean girled out is being way over dramatic. Most of Thor’s sub plot got cut, there was no need to have Loki. It wouldn’t have furthered the story. If they left in more of Thor’s scenes I would understand a Loki scene or two, but it would’ve been unnecessary in the film’s final cut.
It would have been a distraction because everyone thinks Loki is dead and it would have drawn them all off on a different tangent.
But he could have appeared in the end, like Benicio Del Toro
True, but I think they want Thanos to be the big reveal at he end of each Avengers film as a lead in to the Infinity Wars.
@ A. Key – tbh I would’ve rather had a post credit snippet of Bucky than Loki.
Right? Especially since a snippet of Bucky would be setting up the next film.
They cut most of Thor’s storyline…which I thought was a mistake, since his part made a lot less sense, and what he saw was pretty integral to the plot and the next few movies.
I don’t know that I buy Whedon’s “I wanted Loki in the movie” thing, though. He’s made it clear in the past that he doesn’t care for the character at all. They couldn’t have left just a flash of Loki there? I mean, Thor could have caught a glimpse of him somewhere in the background, and that wouldn’t have added any time to the movie–and it would have pleased the fans.
Yeah, I expected Loki to appear for 30sec in the end credits really, not in the film per se.
Yep. I practically had to be thrown out I waited so long for a glimpse after the film….
That’s what I was expecting.
@Samtha I’m with you, I think Whedon doesn’t like Loki/Hiddles. So if there’s no Loki at all and Thor’s part got cut drastically, should I even bother to see the movie in theaters or wait til it comes out on DVD so I can get the extras?
Whedon has never expressed dislike for Loki and he has expressed nothing but admiration for Tom and his acting skills. Why bother going to see Coriolanus if he didn’t like him?
Yeah, where has Whedon expressed anything but praise for Loki? The movie didn’t suffer for lack of Loki, it was trying to do too much in 2.5 hours. It was overstuffed before film was edited and less so when it was finished. Saving the add’l footage for the extended release will guarantee DVD sales.
This confuses me as well. Joss has given every impression of LOVING both Hiddleston and Loki. If you’re basing your entire negative vibe on the one (taken out of context) flippant remark about “British character actor”, I’m quite sure you are interpreting the man incorrectly. Peter O’Toole and Alec Guinness both proudly referred to themselves as character actors.
In the very first scene of the Avengers commentary, Whedon states right up front that he was thrilled to hear that they had cast Tom as Loki because he had wanted to work with him since he saw him in Othello and Tom did not disappoint.
@samtha
Joss has made no such comment, about not caring for character. There was outcry on that awful click-bait site last year, when he declared Tom was a character actor and overly-praised Ultron perhaps. But that is his job and some stupid fan girls took it the wrong way, and started moaning across Twitter.
Joss W put a huge amount of time and effort into developing Loki further, with Tom, they took Loki from his Prince of Dark Pain [Tom’s words] to a God of Mischief. He has a great deal of respect for Tom Hiddleston, and has talked frequently about his acting and dedication and went to see him Coriolanus.
The truth is, Joss wanted to move on and focus on another villian. I respect and understand that, Tom H I am sure respect’s that.
However, saying all that, i think it was bad form whoever’s decision it was to cut the scene, Tom Hiddleston last summer was working his butt off, i am sure the last thing he needed was to be on the set Asgard last August when he was finishing off High Rise and doing prep work for ISTL.
However, pt 2. i am sure he got paid for it and got to hang out with his mates so i am not feeling sorry for him at all. :-p
‘P’enny, I think he filmed in June before heading to High Rise. In early July, Idris gave the interview about having filmed scenes, referring to filming a week earlier. Tom was called for re-shoots in January
Lilac, i was chatting to others on another site and we counted back the weeks from the Idris Elba’s Telegraph article, when Idris mentioned that the weekend from his DJ weekends in Ibitha to sulking having to film in Avengers, and funny thing was it turned out to be a weekend in August. However, he doesn’t mean he did other stuff or visit sets on other weekends.
he’s a busy bee 😀
‘P’enny, he did the djing in July and the filming was before. How can that be August?
@lilac
ok my maths isn’t my strong point,
Idris DJ’s run Saturday 5th July until Saturday the 30th August [According to the Club’s website] 9 weekends.
The Telegraph article, Idris did the interview on the 4th weekend of his set, and he was on the Avengers set, a day before. So it was mmm first weekend of August? give or take a few journalistic mess-ups and Idris not ‘misspeaking’
This was discussed on a CB thread at the time, it was probably the 1st w/e in August, as Penny says the Telegraph interview says Idris was on the 4th of a 9 week residency and he said in the interview he was filming the day before.
I know fans like to think the filming was in June (the reason he didn’t show for SLJs charity event) but the info in that interview contradicts that.
The only negative thing I have heard was no one could figure out why Hiddleston kept insisting on using so much hair gel for Loki’s hair. Other than that, the “Whedon doesn’t like Loki/Hiddleston” makes no sense. I would not be surprised to see these two work together again.
On the Blu Ray commentary, Whedon praises Tom’s work in every scene and he’s the one who told Feige that TDW needed more Loki.
“no one could figure out why Hiddleston kept insisting on using so much hair gel for Loki’s hair”
Ahahahahahaha, why indeed?? I don’t get it either. Was he trying to outdo Snape or something? Look more like a sleazy villain?
@Lilacflowers: I haven’t watched the film with the commentary but that is good to know. I think it when came to the drama of the script and the layout of the character, Hiddleston and Whedon were on the same page.
that the more hair gel thing was trying to make Loki look horrible – but it didn’t work out and made him seem very attractive. x
Is that said commentary in The Avengers blu-ray, or it’s also in DVD? I may have to procure one to watch it myself, want to make sure which version is the one that i can hear all the things Joss has to say about Tom.
@Josa, I think it was the Blu-Ray. I’m not sure if the DVD commentary is different. I know the commentary on the itunes version is slightly different.
@Lilacflowers Thanks. Guess I should get the blu-ray just to be sure then.
i am really annoyed on the Blu Ray for Avengers [UK version] i can’t find the commentary, can anyone else? where is it hiding? mmmm
@ Samtha WADR I am not sure that he made that clear. I think I likes all the characters and want to put them in or not if it is appropriate to the movie. The “different villain” comment he made a while back was totally taken out of context and people read way more into it than I think he intended. He has mentioned that TH will be in the DVD edition.
The movie was fun and I get why he was left out; still, I was disappointed not to catch a glimpse of Loki. Definitely miss Tom during press. He brings the good times.
There are three more Marvel films to go before Thor: Ragnorak. I wouldn’t be surprised if Loki pops up in one of them in a cameo or end credits scene. Probably not Civil Wars because that cast is already jam-packed and the plot revolves around conflict between the Avengers (plus it begins filming in England around the same time Tom begins filming Skull Island in Hawaii, so logistics would be problematic) but it would make sense for him to pop up in Guardians (space and there are already crossover characters that Loki knows like The Other, The Collector, and Thanos) or Doctor Strange because Loki and Strange have a few tussles in the comics (Loki is more powerful).
Tom has also said he would enjoy appearing on Agents of SHIELD. Doubtful that Marvel will make us wait until 2017 before we see one of their most popular characters again.
Yes to this. The movie was jam packed and the big reveal was Thanos. Loki didn’t need to be in it and it would be better to have a cameo that relates to Thor 3 in another upcoming release.
I could totally see Loki making an appearance in Dr Strange.
Oh, Thanos…
*heart shaped eyes*
MtnRunner, I’ve been looking for you! TATLER REPORT: Bridget said you were an extreme race walker the other day. 🙊
@mtnrunner: there is no spoiler alert in this thread and for the marvel fans, this is a huge spoiler…
mimif, where is miss B residing so I can defend my honor and give her a verbal smackdown?
Sorry Miss M. Since we were asked what we thought of the film, I figured people were talking freely as he was mentioned below prior to my comment.
Miss M, I just realized I was chatting on Tom’s thread, not the Avengers one. I’ve been going back and forth and actually thought I was on that one. Huge apology to anyone else for whom I may have spoiled the reveal.
I’ll see myself out…
*hangs head in shame*
Thanks fir replyibg! You didnt spoil for me. But i warned the thordueld ladiss to stay away as they havent seen the movie yet.
@UltraSourdough, it was on one of our epic Game of Thrones posts. I was admiring your couch climbing skills and somehow race walking was brought up. Don’t worry, I defended your honor. 🙂
Also, you crazy ladies/gents are giving us GoT nerds a run for our money in the commenting department!
@Mimif, I happily split my time between GOT and the MCU, but, as it was pointed out to me on the Clueless Stacey Dash thread, I am a bossy militant.
mimif, I thank thee for your pains and have hunted Bridget down and told her a thing or two.
Just wait until Tom actually finally gives us a solid interview to analyze and chatter about. We’ll leave GoT threads in the dust.
Miss M, thanks for warning the rest of the Thornfield ladies of the spoiler. I wouldn’t want any of them coming after me with shanks and whatnot.
@Lilac, obviously whomever called you a bossy militant doesn’t know that you’re part Vulcan. 😀
@Mtn, FWIW, I’m the queen of accidentally giving away spoilers of shit that hasn’t even happened yet (or will happen), so come on over to the GoT posts and we can do some extreme spoiling together while climbing couches. 😉
Because a vengeful angry God thinks we’re unworthy of Loki.
LOL!
I snuck on tumblr (I know, I know…) last night after seeing Ultron and someone posited an interesting theory. (Spoilers beware though)…
…when Thor is having his “vision” thanks to Scarlet Witch and he meets Heimdall et al in Hel, there’s a mysteriously hooded figure all in black who has about 5 seconds of screen time. That little plot thread never went anywhere…but tumblrites assumed that it could have been Loki and the scene was whittled down.
Interesting.
I liked the film. I didn’t like it as much as the first one, and I am not ashamed to say that Hiddleston made that first Avengers movie for me. He is THE draw for Marvel.
He isn’t THE draw for Marvel or the Thor movies would make crazy money in comparison to the other Marvel movies, which just isn’t the case. The reason the first Avengers movie did so crazy good at the box office wasn’t because of Loki, it was because it was arguably the first and best time any movie had merged universes of so many popular characters. Besides, they can’t keep Loki as the main villain for basically every storyline – that’d be so redundant for the audience. And I’m seriously side-eyeing anyone who thinks Tom Hiddleston has more draw than RDJ.
Sorry. I’ll keep my opinions to myself next time, Meryl.
Meryl,
I saw the Avengers two more times after my original viewing BECAUSE of Loki. I went and saw Thor because of Loki. RDJ doesn’t pull people into the theaters anymore than Hiddleston. Go look at the box office of RDJ other movies then come back.
I know people like Loki and Tom, but Meryl is correct. RDJ’s Iron Man movies are at least over $100,000,000 more in box office than Thor’s two movies. In addition RDJ also has the Sherlock Holmes movies which come in about equal to Thor. RDJ is also the lead and a big box office draw. Also, Tom is not the lead in either Thor movie, nor does he have any big box office in other movies. So I am with the side eye too Meryl.
Now I saw the movie too, and I agree this movie was pretty jammed packed and the plot a bit convoluted, you have to be either a comic book fan or definitely a fan of the first movie. Putting Loki in the movie would have just made it even more jammed. I liked it, but I think I might have to see it again to fully get it all, but I had a person bring a child in the movie who was crying at all the loud scenes. Yes there are many, so it might not be as hard to follow, I was just distracted. FYI do not bring children in who are afraid of noises, this movie is loud! If that is a spoiler sorry.
“The Avengers pulled together to Mean Girl poor Tom Hiddleston because Tommy is easily the most popular actor in the franchise” yeah that’s really a matter of opinion isn’t it? I’m sure fans of the other actors/characters would say the same.
If that was the case Marvel would surely be aware of this and give him a bigger role or even a spin-off which hasn’t happened.
Don’t Kate, you were interesting
I think the box office receipts show that Loki is not the primary draw of the Marvel franchise, even if he has the biggest presence on Tumblr. Personally, I saw Ironman for Ironman. I saw Avengers for Ironman (and come out a Coulson fan). I watched Ultron for Ultron and came away wanting more Vison and Scarlett Witch.
While my experience is different than others, I think the proof is in the sales. Thor’s worldwide gross was 450 M, TDW was 645 M and Ironman 3 was 1.2 B. I think it’s fair to say that the main draw to Avengers was Ironman, not Loki. The average movie fan isn’t paying attention to whether or not Loki is in Ultron, they’ll see it because they like Marvel/Avengers films.
I like Loki, but I don’t want him in it just to draw in certain fans. It needs to make sense. It didn’t make sense to put him in this one. There was enough going on in the film without adding the Thor storyline to it. There’s enough interesting characters to keep me happy.
I’m actually not surprised that he was left out. There was a lot going on and plenty of others, new and old to fill in the plot. I don’t think the character is essential to all Marvel films and maybe what people miss isn’t Loki in the movie but the actor talking about the character and movie.
Is Loki really that popular outside of tumblr (and the like)? I’ve never even talked about Loki in real life, no one brings him up. The only times I find myself discussing Loki is in gossip forums, in articles about Tom Hiddleston.
You haven’t seen his appearance at comic con as Loki, stole the show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R9g_VABesA
Loki apart from Tom’s portrayal has his own fan base so I would say yes and he exists outside of Marvel if you are into Norse Mythology as well.iI know Loki fans who only watch Marvel films for his character.
Quite happy he was not in it as it saved me the need to go see it.Robots bore me to death and a 30 second cameo would be a waste of good money.I have been following spoilers on other sights and do not feel I am missing anything-it seems to be just more of Marvel churning out the same old format.
Would much rather the Robert the Bruce film rumour which has now been picked up by the Daily Mail came to pass than see him squashed into and overblown Marvel Sequel.But there has been no confirmation from Tom or Sony and I wonder how Tom would fit it into his Marvel/Skull schedule.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3065778/Thor-actor-Tom-Hiddleston-set-star-sequel-Mel-Gibson-s-classic-Braveheart.html
Icerose
I’m with you on this, i just don’t know when Tom is supposed to find time unless it straight after Skull Island and before Thor 3, but there must be a tight window of opportunity for filming, and they can’t argue about budgets for long if they are serious.
Which makes me wonder, if someone has pushed Daily Mail to run this article to give the Powers of Be a push and make some decisions. Because, it’s been floating out there for two weeks now. And, they chose a really good photo of Henry V to sell it. I really suspect a PR plant with this article.
That Sony email was over a year old at the time of the leak months ago. Doubtful that will happen
I’ll believe the Robert the Bruce gossip when it comes in the form of a real announcement, certainly not from wikileaks or the DM.
@P’enny, do we know where Thor 3 fits in the production calendar? I know the next Avengers films (pt 1& 2) film sequentially in latter part of 2016 and first half of 2017 and Tom is on the cast list, but I didn’t find any solid info on Thor 3. I’m assuming Tom won’t be needed for the entire 9 months the Infinity Wars are shooting, but add in Thor 3 filming too and you have a large chunk of time for an actor to be devoted solely to one character. Too much time imo, I love Loki but the sooner Tom wraps up his stint as the God of Mischief the better.
@Dara, Thor 3 starts filming some time next year. Before Thor 3 films, Marvel will film Capt America 3, which starts work this week, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, and Dr. Strange and Spider Man, which will be a joint studio project. The two Infinity War films won’t be released one after the other – Black Panther and Captain Marvel will separate them. Feige has said that all of the Avengers won’t appear in both films, which makes sense unless they were to renegotiate the contracts of Evans, Hemsworth, Downey and a few others.
@Lilac, right – Cap3 starting now, DrStrange in Nov, Guardians in early 2016. No date for Spiderman yet, that I could find. OK, so pencil in Thor3 for early to mid 2016. Even if Tom isn’t in both parts of the next Avengers, he’ll still be filming two Marvel projects in the same year. Not a lot of time left over for other projects.
I just hope something else knew comes sooner or at least some news on what is happening to Hight Rise now.I understand that for those who like Marvel films his inclusion and the speculation about future films is interesting but I would rather have some new news or PR, Night Manager pics,PR or even a film clip of his reading at the Love letters event or a little Tom love
http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk/Tom-Hiddeston-Actor-perfectly-charming2-North/story-26379268-detail/story.html
The fact that Joss is explaining why Loki is not in the movie shows how much he was missed in Marvel…. just saying. Yes people also love the other characters too. He didn’t explain anyone else not being in it…
Not really, Josefa. CBR did a big Marvel character popularity poll last year and Loki landed at #32.
The actor does a great job with what could be a totally meh character but Loki isn’t a draw for the bigger moviegoing audience.
There isn’t 32 characters in Marvel 😜 these polls are taken when another film comes out & the Most popular tend to be Whats flavour of the month. Last summer was all Guardians. what I found more interesting is Variety top Marvel survey & Loki came no 5
The poll was the top 100. There’s a ton of Marvel characters 😉 It’s funny because it predicted Carol Danvers getting a movie first–she came in the highest out of the women.
That said, I just don’t think he’s as popular as people think. It’s more about Iron Man, Captain America and Thor.
I wouldn’t be disappointed if Idris hadn’t said too much to begin with, sometimes not knowing ahead of time is better.
It’s just one less moment to see/hear Tom, and now that it looks like there is no chance High Rise will be at Cannes, SDCC is the next milestone on the calendar (assuming GDT wasn’t fibbing). Then he’ll disappear again while he’s filming Skull Island.
Hooray for the fact he’s working so much, but it does a little too quiet when he’s not out promoting and doing interviews.
Honestly, he might have not been in the film, but Loki’ pole (sorry forgot the right term) was the starter of a plot line, so he was in a very big way still part of it. I thought the film was a mess; too many watered down bits and boring action…Loki would simply just rule over all those characters with just one scene.
It was strange not having an end credit scene. Would have been a nice place for Loki. Though the mid-credit scene was powerful…
Honestly, after Ultron himself, Loki just feels a pale, sad shadow. I didn’t miss him in the film at all.
Me neither.
i lot of people have commented on Ultron being a disappointment, and that his screen time was limited and too jokey.
Well…I disagree with them.
I was underwhelmed by Ultron.
I disagree as well. Ultron was a great villain.
I loved Ultron and I love Loki. They’re characters with different motivations and nuances, but they both fill a couple of similar roles. I can see not needing both of them in the same movie.
I liked both
THIS!! I didn’t miss Loki at all. Ultron was the right mix of menace and sass. He was terrific. He was a proper villain because you could almost believe his spiel about being an instrument of peace, especially when you saw what the Avengers could do when they turned bad. Scary, scary stuff. I enjoyed the movie. I had my issues, but the absence of Loki was definitely not one of them.
“Ultron was the right mix of menace and sass.”
You said it perfectly, Mia. And that voice… I had to go back to my Blacklist binge to get more SPADER.
Really? I’m intrigued now. But I bet it would’ve been even better if it had been actually James Spader instead of just his (super hot and powerful) voice and CGI.
Really? Avengers 2 and the villain wasn’t good enough. I liked all the Marvel villains but Ultron was just meh. The slow motion in the fight scene was awful too. Comparing it to the first one it was underwhelming.
I am quite confident that it was an artistic decision and no kind of mean-girling. For one thing, only RDJ has the power (maybe) to affect plot, and for another, they cut most of Thor’s story. All Thor really needed in the stuff that remained was to see the dream that he saw — Heimdal could be the message-bearer by himself. (Tangentially, I don’t think seeing Loki would have been a problem — it’s a dream sequence in which a dead person would not stand out).
We quite enjoyed the movie and are already planning a second viewing, and I love the Loki stuff, but he doesn’t even make my top three of characters I wanted to see (Bucky, Coulson Pepper or Jane). There were other absences that made a lot less sense for this story.
After seeing the film…Loki was not necessary. and with the comic book plot of Ultron, loki had zero place in this movie. Had they not cut down Thor’s visions then maybe a brief glimpse of Loki would have happened. But if you see Ultron you notice how jam packed it is. Adding Loki would be too much. I don’t think it was a mean girls thing (where the evidence of that exactly?) because it’s not like the actors get in the editing booth for the movies. This is kinda a non story.
Like makes everything he’s in better. They should just randomly start putting him in TV shows. Like Scandal for instance. It would liven things up a bit.
Autocorrect is such a blue falcon. Loki, for the love of…Odin?
Loki was not missing from the movie. He was not needed. There are Marvel fans who don’t worship at the altar of Loki/Tom Hiddleston. He’s a fine actor, but excusing a murderous b-stard like Loki is beyond the pale. Loki kills without remorse. He’s no hero. He’s not misunderstood. He’s a maniacal killer.
“take, care he is my brother and he is from Asgard..”
“he killed 80 people in two days!”
”he’s adopted”
It’s a different mind set, that line in the Dark World, where he said, “A mere handful compared to the lives Odin has taken himself.”
I am not expert on the mythology but old gods are not known for their mercy or sympathy to mortal beings. Plus, there was that line in the first film, where Loki accuses Thor of going soft and accusing him of previously wanting to wipe out Jotun race with his bare hands.
Loki is a screwed up character there is no doubt there.
No Hiddles? Frack that noise. I ain’t paying 10$ if Loki’s not in. I’ll wait for the rental .
Two tangents here–I don’t think it was a “Mean Girls” situation, I think it is rather a demonstration that when Marvel supposedly gave Joss the “keys to the kingdom” (as I saw it put on FB), they, bluntly, lied.
Instead, they used him to bandaid MCU (and Agents of Shield, which he would have done anyway) and then took the keys back. You definitely get the impression he had to work for every thing in Ultron that he wanted, and it exhausted him. I’m convinced, too, that it explains why he isn’t doing Infinity Wars.
I think Tom is actually moving away from Loki, and Disney (not Marvel, Disney) doesn’t want too much presence other than fulfilling his contract. Their loss. I think Joss wanted that Thor story line intact.
Second point — @V4Real, @Myrel and others stating Thor: TDW is proof Loki isn’t a big draw. Actually, that doesn’t fly. The Dark World DID make crazy money considering it was a November non-holiday release that was knocked off of a lot of screens (including almost all the IMAX/RDX screens) by the release of Hunger Games for the Thanksgiving weekend. In the face of that juggernaut, TDW’s domestic numbers are fantastic! (Plus it’s in the top 50 on purely non-domestic grosses.) Also, both Thor movies have *very* good numbers on dvd/blu-ray.
I take that Tom doesn’t want to be Loki forever, he has too many good things going for him now other than Marvel. But why would he move away from Disney? I mean, what were the signs that make you think that? Not challenging your point, just curious what’s your thinking.
That tricky comma! I believe he is moving away from Loki based on tone and word choice when he speaks of the character now, as compared to, say, 18 months-2 years ago. We’ll see how much that changes when he’s needed to promote Thor: Ragnarok, of course!
But I *do* think his Marvel contract (i.e. Loki) has been a hindrance as well as a benefit–I remain amongst those convinced that Marvel requirements on him killed the Robert Capa film, and that he really wanted to make it.
And now it appears that he’s getting the more substantial lead roles he’s been after, and he certainly doesn’t need a new Marvel/Disney contract interfering with that.
I think DISNEY wants to be sure they can re-invent Loki with another actor if they want to use the character in any other way. That’s what they do. And overall, I’m delighted with what Disney/Marvel have and are accomplishing. Just no blinders here.
Didn’t the director of the Capa film pretty much alluded to the fact that outside forces killed the film? And that most of us on here pointed out that Hiddleston was brought back to do re-shoots for Thor: TDW in the time frame when the Capa film was suppose to be filming?
i was one of those who thought that Marvel interfered with Capa, whoever, who knows but it was an easy buy-off, a small indie and they get Hayley Attwell and Tom Hiddleston to do Marvel stuff. 😀
however, i don’t know. lol
@Totallybiased. So you mean it’s not Tom moving away from Disney, is Disney moving away from Tom as Loki. That makes more sense. I mistaken that you meant Tom is distancing himself from Disney, which he has no apparent reason to do so.
@Josa–yep, I get that it might be tricky to parse, but I meant exactly what I said: Tom moving away from Loki, Disney moving away from Tom specifically as Loki (the latter on a longer time frame.)
I think Tom has such a stellar work ethic and reputation, I’m sure Disney would like to work with him again. Marvel, maybe less so. Only because they don’t know what to do with him.
Now that I think more about it. I can’t agree with this: ” I think DISNEY wants to be sure they can re-invent Loki with another actor if they want to use the character in any other way.” All the actors will have to be recast at some point, not just Loki. Loki isn’t the only successful character, Evans as Cap is pretty spot-on, just as Hemsworth as Thor. But these actors aren’t going to do those characters forever, despite whatever they said about loving their roles and will play them forever. So why would Disney single out Loki to distance, when the heroes are facing recast too.
Mean girling? Oh come on. Cutting out scenes is part for the course in this biz. Every professional understands that.
I just got back from it. I’m a Tom fan to the bone, but I understand why Loki wasn’t in it. He presumably would have been in one of the dream sequences, which weren’t all that key to the plot, so I imagine that whatever he did would have been quite minor. Frankly, I think this movie already had one or two too many minor character shoutouts. I don’t think Loki would have added anything, especially since Ultron was already occupying the role of the Villain Who Gets All the Funny Lines.
Personally, I’m glad he wasn’t in it. The less Norse Mythology based characters the better. I’m Swedish and grew up learning about our old mythology (the one we had before we were christened) in school, literature, at home etc. and Marvel’s depictions of them really deviates from our mythology. They’ve screwed up the family relations, the characteristics of the Gods, their purpose in the original mythology and all of that. Why can’t people just stop messing with stuff they don’t understand!? Of course I’m not speaking for all Scandinavians though, I’m sure there are lots of people who don’t share my opinion.
I am just thinking about the time on Celeb when some of us were thinking he had no work or wasn’t in demand 😃 wow how we have all on LOL 😍
Interesting tidbit from a Vulture article about a podcast Joss Whedon did with Empire Magazine:
3. Loki was also almost in this movie
Because of contractual issues, Whedon was unable to wholly nab Loki. “[Marvel] was like, ‘We can’t get Tom [Hiddleston], we can’t make a deal. You can have Idris [Elba].'” Hiddleston, as Loki, was initially going to walk Thor through his weird, hedonistic dream sequence. But hey, Elba is awesome, and Whedon thought so, too.
The discussion about Tom’s participation starts at about 19:40 here:
https://soundcloud.com/empiremagazine/avengers-age-of-ultron-spoiler-podcast-joss-whedon-and-paul-bettany
That makes NO sense whatsoever. He was clearly able to “get Loki”–everyone knows Hiddleston filmed stuff for AoU, and Joss even confirmed that the material would be on the dvd/blu ray extras so far as he knew.
If you listen to the podcast, I think Joss clarifies it a little. It appears that Marvel couldn’t work out a deal with Tom, so Joss called Tom to ask him to do it. Here’s MTV’s take on it:
Marvel was able to get Elba on board as Heimdall, but couldn’t work out a deal with Hiddleston, according to Whedon. So the director called up his friend and said, “’Just so you know, I feel bad telling you, and I would never pressure you, but, I really feel like it would be great if you could do this.’ And he was like, ’Sure!’ But Marvel was like, ’But we already have Idris!’ And, again, I said, ’I have no problem here! Everybody’s in!’
Thanks for the clarification and links, et alors (and Mtnrunner!)!
I haven’t listened to the podcast, but Joss talked about it to MTV as well:
http://www.mtv.com/news/2151983/avengers-age-of-ultron-loki/
Yeah, I referenced the MTV article in my response to TotallyBiased. I found it interesting that Joss made it seem as if Tom wasn’t going to be in the movie due to contractual issues until Joss asked him to, so the anger at Joss from denied Loki fans may be misdirected.