Loki is all queered out, it seems.
According to showrunner and director Kate Herron, the character’s bisexuality will not be explored further in the Disney+ series.
In the third episode of the spin-off, the God of Mischief (played by Tom Hiddleston) opened up about his past relationships with Loki variant Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) and said he’s been romantically involved with both ‘princesses and princes’ – reflecting the character’s fluid sexuality from the comics.
With this revelation, Loki made history as the first openly bisexual superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although it was a tiny moment, it was a breath of fresh air to witness some non-heterosexuality in the franchise while also confirming Marvel executives are making good on their previous commitment to diversify their heroes.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Herron said the moment was “very important to everyone” and it was “beautiful” for her to be involved with due to her own bisexuality.
“I didn’t want it to feel like we were just wedging something in, but we had this beautiful scene where these two characters are being really raw and really honest about who they are, and I was like, “Well, it is a part of who he is and who they are.” For me, talking with Michael [Waldron] and Bisha [K. Ali], it just felt like it was the right moment for that line,” she explained.
“This episode is really beautiful for me, because it’s these two characters getting to know each other, so in that sense, it felt like the right place for that conversation to happen. And I thought it was done really beautifully by the writers.
“Obviously, like I’ve said, it’s very personal to me, and I said it was a small step in some ways — because obviously, he’s just talking about it — but in the bigger scale of things, I’m like, oh no, it’s massive actually. If I saw that when I was 10, it would be really big for me. It’s been really nice getting comments from people online.”
Herron added: “Some people were like, “It helped me actually talk about how I feel to my family and helped me come out.” And I thought, “Well, if it helped one person do that, then it’s worth it.”
When asked if she was aware of “how big a milestone” Loki’s coming out scene would be on viewers, Herron responded: “Well, in some senses, yes, and in some senses you’re never sure, right? Because [Marvel is] so secretive about all their other projects. For me, I was like, I’m telling Loki’s story, it’s a part of who they are and I just want to acknowledge it.
“It’s canon in the comics and if we can make it canon in the films, that would be amazing. When I came on board, I was like, if there’s a way to do this, it would mean a lot to me and, I’m sure, a lot of people. But it was very welcomed, and I think we’re all very proud of how we did that.”
However, Herron admitted the scene was a one-off and Loki’s bisexuality won’t be explored further down the line. “I would say in our story, this is how we acknowledge it,” she said. “But I hope that that paves the way for deeper exploration.”
Loki takes place after the events of Avengers: Endgame, which became the highest-grossing film of all time, and follows an alternative version of the Asgardian trickster who escapes imprisonment from Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and creates a new timeline.
It also stars Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius, an agent of the Time Variance Authority, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer, a judge at the TVA, and Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15, a high-ranking hunter at the TVA. Richard E. Grant, Sasha Lane, Erika Coleman and Eugene Cordero round out the cast.
The first four episodes are now available to stream on Disney+.
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