Hiddleston pleased that Marvel's 'Loki' addresses gender fluidity, as he attends special screening

Record ID: 1620587

  • Title: Hiddleston pleased that Marvel's 'Loki' addresses gender fluidity, as he attends special screening
  • Date: 8th June 2021
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JUNE 8, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HIDDLESTON BEING INTERVIEWED (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR TOM HIDDLESTON, ASKED ABOUT BEING THE MAIN FOCUS OF THIS SERIES, SAYING: ''It's a new experience, but it's very thrilling, and I know I wouldn't be here without the support of all the fans and the audience who it really is, is their affection for the character, that is the reason I'm here.''
  • Embargoed: 22nd June 2021 21:42
  • Keywords: Loki MCU Marvel Tom Hiddleston premiere
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM/ UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS
  • City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM/ UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe,Film
  • Reuters ID: LVA007EGJK1N1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: "Loki" actor Tom Hiddleston said he welcomed Marvel Studios' decision to address the popular villain's gender fluidity in a new Disney+ streaming series that debuts on Wednesday (June 9).
    At a special preview screening in London on Tuesday (June 8), Hiddleston noted that Loki had been portrayed as gender fluid in Marvel comic books as well as in Norse mythology, where the character originated.
    On Sunday (June 6), Disney released a clip from the new series and briefly showed a prisoner file that listed Loki's sex as fluid.
    "It's always been there," Hiddleston said in an interview at the screening. "Loki as a character has had such a broad-ranging and wide-ranging identity. He's always been a character you could never put in a box, you could never pin down."
    "I was really pleased we were able to touch on that in the series," the British actor added.
    Hiddleston has played Loki, the god of mischief, since his appearance in the 2011 movie "Thor."
    The new six-episode series takes place after events depicted in the 2019 film "Avengers: Endgame." It catches up with Loki just after the Battle of New York when he escapes from Avengers custody and steals a time stone known as the Tesseract.
    A group known as the Time Variance Authority (TVA), which keeps events from various universes in proper sequence, places Loki under arrest for abusing time travel and he is stripped of his shape-shifting powers.
    Owen Wilson co-stars as TVA agent Mobius M. Mobius, who enlists Loki's help in finding a killer who is disrupting the timeline.
    British actor Sophia Di Martino is also in the series but at the screening event, where she posed for photographs with Hiddleston, she said she was unable to reveal anything about her character.
    It's her first time working within the Marvel franchise and she said it's bigger than she ever imagined.
    ''I feel just super grateful and I'm sort of in denial about it. I still can't believe it,'' she told Reuters.
    As for Hiddleston, who has played Loki in three ''Thor'' movies and three ''Avengers'' films, he said being the focus of the show is a bit different to what he's used to.
    ''It's a new experience, but it's very thrilling, and I know I wouldn't be here without the support of all the fans and the audience....(it's) their affection for the character, that is the reason I'm here.''
    Hiddleston and Di Martino's presence was a surprise to the audience at the screening event, in which guests included 40 NHS nurses and volunteers who got to see two episodes of the show.
    (Production: Sarah Mills, Gerry Mey, Lisa Richwine)
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