New Medium Article: Is the MCU’s Loki Worthy of a Redemption Arc?
Happy Friday! I just wanted to let you know that I posted a new Medium article on my Mediam. Today I am discussing Loki and if he is worthy of a redemptation arc.
Below is the link to the full of the article, as well as a sneak peek.
All of my Medium are currently free.
Serena
Link: https://alysonserenastone.medium.com/...
Sneak Peek:
Author’s Note: This article contains spoilers for the “Thor,” “Avengers,” and MCU movies. This article focuses solely on those movies, rather than the original comics or TV shows.
Loki is one of the most complex and ironic characters in the MCU. First introduced in Thor, we see his brotherly love for his brother, but this does not last long. Things quickly change for the god. Portrayed as a villain, we see Loki repeatedly struggle with doing what is right and succumb to evil. All of this makes him an extremely unpredictable character. However, we can see that there are redeemable traits in him. This brings us to today’s question: Is Loki worthy of a redemption arc? To answer this question, we must do a deep dive into Loki’s character.
Loki is the God of Mischief, and he does bring mischief to the MCU. He is always scheming and meddling in people's lives. This meddling is not always good, as it does cause some people’s deaths. While this should be a horrifying thing for Loki, it makes him feel powerful and allows him to manipulate events to suit himself, which makes him feel superior. We see this when it comes to his brother, Thor and the Avengers. When we look at Loki and Thor’s personalities, they come across as very different people. Thor is loud, energetic, rowdy, and cheerful, while Loki is more at ease and quiet. This is a mask for his true character; he is cold, calculating, and a bit of a sociopath. He views himself as deserving of respect and power. He also appears caring and supportive. We see this when he comforts Thor after his coronation is ruined and tells him that he loves him, when in reality, Loki is very envious and has been his whole life. However, no one knew just how far this envy went, and by the time they did, it was too late. This deep hatred stems from being viewed by both Odin and Thor as the spare and being rejected by them. As a result, Loki will do anything to humiliate, defeat, or hurt Thor, even if it means harming innocents and people he cares about.
We see Loki’s bitterness come to light with the Frost Giants. We learn that he is one and was going to be used as a political tool between Asgard and the Frost Giants. This makes Loki feel alienated and guilty about who he is; he is part of something that Asgard has been taught to hate and fear, rather than love. He felt betrayed because this stripped him of who he thought he was. Throughout his entire life, he had believed that he was a prince, could one day become king, and was a true member of the family. This revolution took away all of that from him. All of the competition between Loki and Thor had been so that Loki could win Odin’s favour, which was something that he wanted more than anything. By allowing his true identity to be concealed, Loki felt that his family had betrayed him because he believed that a Frost Giant could never be king of Asgard. To make matters worse, Loki’s view of himself was greatly affected, as he believed that he was nothing more than a prize and a political pawn, instead of a full-fledged member of the family, even though there is evidence that states otherwise.
This blow hurt him more than he let on. Loki does love his family, even if he doesn’t always show it. Most of his hatred is directed at Thor and Odin. His mother, Frigga, is someone who escaped this hatred, as she did empathise with him. When she dies, we see Loki go into a fit of rage and destroy everything in his room. He grieves for her. While he is imprisoned by Thor, he even asks if she suffered when she was killed and offers to team up with Thor to go after her killer, Malekith. None of this is a mask, which provides us with direct evidence of how much he cared for his mother. Yet, it also stems from a guilty conscience as Loki is the one who brought Kurse to Frigga and Jane Foster. When he and Thor reach Svartalfheim, we see a different side of Loki, one that is selfless. He risks his life to save Thor and Jane, and even “dies” in the process. Thor, believing his brother is dead, says he died with honour. However, this is not the case. Loki has disguised himself as a warrior and is taken back home. There, after reporting his death, Loki takes the throne.
Even though it is very clear that Loki does hate Thor, he still wants to be seen as Thor’s equal and be seen by Odin as a worthy son. There is also evidence that he does care about both of them. For example, when Odin collapses to the ground, Loki sends in guards to check on him. When Odin was entering the Odinsleep, he stopped Laufey from murdering him. Loki later says that he does not want Odin to die, and Odin does not kill him at Bifrost. He also claims that he wants to destroy Jotunheim for Odin. Loki even hesitates when it comes to Thor. He does not appear to want to kick Thor out of Hellcarrier. Instead, he sends Thor to Earth.
Below is the link to the full of the article, as well as a sneak peek.
All of my Medium are currently free.
Serena
Link: https://alysonserenastone.medium.com/...
Sneak Peek:
Author’s Note: This article contains spoilers for the “Thor,” “Avengers,” and MCU movies. This article focuses solely on those movies, rather than the original comics or TV shows.
Loki is one of the most complex and ironic characters in the MCU. First introduced in Thor, we see his brotherly love for his brother, but this does not last long. Things quickly change for the god. Portrayed as a villain, we see Loki repeatedly struggle with doing what is right and succumb to evil. All of this makes him an extremely unpredictable character. However, we can see that there are redeemable traits in him. This brings us to today’s question: Is Loki worthy of a redemption arc? To answer this question, we must do a deep dive into Loki’s character.
Loki is the God of Mischief, and he does bring mischief to the MCU. He is always scheming and meddling in people's lives. This meddling is not always good, as it does cause some people’s deaths. While this should be a horrifying thing for Loki, it makes him feel powerful and allows him to manipulate events to suit himself, which makes him feel superior. We see this when it comes to his brother, Thor and the Avengers. When we look at Loki and Thor’s personalities, they come across as very different people. Thor is loud, energetic, rowdy, and cheerful, while Loki is more at ease and quiet. This is a mask for his true character; he is cold, calculating, and a bit of a sociopath. He views himself as deserving of respect and power. He also appears caring and supportive. We see this when he comforts Thor after his coronation is ruined and tells him that he loves him, when in reality, Loki is very envious and has been his whole life. However, no one knew just how far this envy went, and by the time they did, it was too late. This deep hatred stems from being viewed by both Odin and Thor as the spare and being rejected by them. As a result, Loki will do anything to humiliate, defeat, or hurt Thor, even if it means harming innocents and people he cares about.
We see Loki’s bitterness come to light with the Frost Giants. We learn that he is one and was going to be used as a political tool between Asgard and the Frost Giants. This makes Loki feel alienated and guilty about who he is; he is part of something that Asgard has been taught to hate and fear, rather than love. He felt betrayed because this stripped him of who he thought he was. Throughout his entire life, he had believed that he was a prince, could one day become king, and was a true member of the family. This revolution took away all of that from him. All of the competition between Loki and Thor had been so that Loki could win Odin’s favour, which was something that he wanted more than anything. By allowing his true identity to be concealed, Loki felt that his family had betrayed him because he believed that a Frost Giant could never be king of Asgard. To make matters worse, Loki’s view of himself was greatly affected, as he believed that he was nothing more than a prize and a political pawn, instead of a full-fledged member of the family, even though there is evidence that states otherwise.
This blow hurt him more than he let on. Loki does love his family, even if he doesn’t always show it. Most of his hatred is directed at Thor and Odin. His mother, Frigga, is someone who escaped this hatred, as she did empathise with him. When she dies, we see Loki go into a fit of rage and destroy everything in his room. He grieves for her. While he is imprisoned by Thor, he even asks if she suffered when she was killed and offers to team up with Thor to go after her killer, Malekith. None of this is a mask, which provides us with direct evidence of how much he cared for his mother. Yet, it also stems from a guilty conscience as Loki is the one who brought Kurse to Frigga and Jane Foster. When he and Thor reach Svartalfheim, we see a different side of Loki, one that is selfless. He risks his life to save Thor and Jane, and even “dies” in the process. Thor, believing his brother is dead, says he died with honour. However, this is not the case. Loki has disguised himself as a warrior and is taken back home. There, after reporting his death, Loki takes the throne.
Even though it is very clear that Loki does hate Thor, he still wants to be seen as Thor’s equal and be seen by Odin as a worthy son. There is also evidence that he does care about both of them. For example, when Odin collapses to the ground, Loki sends in guards to check on him. When Odin was entering the Odinsleep, he stopped Laufey from murdering him. Loki later says that he does not want Odin to die, and Odin does not kill him at Bifrost. He also claims that he wants to destroy Jotunheim for Odin. Loki even hesitates when it comes to Thor. He does not appear to want to kick Thor out of Hellcarrier. Instead, he sends Thor to Earth.
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