10 Movie Villains Who Turned Heroes Evil

Loki's twists and turns of character are a little hard to keep up with. Is he a mischievous brother playing practical jokes? Is he a world-dominating force of evil? Or does he just kind of go with the flow, and pounce when an opportunity to rule arises? Probably the latter, to be honest.

But Loki definitely fell in with a bad crowd in the gap between Thor (2011) and Avengers Assemble; he was reporting to none other than Infinity Gauntlet Saga foe Thanos, who lent him the Chitauri army to help his Earth invasion.

Another of Thanos' gifts was a sceptre with some impressive powers, including damaging blasts and mind control (which we now know was down to it hiding an infinity stone with some psychic capabilities.)

Oddly enough, it'd be the latter ability which was most useful in Loki's campaign. With it, Loki was able to "enlist help" from astrophysicist Erik Selvig, and Avenger-to-be Clint Barton.

Barton, better known as Hawkeye, had also been introduced into the MCU in Thor as the marksman who never misses his shot. He's invaluable to have on Loki's team, and is quickly put to work to infiltrate the helicarrier and unleash the Hulk on the enclosed space.

The guild Barton carries as a result of his role in Loki's plan is something he has to work through for the remainder of the film, since the incident also resulted in Agent Phil Coulson's death, and the endangerment of his SHIELD teammates.

At least there's an easy remedy to Loki's mind control: as Natasha Romanoff discovered, a bonk on the head does the trick.