10 Movies That Weren’t Brave Enough To Kill The Main Character

3. Loki - Thor: The Dark World

This entry will never cease to annoy me. As we all know, Loki very quickly amassed cult status as one of the most enjoyable characters in the MCU, evil or no, with most of the credit due to Tom Hiddleston's magnetic performance. Thor: The Dark World's coup d'grace came when Loki, forced to accompany Thor and show him the way to Svartalfheim, seemingly redeemed himself by saving his brother's life at the cost of his own. Being an absolute sucker for villainous redemption and self-sacrifice, I ate that scene up hook, line and sinker. The final words exchanged between the brothers are heartbreaking. Of course, there are hints telegraphing the film's twist - that Loki survived, impersonated an Asgardian soldier all the way home, and usurped his father on the throne - upon secondary viewings, but first time round I bought it.

The problem I have with this is that yes, although this allows us to all enjoy more Tom Hiddleston in our lives (he is certain to be one of the villains in 2017's Thor: Ragnarok), we as an audience were robbed. As Loki faked his death, it makes it likely that he faked everything he said to Thor; his apology, his "I didn't do it for ". Which is a shame, as it stood out as a thoroughly earned moment for the two brothers, after fighting as enemies for three films. Marvel should have been brave enough to leave Loki's story there, with a fantastic death scene and a poignant moment for Thor. However I think after Frigga's (Rene Russo) death, killing Thor's brother might have felt like overkill to Feige and the studio, so they wimped out. But to bring Loki back from the dead so soon - with very little in the way of logical explanation, considering he had a spear rammed through his chest - reeks of non-committal BS and a missed opportunity for Thor's little side of the MCU to gain some real growth.