10 Rushed Movie Deaths That Had No Emotional Impact

Loki is a fan favourite character in the MCU, one of the most beloved and acclaimed roles in the entire series. Tom Hiddleston’s performance has been universally accepted as one of the best elements of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, bringing charisma, wit and occasional venom to a role that could have easily been reduced to a one note joke. His death takes place at the beginning of Avengers Infinity War, and was a moment designed to kick off the most tragic Avengers film to date. Sadly, it didn’t really work.

Immediately following the events of Thor Ragnarok, the bond between Loki and Thor had been strengthened and they had made peace after so many years of war. At this point, it seemed natural that Loki would die. Not because there wasn’t more he could do, but because he’d fulfilled the most important purpose of his life, to redeem himself in the eyes of his brother. However, the abrupt starting point of Infinity War being his murder at the hands of Thanos robs the moment of its emotional potential.

The main issue is that the Russos’ direction is extremely obvious and far from their best work, the ways in which the sequence is framed and shot makes the audience assume that there’s been a trick. It lacks any of the required bombast or genuine guttural punch to make a death 7 years in the making feel as right as it should have.

Loki’s arc is undermined to emphasise Thanos as a threat, but with a rewrite and another few takes, the potential for the opening to do both equally is extreme. The fact that there’s a Loki show in the works also takes away from the supposed permanence of his passing.