Joss Whedon, the writer and director of last years summer blockbuster The Avengers, has announced that actor Tom Hiddleston's cunning villain Loki will not be involved in the sequel. Whedon delivered the news in a podcast interview with
Empire; "Everyone is going to be looking for the Loki-Hulk smash moment and you'll be looking for . First of all, imitating what I did before is the surest way to do it not as well. Second of all, Loki's not there to say those terrible things. Although I do think we should bring the word back, not as an insult, it's just a nice word."
The decision not to use Loki in the next ensemble film makes perfect sense. Not only does this mean a new master villain will be used but likely a different kind of threat to the world. If Marvel had gone back to Loki in The Avengers 2, it would have likely been Whedon recreating the same kind of scenes of destruction in order to take over Earth and with the character already appearing as an antagonist in Thor and being a major part of Thor: The Dark World released later this year, a great villain could soon run out of gas and go overkill. Of course there's also no reason why Loki couldn't appear in other Marvel Phase 2 movies outside of the Thor series with Captain America: The Winter Solider slated for a 2014 release and Marvel
having two secret films in development before The Avengers 2 is unleashed. Although maybe there is... If you recall the trailer for Thor: The Dark World, where Chris Hemsworth's God of Thunder goes to Loki in the prison cell and asks him for help, he warns his brother that he will kill him if he betrays him. Maybe then, Loki won't be in The Avengers 2 because he will have been killed off... Of course I doubt that they would actually do that to a character as cool as Loki (especially with Hiddleston playing him so well), certainly not kill him permanently anyway, but it's an interesting note nonetheless. What I'd give to read the script which Whedon says he has now turned in his first draft to Marvel;
"I've turned in a first draft, but the story is very set. Everybody's very much on board with the exact movie I'm trying to make which is what worked the first time."
Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Chris Evans (Captain America), Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk) and Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) are all expected back for The Avengers sequel which will hit theatres May 1st, 2015.