In a new interview with Marvel.com, Loki director Kate Herron, head writer Michael Waldron, actors Tom Hiddleston and Sophia Di Martino, break down the finale villain reveal, the motivations behind it, and the consequences for the future of the MCU.
Teasing Kang’s future as a “cross-movie” villain, Waldron reveals that the multiversal war was part of his very first pitch:
“We knew that we wanted this show to be huge, and we wanted it to really end with a bang and have a huge impact on the MCU moving forward. Knowing that Kang was probably going to be the next big cross-movie villain, and because he is a time-traveling, multiversal adversary, it just always made so much sense. I came up with that big multiversal war mythology and pitched it out in the room one day to our producers. And they said, yeah, let’s go for it. We knew we were going to end up meeting the man behind the curtain. And then it was just on us to make sure that that meeting really delivered.”
Waldron also addresses how he (very cleverly) uses He Who Remains as a mild appetizer for a much worse Kang variant to appear later in the MCU:
“You had to leave a lot of meat on the bone in terms of how evil he could be, because that’s He Who Remains’ whole thing, that ‘it’s not me who you should be afraid of. It’s the other versions of me that are going to come.’ It was trying to really hint at that terrifying evil within without going all the way there.”
As Waldron described it, He Who Remains was written to be simply a “very charismatic sociopath,” which Jonathan Majors played to a tee. Speaking of Majors’ casting, Waldon enthuses:
“So exciting and humbling. You have such an astounding actor who is that much more of a cool thing. You had to write him in a way that he felt worthy of being the villain at the end of our show. I knew I could always breathe a sigh of relief knowing we had Majors in that finale. We hung a lot of our hopes on [the character]. This guy is laying out, ‘Here’s the deal,’ and it’s one final test between our two Lokis.”
Despite all the infinite variants of Kang to come in future MCU projects, Waldron felt their most important casting priority was finding an actor with the charisma needed the Loki finale:
“Are you going to have somebody charismatic and magnetic as you imagine? Loki and Sylvie, they fought so hard to get to this point and they’re not going to be able to take their eyes off him. Getting Jonathan, hopefully [the audiences] is going to feel the same way.”
Herron further explained He Who Remains’ role in the finale, and how He connects to the themes of the show that have been explored through Loki and Sylvie:
“I was quite excited that we got to show him because he is the one that brings it all [together]. [He’s] the theme of our show. No one is completely good or completely bad, and people do fall into that gray area. I thought his reasoning with [Loki and Sylvie] that you can take me out, but I’ll be back here anyway…you’re going to awaken all these versions of me. And they are much scarier than me. I really believe him when he says that.”
Hiddleston gushed with admiration for the guest star, noting that Majors only appeared in the last week of filming:
“I just want to salute Jonathan Majors. He came in the last lap of this series and made an extraordinary impact. And it’s quite something to do that for a story, to get to its final chapter and to introduce the character of such breadth, and depth, and charisma, and intelligence. He was dazzling. It was our final week of filming, literally. He came in and blew us all away.
“It was so exciting for me to watch because I knew that for Jonathan, as an actor, it’s his entry point into the MCU. To watch him come in and be so ready, and so agile, and so prepared, and so surprising. Sophia and I sat and watched him deliver this extraordinary performance of such wit and with such intelligence. It was a real thrill to watch him do that.”
Di Martino said likewise, describing the excitingly surreal experience on set:
“He was so much fun and he absolutely blew it out of the park. As soon as he was on set, he was phenomenal. Like, no one could take their eyes off him. You knew something magical was happening and it was like, ‘Oh my god, are you watching this? This is going to be amazing.’”
Lastly Waldron closed out the piece with glee at how Majors captured the words on the page and the surprise they’d prepared for the audience:
“I remember being there [while he was filming]. He’s an amazing actor, and as amazing actors do, they make it their own. Jonathan could perform the phone book and it would be incredible.”
Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror is set to appear in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but considering all the twists and turns of Loki, who knows where a Kang variant could appear next! Marvel Studios’ Phase Four is already shaping up to be arguably the biggest, smartest, and most exciting yet, and we can’t wait to see Majors’ Kang the Conqueror at the heart of it all.
Loki Overview
In Marvel Studios’ “Loki,” the mercurial villain Loki (Tom Hiddleston) resumes his role as the God of Mischief in a new series that takes place after the events of “Avengers: Endgame.” Kate Herron directs and Michael Waldron is head writer.
The complete first season of Loki is now on Disney+. Loki season two has been confirmed but remains undated. What did you think of the introduction of Kang? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below or over on our social media!
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Source: Marvel.com
