Miles Foster
During a recent press conference, the Loki cast–Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Wunmi Mosaku–series producer Kevin Feige, writer Michael Waldron, and director Kate Herron sat down with Empire Magazine’s Chris Hewitt and shared their thoughts on and answered questions about the new Disney+ series.
When asked what he hopes the audience will take away from Loki’s extended story and growth, Tom Hiddleston responded, “What I love about the series is Loki is stripped of everything that’s familiar to him. Thor is not close by. Asgard seems some distance away. The Avengers, for the time being, aren’t in sight. He’s stripped of his status and his power. And, if you take all those things that Loki has used to identify himself…, what remains of Loki? Who is … outside all of those things? And I think those questions became, for all of us, really fascinating to ask. Is he capable of growth? Is he capable of change? And do his experiences within the TVA [Time Variance Authority] give him any insight into who he might be? I hope the audience gets a kick out of where we take it.”
Owen Wilson, a newcomer to the MCU, was asked how it feels to be joining the big cinematic universe, to which he responded, “Well, it’s exciting to be a part of it. You know, with just kind of seeing the trailer start to come out and how excited people get. And… I kind of talked about how I’ve worked on a lot of things. But the secrecy sort of surrounding this, I didn’t quite understand until, uh, I saw that it’s just so much, the fan base is so kind of revved up and passionate. And Marvel’s just so kind of committed to trying to surprise people. So, then you kind of get into it.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays beloved comic character Ravonna Renslayer. When she was asked about how she approached the character, she said, “Well, luckily or unluckily for me, this was sort of more of an origin story for Ravonna Renslayer. You know, sort of predating some of the stuff in the comics. So all that stuff is there. But there was also the opportunity to feel like we were starting with something fresh with the TVA that hadn’t been seen before by
fans on screen. But there’;s so much there that I feel like there’s plenty of potential for her in the future as well.
When asked about her character, Hunter B-15, not being in the comics and whether or not this took any pressure off of playing the character, Wunmi Mosaku responded, “No pressure because no one’s got any ideas of what they want her to be. I can just bring you who she is, and you have to accept it. And I kind of like that because it–it does feel like a bit of pressure when you’re joining the MCU. Being able to just have like clear slate and just do whatever I want to do and it’s fun.
Before the cast can get involved with a project, however, there needs to be a story and a backbone to work off of. “One of my favorite things coming out of Endgame,” said producer Kevin Feige, “was people saying that we forget to tie up the loose end of Loki. Loki just disappears and we forgot to mention what happens to him at the end of that movie.” When it came to writing and planning the series, writer Michael Waldron was excited. “I was so excited about that opportunity when I heard that it was gonna be a series about Loki. It was already, you know, my favorite character in the MCU. And it was gonna have a time travel element. Just the opportunities for chaos and fun within that … seemed like it would be a great time as a writer. So I just went after it. And started eliminating my-my enemies one-by-one,” he said.
Director Kate Herron was pleased to have been afforded the opportunity to helm the show. When asked how she got there, she replied, “I found out they were making the show. And, I told my agent to just call them every day until they caved. And it worked. So, essentially, yeah. But I just was like, just get me in the room. Just get me in the room. So, yeah. Persistence, I guess, and being a pain in the butt got me the job.”
Episode 1 of Loki is now streaming on Disney+
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