Is Loki dead in the Marvel Universe?
It feels like a lot of coverage around Marvels nascent Disney Plus empire has focused on whether various key characters are or arent dead before the first episode has even aired, with both Vision and Steve Rogers fates remaining a big question mark in WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Advertisement  And now, Marvels third Disney Plus release is set to carry on this new and noble tradition, with a title character (Tom Hiddlestons Loki) who we all saw die fairly unpleasantly in Avengers: Infinity War, but now appears to be right as rain all over again. Check out everything you need to know below. Yes, he is explicitly dead. Though obviously, hes also very not dead. OK, that wasnt overly helpful. To be clear, the Loki see in Avengers: Infinity War did genuinely die  theres not some kind of sneaky resurrection going on here, or a faked death like in Thor: The Dark World  but the Loki starring in the new series isnt the same Loki, instead taken from an earlier point in the characters timeline. So Loki is dead  but in a very real sense, in other points in time and space, hes not. Makes perfect sense. This IS the news you're looking for The best sci-fi news and features this side of the Outer Rim. Thanks, you are now signed up to our sci-fi and fantasy newsletter! We look forward to sending you our email updates. Sign in to/ register for a RadioTimes.com account to manage your email preferences Sign in Register To manage your email preferences, click here. Sign me up! Immediate Media Company Limited (publishers of radiotimes.com) would love to send you our sci-fi and fantasy newsletters. We may also send occasional updates from our editorial team. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we hold your personal data, please see our privacy policy. Loki first appears in 2011s Thor, then pops back the following year for the first Avengers movie where he takes the role of the main villain. Following this, he next appears in 2014s Thor: The Dark World (which ends with him faking his death and taking the throne of Asgard), then 2017s Thor: Ragnarok. Following swiftly on from this, Hiddleston apparently said farewell to the character in 2018s Avengers: Infinity War when the surviving Asgardians were attacked in space by Thanos, and Thanos choked Loki to death after an attempted double-cross. As Thor (Chris Hemsworth) wept over his brothers body, fresh from their reconciliation in the previous film, it seemed like Lokis story would end therebut it didnt. Disney+  In 2019s Avengers: Endgame the Avengers used time travel to zip back to the time of the 2012 Avengers movie, where they hoped to get their hands on various Infinity Stones. Unfortunately, the plan goes awry when Tony (Robert Downey Jr) is knocked out by Hulk, with the Tesseract of the time period falling to Lokis feet, allowing him to make a quick getaway. This action breaks Loki away from his predetermined fate  heading to Asgardian prison in The Dark World, followed by his rule disguised as Odin between that film and Ragnarok, then his redemption, and then his death at the hands of Thanos. Now, according to the rules of the Time Variance Authority  a new organisation to the MCU, who play a large part in Loki  hes a variant who has to be stopped and taken in, lest he threaten the proper course of events. And this creates an interesting wrinkle. You see, now this variant Loki has no proper place  the changed MCU that he escaped from will presumably be scrubbed from existence by the TVA, and the proper course of Lokis life is still canon, as the main MCU continues. We just have this extra, younger spare Loki knocking about outside of time (which is where the TVA apparently exists), and it seems likely that hell cause trouble when he learns the ignominious fate that awaits him. Well, well have to watch to find out  though if he does end up dying again, this article might get even more complicated  Advertisement  Loki debuts on Disney Plus on 9th June  see our Loki release schedule for more information. You can sign up to Disney Plus for 7.99 a month or 79.90 a year now. Visit our Sci-fi hub for all the latest news, or find something to watch with our TV Guide.