Tom Hiddleston Thought Loki Series Finale “Was the End” for Him in the MCU Before Avengers: Doomsday

Tom Hiddleston believed his time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was at an end when he hung up his horned crown in Loki. The two-season Disney+ series concluded in 2023 with Hiddleston’s time-slipping God of Mischief managing to destroy the Temporal Loom at the heart of the Time Variance Authority, which refined raw time into physical timelines. As the branches of time duplicated and expanded into an infinitely growing multiverse, the timey-wimey series finale came down to Loki, burdened with glorious purpose, taking his throne at the End of Time to watch over the timelines he had weaved together into the branches of the world tree Yggdrasil.

And so it seemed that Loki’s story had come to an end. But then Marvel Studios made an announcement: Loki will return in Avengers: Doomsday.

“It’s actually such a relief to be able to say, ‘Yes, I’m in the film,’” Hiddleston said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast in an interview pegged to The Life of Chuck. The actor went on to reveal that he wasn’t aware of plans for Loki to return at the time of the series finale.

“I didn’t know that. So I was sincere in my conviction that I thought it was the end,” he added. “I wasn’t lying to you, I promise. No, I didn’t know then. I didn’t know what the plan was.”

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Although Hiddleston couldn’t divulge how Loki reenters the Marvel Cinematic Universe after his sacrifice in the Loki finale, the actor answered affirmatively when asked if he’s happy with his role in Doomsday. (In Loki, He Who Remains warned that destroying the Temporal Loom would mean causing a “brutal war where nothing survives,” including the Sacred Timeline, setting up a multiversal conflict in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.)

“I do know some things. I know some things,” he teased. “It’s an extraordinary privilege to still be on the team, and that there’s more stories to tell. I feel like the character has grown as I’ve grown, and it’s genuinely an honor to still be in the squad.”

Hiddleston hasn’t appeared on the film side of the MCU since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, which set up the events of the Loki series when a variant from the 2012 timeline escaped a branched reality. It was that variant who went on to become the God of Stories at the End of Time after his counterpart — the exact Loki who unwittingly assembled the Avengers — died at the hands of Thanos in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War.

In 2023, Hiddleston described the Loki series finale, titled “Glorious Purpose,” as a “full circle” ending to the series premiere, also titled “Glorious Purpose.”

“It’s the conclusion of season two. It’s also the conclusion to seasons one and two. It’s also the conclusion to six films and 12 episodes and 14 years of my life,” he said on The Tonight Show at the time. “I was 29 when I was cast, I’m 42 now. it’s been a journey.”

Loki executive producer Kevin R. Wright also confirmed that Loki was, at the time, meant to be a sendoff for the character who had burdened his brother (Chris Hemsworth) since Thor in 2011.

“I think [Hiddleston’s] approach to that performance certainly was [a sendoff], and I think we all felt that on set. We wanted this to feel like a proper ending for our show, but that does not mean that there won’t be more Loki or stories within this world,” Wright told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. “We just wanted to give this a proper ending in a way that we often don’t get to do in the MCU. But also, in Marvel comics and the history of comics, the end of a comic run doesn’t mean the end of that character or those stories.”

“And if there’s another story to be told or further stories to be told with what we’re doing here — and it’s with the right filmmakers and the right writers and the right team — then we would love to continue to see Tom,” Wright continued. “I also said this in season one, but I honestly think Tom will play Loki until he’s Richard E. Grant’s Classic Loki. It’s about the right thing and when we’re doing it, and being really careful about how we build those stories.”

In March, during a five-and-a-half-hour livestream, Marvel announced the first 27 actors so far confirmed to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In addition to former Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. returning to the MCU, this time in the role of villain Doctor Doom, the confirmed Doomsday includes Hiddleston and Hemsworth as Loki and Thor, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America, and Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man.

Letitia Wright (Shuri/Black Panther), Simu Liu (Shang-Chi), Danny Ramirez (Joaquin Torres/the Falcon), Tenoch Huerta Mejía (Namor the Sub-Mariner), Winston Duke (M’Baku), Mabel Cadena (Namora), Alex Livinalli (Attuma), and Channing Tatum (Remy LaBeau/Gambit) are joined by Thunderbolts* stars Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova/Black Widow), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier), David Harbour (Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian), Hannah John-Kamen (Ava Starr/Ghost), Wyatt Russell (John Walker/U.S. Agent), and Lewis Pullman (Bob Reynolds/Sentry).

The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm/Human Torch), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/the Thing) are confirmed to return, as are former X-Men franchise stars Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), with Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler) and Kelsey Grammer (Beast).

Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to release in theaters on Dec. 18, 2026, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on Dec. 17, 2027.