Will Tom Hiddleston get his own Loki film?
Fans and critics alike are keen for a spin-off from Thor franchise – but Marvel will have to be quick to pin down the British star
With filming due to start on the third, and likely final, Thor movie, many fans are wondering if it will be the last we see of Tom Hiddleston's Loki.
The British actor's smouldering portrayal of the villainous trickster god is widely regarded as the main attraction of the franchise with many fans calling for Loki to get a standalone movie.
However, in a new interview with the Daily Beast, Hiddleston suggested that his contract with Marvel was coming to an end, saying that Thor 3 "will be my last time out of the gate."
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That said, the star's rapid rise to become one of Hollywood's hottest properties might change all that. As well as lighting up TV screens in the UK in the brooding spy thriller The Night Manager, Hiddleston is garnering praise in the US for his portrayal of troubled country music legend Hank Williams in the biopic I Saw The Light. He is also being tipped as a top favourite to play the next James Bond.
The momentum behind Hiddleston could turn a Loki spin-off into Marvel's next huge success, argues Ben Child in The Guardian. The recent success of Deadpool and the hype surrounding DC's Suicide Squad movie suggest that letting Loki die out with the Thor franchise would be a "serious error", Child says. "Hiddleston's Loki is probably the only villain in the Marvel universe with the bad boy chops to compete with Harley Quinn et al."
In addition to his professional success, Hiddleston has also managed to establish himself as an A-list heart-throb. In November last year, Empire magazine named him the second sexiest actor in Hollywood – and even singled out his role as Loki for "turning fratricidal angst into frenzied lust for millions of viewers worldwide". If nothing else, surely Marvel would be missing a trick if they didn't capitalise on Loki's unusually potent sex appeal?
Even if a spin-off isn't on the cards, many fans suspect that Loki will pop up for a cameo in Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War in 2018. However, the 35-year-old actor has downplayed the rumours, telling the Daily Beast: "They haven't got their ducks in a row yet. They make it up as they go along."
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