Speaking on the podcast Seaman Saysthe actor who gives life to Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tom Hiddlestonrevealed some of the details of his first contract with Marvel Studios.
Hiddleston described how unorthodox his contract was and revealed that Marvel Studios had the right to cast him in either the role of Thor or the role of Loki.
It was really curious. This was not very normal in the industry, but I signed. Basically, they pre-negotiated my contract before I went to the audition and I signed it. But I realized that morning that it said, ‘Marvel Studios has the right to cast Tom Hiddleston in the role of…’ and there was a blank space and someone had written: ‘Thor/Loki.’
We knew that Hiddleston had auditioned for the role of Thor, but until now we didn’t know that Marvel Studios seriously considered him for it. Hiddleston also acknowledged that he doesn’t believe anyone else’s contract would have two characters like his.
And I thought, ‘Oh, I wonder if anyone else’s says that.’ To be honest, I don’t think I did.
It was shortly after Chris Hemsworth, the actor who finally landed the role of Thor, and he learned that Marvel’s plans for them went far beyond the film. thorwhich was a surprise since they thought the audition was just for a movie.
And after that, very shortly after, they called Chris Hemsworth and me on the same day and said, ‘Look, we’re going to build these two characters together, we’re going to introduce them at the same time, and you’re going to have this huge experience.’ Because also, Chris and I thought we were auditioning for just one movie.
The first time Hiddleston met with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was to talk about The Avengers.
And I remember Kevin Feige first called me at the office and said, ‘Look, congratulations. ‘Loki is a great role and Thor will be a great movie, but I want to talk to you about The Avengers.’
Fiege laid out all the plans for Phase 1 of the MCU, ending with Loki as the villain of the Avengers movie, which surprised Hiddleston. He said his life changed radically after that moment.
And I said, ‘What?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, well, we’ll make a Thor movie, and then we’ll make a Captain America movie, and then we’ll make an Avengers movie.’ Loki will be the villain in the Avengers movie, because he was the first villain in the first Avengers’ comic. And I was like, literally, floating when I walked out of that meeting. My life was about to change radically, and it did.
