The 'Loki' Series At Disney+ Spans Six Hours, Says Tom Hiddleston
Perhaps one of the most surprising projects on the roster of Disney+ shows from Marvel Studios is the series focusing on Tom Hiddleston reprising his role as Loki. And after the events of Avengers: Endgame, we understood how that would work. Now we have word on exactly how long we'll be spending with the god of mischief when the show arrives in the spring of 2021, and it gives us some idea of how Disney and Marvel are able to bring these big screen characters to their streaming service without breaking the bank.
Speaking with MTV News while doing publicity for his upcoming Broadway debut in Betrayal, Tom Hiddleston casually mentioned that the Loki series at Disney+ would be spanning "six hours." That's much shorter than the usual TV series on network television, and it's even shorter than the typical run of a season for a series on cable, even premium networks like HBO and Showtime. That explains how Disney and Marvel are able to spend the money to get their big screen stars on these shows and hopefully still have the budget to pull of blockbuster-level special effects.
Unfortunately, aside from that detail, Tom Hiddleston wasn't able to offer up much more than that. Though he did confirm that having Rick and Morty writer Michael Waldron as showrunner certainly brings some comedy to the table, he also hinted at what might turn out to be a second redemption for Loki.
When discussing the idea of this Loki being the version of the character from The Avengers in 2012, who hasn't learned any valuable life lessons yet, Hiddleston noted, "That's where he starts." So clearly the series will give him another character arc to follow, one that might send him on a bit of a different trajectory, especially since Hiddleston also noted that there are some "formidable opponents" that he'll meet, the likes of which Loki has never seen before. The actor said:
"I feel like I know [Loki], I've been playing him for 10 years now, and that's crazy to me. By the time it's out, I'll be 40. When I was cast I was 29, which is a great chunk of my life...but the point is, there's a sense of 'I know this character now, I feel the audience knows him.' Playing him, and playing him truthfully, but presenting him with new challenges which then have to change him in different ways is the most exciting aspect of it. You have his specific gifts, his intelligence, his treachery, his mischief, his magic, and then seeing him come up against more formidable opponents the like of which he has never seen or known. I wish I could tell you what happens, but I can't."
You can watch the full interview with MTV News below, where the Loki part of the interview begins around 13:26.