In Loki, Marvel Studios revealed that the God of Mischief is bisexual. It was a small moment, but one that meant an awful lot to MCU fans hoping for a greater level of representation on screen.
There has been some criticism of the decision to confirm the character's bisexuality before having him romantically pursue someone of the opposite sex, but for the most part, the response to this reveal has been a positive one. Talking to Variety, actor Tom Hiddleston expressed his excitement to be involved in a moment that helps the MCU better "reflect the world we live in."
"Back from my early days of researching the character in the ancient myths, the identity of Loki was fluid in every aspect and in gender, in sexuality," he explained. "It’s a very ancient part of the character and I think I thought about it. It hadn’t emerged in the stories we’ve told. And I was really pleased and privileged, actually, that it came up in the series."
"It’s a small step. There’s so much more to do," Hiddleston continued. "But the Marvel Cinematic Universe has to reflect the world we live in. So it was an honor to bring that up. It was really important to me. It was really important to [director] Kate Herron and [showrunner] Michael Waldron, and I’m pleased that we could bring it into our story."
Whether Loki will have room to further explore the anti-hero's sexuality in the future is hard to say, especially as the next batch of episodes will pick with him in an alternate timeline ruled over by Kang the Conqueror's TVA. We find it hard to imagine him and Sylvie patching things up after her actions in the finale, so either Variant could find new romantic interests next time we see them.
Marvel Studios recently introduced lesbian superhero America Chavez in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, though her sexuality was never really addressed in a meaningful way. As Hiddleston suggests (though he's obviously not referring to the Doctor Strange sequel), there's still work to do.
Loki season 2 starts shooting this summer for an expected 2023 release.
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