Any superhero movie is only as good as its villain, with both Marvel and DC having mixed experiences with the heel side of the equation. For Marvel, there's perhaps no more popular character than Tom Hiddleston's Loki, who has been the center of the Thor trilogy up to this point. Meanwhile, the reaction to Jesse Eisenberg's performance as Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has been either negative or lukewarm at best. Fans obviously want more of one and probably less of the other, but will they get their wish? Eh, not necessarily.
Speaking with The Daily Beast, Hiddleston said Thor: Ragnarok is his final time suiting up as Loki. So no more surprises appearances at Comic-Con, kiddies!
"'Thor 3' will be cool because I’ve not done it for four years. I love working with Chris [Hemsworth]. This will be my last time out of the gate."
D'oh! But surely he'll be part of the company-wide crossover Avengers: Infinity War? Hiddleston's actually not sure about that at all...
“I don’t know! Honestly, I don’t know,” Hiddleston said. “They haven’t got their ducks in a row yet. They make it up as they go along.”
Nice jab at the meticulous planning favored by Kevin Feige there at the end. Obviously this is sad news since Loki has been the kind of bad guy you love to hate, and there aren't any other characters quite like him in the MCU.
As for Eisenberg's Lex Luthor, he's very clearly been set up to return. It's just a matter of when, and the actor isn't sure if that necessarily means he'll turn up in Zack Snyder's Justice League movies. He tells Business Insider...
“I don’t know if they are so settled on where my character goes. I only hope I have another opportunity to work with these wonderful people and play this interesting character."
Maybe Warner Bros. "makes it up as they go along" too? Probably not, and chances are Luthor won't be around since Snyder begins shooting in just a few weeks. However, it would be odd if didn't at least turn up for Justice League Part Two, which doesn't arrive until 2019.
