We need to talk about Loki (At least I do)

 

I'm not really sure how to start this. I am a fairly big Loki fan and when I say fairly I mean huge and even that is downplaying it. He is my favorite marvel character by far. I loved him when he had hair that looked like a Christmas tree. And had basically no redeeming qualities. He was the Scar esque villain and I loved him basically for that reason. I never needed/wanted a redemption arc for him, but I'm glad we ended up getting one anyway. The only thing I was slightly irked by in Infinity War was that he didn't attempt to trick Thanos. He's the god of mischief and he basically handed himself over. I know he sacrificed himself for his brother, and I don't take issue with that, it's more about how he didn't use an illusion or any of his skills to do so. 

Out of all the series, Marvel was dropping this year. Loki was the one I was anticipating the most. I tried really hard to not have high expectations and the trailers gave me some confidence as it looked chaotic and fun, which is all I really want to see from something like this. That and more of Loki himself.

This leads to the reason why I didn't love this show. (at least the first episode) 

Mischaracterization:

 Definition of mischaracterization

: the act or an instance of characterizing someone or something wrongly

Some examples in other characters:

Jack Sparrow batering away his compass in the 5th movie for rum, when he has never paid for something nor would.

Kaz Brekker being incredibly obvious about his attachment to Inej even though it's said he has the best poker face in the barrel. Where is it though?

I also hate when people try to explain this away with elaborate theories when 9 times out of 10 it's just bad or lazy writing. 

This is something that happens fairly often in show/movies/ books especially series. There are always details that are added that contradict others. Sometimes as time goes on characters drift further away from the source material and usually, it's not due to natural growth or a character arc. 

I know nothing is perfect and this kind of stuff happens. But in some cases, it's so blatant and wrong that it makes it difficult to watch. Hence my issue with Loki. 

He is terribly mischaracterized in this show. 

The way he acts and talks feels off to me, and I feel like I can say that with cofidence considering how long I've been following this character.

They've dumbed him down a bit, which is annoying because he's always been fairly clever.

He is the punchline of most scenes which feels incredibly off for his character, he's supposed to always have a trick up his sleeve and I'm all for characters not being in their element and stuff, but it shouldn't change them this much. It worked in Ragnarok but it doesn't here.

They've tried very hard to make you sympathetic towards him which seemed pointless considering how many people liked him already and how much they had to retcon to make it fit their narrative. 

The line that made all the fangirls swoon made me furious. "I don't enjoying hurting people."

Except that he does or at the very least did. I hate that Marvel can never seem to have a morally grey character. Everything has to fit nicely into the Hero or Villain bracket or they don't know what to do with it. Were there probably deeper psychological reasons for his appetite for destruction, yes. But does having him say this fix it all. No. 

like it would be in line with the current timeline Loki, the one we had before he died, but not 2012 Loki who seemed to enjoy making people suffer, and he was defintely not that emotionally vulnerable.

I can't see 2012 Loki crying over his father   or his own death. He would be denying it adamently or furious. He's always hidden his emotions, I could see him getting upset about his mother though, so I don't take issue with that at all. 

So unlike everyone who got emotional at that part I was just annoyed. His reactions don't line up. 

The character development that took years happens in five minutes.

 Someone really needs to tell Marvel they can't have their cake and eat it too. If you wanted this to be 2012 timeline Loki you needed to make me believe it was 2012 timeline Loki and not a weird mishmash of Ragnarok/ Tom Hiddleston in a wig/ with Avengers Loki fashion sense. This version of Loki is a mess and even though everyone on Tumblr and beyond seems to love it. I find myself unable to enjoy it. 

2012 Loki wasn't sympathetic and regretful. He was angry and wanted to rule over something/ anything. He wanted his birthright and if he didn't get it he was going to demand/ kill for it. Also screw Marvel for reitterating what his father said to him.

I do think Loki was under Thanos control at that time, but I think it just made him more aggressive and heightened already existing emotions. It made him do a few things I don't think he would generally do, but other than that I don't think his actions are excusable because of that fact. He made similar choices in the first Thor movie and while his anger and frustration make sense. He still chose to be the victim and used that as an excuse to play the villain.

He's not innocent and that's okay.

He was not a good person. He betrayed Thor intentionally and wanted to hurt him. I hate when people try to wipe away any of the bad things he did. He is not a child and was fully aware of what he was doing, and the thing I loved was that Thor loved him despite anything he did, that was what made their relationship so fascinating. Loki insisting that he's not worth holding onto and Thor unwilling to let him go. That's the good stuff. You're not supposed to like him and yet through Thor's eyes, you do. 

I think this is the first place Marvel went wrong I think they assumed we only started liking Loki after Ragnarok. Where they completely flipped the script and softened all of Loki's edges. That we only like him if he's good. 

• He never wanted to be a harsh ruler/ he wanted a statue and plays
• His attempts to kill Thor is just a game to them that they've done since childhood
• He tricks/betrays people because of who he is, it's never meant maliciously 

All of Ragnarok is essentially out of character too, but for some reason, I was able to enjoy this one. For one it has some of my favorite looks out of all the movies. The banter between him and Thor is hilarious and mirrors their banter from The Dark World. I tend to think of it as a parody of Thor. He also never strays too far from his original self that it never felt completely off. He's always been more or less the sassy counterpart to Thor. So unlike some characters that drifted widely from the source material *cough* Thor. His changes were much smaller and I didn't take much issue with it. 

But the Loki they're presenting us with now doesn't fit any of the previous incarnations that we've seen. He doesn't even talk how he used to. Loki has always spoken very formally and with biting sarcasm. They change that a bit in Ragnarok, but still kept remnants. In Loki, his lines are a strange mix of the two. He repeats some lines from Avengers which made me roll my eyes and didn't convince me that this is the Loki who time-traveled away from his current course.

It just showed me that when they are given the main spotlight to place on this character they have no idea what to do with it. He's also a well-established character, which is why I'm being more nitpicky with it than with WandaVison (Which I loved) or The Falcon & the Winter Soldier ( Too political and a bit flat, but I did enjoy it)

Marvel has more free reign with a character like Bucky, he only said a handful of lines, and the most we knew about him had more to do with Steve. Even Wanda had a ton of wiggle room. She was more of a side character. Loki has had far more screen time agency and even a full character arc. The fact that Marvel tried to retcon most of his character traits really annoyed me. 

The whole time travel agency isn't confusing it's just dumb and I hate when shows give really dumb reasons to cover up plotholes or throw away their own lore for a joke (Infinity stones as paperweights funny but really)

They're taking the piss out of their own shows, and it's not as funny as they seem to think. The humor falls flat at points, it felt like it was trying too hard and most of the physical humor just failed to land. If you did like it though, that's great it just wasn't to my personal taste. 

I hope they change my mind with subsequent episodes. I want to like it, and I will continue to watch it even just for Tom Hiddleston and my boi.( I am glad that he got his own show, and I now have endless gif material.) He is incredibly talented and still one of my favorite actors. I'll probably be doing fanart. I love his hair. There were moments where I glimpsed the character that I was waiting for, and I hope there's more. I want to like this, so I hope they suprise me. 

Guess I'm just a little bitter.  *Durza voice*  I expected ... well more.

And that's on me.