First introduced as the adopted brother of Thor , Loki has been a longtime antagonist within the Marvel Universe, who caused the formation of the Avengers and often clashing against various superheroes in his bids for power and chaotic destruction. The son of the evil Frost Giant Laufey, Loki went on to become the Norse God of Mischief, deceiving and manipulating everyone around him in Asgard and beyond However, after Tom Hiddleston's fan-favorite portrayal of the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the character took a more sympathetic and, on occasion, even heroic turn in the comics as fan interest in the character grew.

With the character receiving his own comic series this summer and the MCU incarnation getting his own Disney+ series with Hiddleston reprising his role, here's an overview of Loki's unexpected heroic turn in the comics and how it paralleled his adventures on the big screen.

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HOW LOKI BECAME A HERO

Kid Loki

In the final moments of the 2010 comic book crossover Siege, Loki realized that the Cabal of the Marvel Universe's villains intended to destroy Asgard and attempted to stop them only before being murdered by the Void. After apologizing to Thor with his dying breath, Loki was reincarnated in the form of a child in Paris, since he had previously tricked Hela into removing his name from the Book of Hel ensuring an eventual resurrection.

After having a portion of his memory restored by Thor, Kid Loki is determined to become his own, less villainous person despite being haunted by an echo of his previous adult self. After Thor is killed during the events of the comic crossover Fear Itself, Kid Loki teams up with the Silver Surfer to resurrect his brother though at the expense of having Mephisto threaten all of reality. In order to thwart Mephisto's plans, Kid Loki sacrifices himself with his dark echo regaining control of his body though haunted by the child incarnation of himself.

HOW LOKI BECAME AN AGENT OF ASGARD

Loki reboot

While still more of the traditional villain than he had been as a child, Kid Loki's spirit continually reminds the restored Loki of the price of his constant deceit and fuels an immense sense of guilt. Now serving as a member of the Young Avengers, Loki tricks Wiccan to age him into a teenager to boost his powers as the trickster attempted to regain the full potential he had lost when killed as an adult by the Void.

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Now tasked by the All-Mother to protect Midgard working with human Verity Willis, Loki finds himself ensnared by King Loki, a villainous alternate future version of himself. Horrified by this vision of himself from the far-future, the newly christened Agent of Asgard works to avoid becoming this future self. After learning of the murder of Kid Loki, Thor has Loki banished from Asgard where he enters a final confrontation with King Loki only for their meeting to be cut short by the destruction of the Marvel Multiverse during Secret Wars. In the wake of that crossover, Loki returned to being Marvel's ultimate wild card, and he even launched a failed presidential run,

HOW THE MCU LOKI INFLUENCED COMIC BOOK LOKI

While slightly predating Loki's debut in the MCU, Loki's heroic turn was largely informed by Hiddleston's acclaimed performance as the God of Mischief. Loki was only deaged following the 2011 original Thor film, and his younger self resembled his MCU counterpart with longer hair and more traditionally handsome features. And just as Loki would skirt the line between villain on the big screen, his comic book counterpart would experience more internal conflict whether to embrace his more sinister instincts.

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Loki is one of the most complex characters in the Marvel Universe both on the printed page and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While eternally struggling between engaging in heroic or villainous actions coinciding with the character's theatrical debut, the only thing predictable about Marvel's Norse God of Mischief is his own unpredictability, even with himself.