Despite what was presented to us on screen in Avengers: Infinity War, many fans have doubted the veracity of the death of Loki, strangled before his adoptive brother Thor's eye in the prologue to the Avengers sequel. The opening sequence marked the third time the Marvel God of Mischief has supposedly met his untimely end on screen, alongside 2011's Thor featuring Loki plummeting from the broken Bifrost Bridge in the film's climax and faking his death while facing the Dark Elf Kurse in 2013's Thor: The Dark World.

But while Thor himself believes Loki's demise in Infinity War to be genuine and permanent, the announcement that Tom Hiddleston will return to reprise his star-making role as Loki in a planned live-action miniseries for Disney's premium streaming service, Disney Play, has fueled speculation that the God of Mischief has cheated death yet again.

RELATED: Disney’s Streaming Plans Will Likely Kill Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD

Yes, he's cheated death twice before, but there was something more visceral and final about the way Thanos squeezed the life from the Asgardian. Why, then, do fans insist he's alive? After all, the Loki series could just as easily take place before or in between his film appearances rather than after Avengers 4's closing act.

Most fan theories observe that, in his final moments, Loki attempts to stab Thanos with his offhand as cited by Reddit user radkarth. In previous appearances, Hiddleston's Loki had used his right hand as his dominant hand with the sole exception prior to Infinity War being The Dark World...when he fakes his own death. It appears that whenever Loki creates a false projection of himself, the doppelgänger is a flipped incarnation, meaning the it favors the opposite hand.

While previous versions of Loki's projected doubles were depicted as intangible, tricking opponents in Thor, The Avengers and Thor: Ragnarok, the version seen in The Dark World was a hard projection as it was able to be held by Kurse. This inconsistency was originally a production oversight: The filmmakers had intended to kill off Loki for good in the 2013 Thor sequel, but after seeing how popular the character was with fans, the decision was reversed, with the character's final fate posing as Odin on the throne of Asgard added during reshoots.

RELATED: Avengers 4 Directors Tease Fans to ‘Look Hard’ At New Photo

This plot hole may work to the God of Mischief's favor once again, explaining why the Mad Titan was able to grab ahold of Loki after his failed stabbing attempt if it was truly only a false projection that Thanos squeezed the life out of and cradled by his brother after the Black Order's departure. From there, the theory assumes Loki survived both the destruction of the Asgardian spacecraft and Thanos' climactic snap to live to fight another day.

Supporting this theory is Loki's appearance during the Infinity War prologue itself. Pointed out by Reddit user arhyssolacemustdie, all of the other Asgardians present in the opening scene are visibly battle-damaged, including a wounded Thor and Heimdall, while Loki himself is reasonably well-presented given the circumstances. His relatively clean appearance compared to his sweaty, bloodied comrades could do with familiarity; as seen in The Avengers, this is not the first time Loki has interacted with Thanos with the two former allies clearly demonstrating a history but another theory is that his appearance may be due to not being present at all.

Page 2:



A slightly more far-fetched theory, suggested on Twitter by Ease editorial director Josh L. Dickey, is that Loki is posing as Bruce Banner throughout Infinity War explaining why the gamma-radiated scientist is unable to turn into the Hulk over the course of the film.

However, given the Hulk's initial bout with Thanos in the prologue, along with the recurring plot element of Banner becoming progressively more frustrated over his inability to transform into the Green Goliath in the face of overwhelming danger, we're not sold on this one. This sort of reaction would be out of place if it was Loki posing as Banner. After all, why would the trickster be frustrated in his private moments if he was faking his identity?

RELATED: Avengers 4 Cast & Crew Photo Sparks Speculation About Fan Favorite’s Return

Perhaps the most likely theory about Loki's return isn't that the god is faking his death at all, but rather tied to the mounting evidence that Avengers 4 will significantly involve time travel. Set photos have revealed locations from previous MCU films including, most prominently, the climactic Battle of New York from The Avengers. Loki served as the principal antagonist during the attempted alien invasion of NYC and will likely reappear in sequences set during the battle as Hiddleston has been spotted on set for Avengers 4 in costume as Loki once again.

hulk vs loki avengers

RELATED: Loki Was Responsible For the MCU’s Ragnarok All Along

With the upcoming MCU film rumored to feature the time-traveling heroes changing history by revisiting key moments in the cinematic universe's history, perhaps Loki's death in the Infinity War prologue will be one of the elements effectively retconned away by the end of the film. This change in history would spare the trickster from Thanos' wrath and set him up for future adventures beyond Avengers 4's conclusion.

Page 3:



The final possibility is that Loki's planned live-action series won't resurrect the character at all. As we said earlier,there is no indication of when, exactly, the events of the series are supposed to unfold, and with the Asgardians and frost giants living for millennia, the series could be set at any point across the MCU's timeline.

The concept of playing across unseen periods of MCU history isn't unprecedented; Agent Carter, which was directly overseen by Marvel Studios execs Louis D'Esposito and Kevin Feige, was set shortly after 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger and before the 1950s archive footage of Peggy Carter seen in 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier. A Loki spinoff series could similarly take place either before Thor, or the involve character's whereabouts between the 2011 film and his reappearance in The Avengers, possibly even showing the origins of his tenuous alliance with Thanos.

RELATED: Loki & Scarlet Witch: What We Know About Marvel’s Streaming Plans

Ever since his arrival in theaters seven years ago, Hiddleston's Loki has been one of the most beloved characters in the MCU defying death both on screen and behind-the-scenes due to strong, positive fan response. Across the entire Thor trilogy and the first and third Avengers films, audiences have followed the character as he lies, cheats, and generally deceives the characters of the MCU in his lifelong ambition to prove himself worthy to the throne of Asgard and just generally stir up all manner of trouble along the way while maintaining that defining love/hate relationship with his adoptive brother.

In the meantime, the next appearance of the Marvel God of Mischief will almost assuredly be in May's Avengers 4, though the exact capacity of his return, be it temporary or permanent, is still unknown. But with a live-action miniseries starring the character in active development by Marvel Studios, with Hiddleston confirmed to reprise his fan-favorite role, we do know, at least, that Avengers: Infinity War was not the final appearance of Loki in the MCU.