'Thor: Ragnarok' Cast May Not Include Tom Hiddleston; Actor Says He's Not Sure If He'll Ever Play Loki In The MCU Again

Although many fans feel like it’s a given, Tom Hiddleston isn’t as sure as fans that his character, Loki, will return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Despite acting as the principal villain in “Thor” and “The Avengers,” as well as a guest role in “Thor: The Dark World,” the actor says he hasn’t yet been approached to return for the third installment.

Speaking to Coming Soon, the “Crimson Peak” actor revealed that, despite being a beloved fan-favorite in the MCU, he’s not sure if Loki will ever return to the big screen. Obviously the most likely occasion for Loki’s return would be in 2017’s “Thor: Ragnarok,” but Hiddleston has not yet been asked to come back. But that hasn’t stopped him from speculating with his co-star Chris Hemsworth about what their characters are thinking and feeling after three movies together.

“You know, I don’t know,” Hiddleston said when asked if his character would become less of a villain. “I think I won’t be able to help if I ever play him again, and I just don’t know when that’s going to happen, if that’s going to happen. I would never lose his dimension, but it’s so interesting. I’ve talked with Chris Hemsworth, how those characters have changed as we’ve changed. It’s five years ago since I played him for the first time, that’s a long time ago. So who knows what I’ll be cooking up?”

The reason most fans have been taking Loki’s involvement in the third standalone “Thor” movie for granted is simply that the last time they saw the character, his story arc was left on a pretty spectacular cliffhanger. At the end of “Thor: The Dark World,” [SPOILER ALERT] Loki had tricked his brother Thor into believing he’d sacrificed himself to save him. But it was soon revealed that Loki had returned and somehow dethroned their father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and taken his place on the throne of Asgard – making himself look like his father, of course.

Thor left to go live with Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) on Earth and inadvertently left his brother in charge of his home world. As CinemaBlend notes, after the events of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” reveal to Thor that someone is trying to gather all of the powerful Infinity Stones together, he decides to return home, presumably for the first time since “Thor: The Dark World.” As a result, many expect that Thor’s journey in “Ragnarok” will begin with discovering what havoc his power-hungry brother has reduced Asgard to.

According to ScreenCrush, Hiddleston’s comments can mean one of three things. First, since “Thor: Ragnarok” isn’t scheduled to hit theaters until Nov. 3, 2017, Marvel may just be dragging its feet in getting its principal stars in line. Second, Hiddleston is signed on and is simply choosing to keep things hush-hush to avoid being bombarded with questions about the role. Third, and perhaps most horrifying of all, Marvel Studios has no plans to bring Loki back in “Thor: Ragnarok.”

Would you like to see Loki return in the next “Thor” movie? Perhaps a different Phase 3 Marvel movie instead? Comment below or tweet your thoughts on the matter to @TylerMcCarthy.