After Thor: Ragnarok revealed a third child of Odin, a common joke among Marvel fans was that the Allfather must have made a mistake and Thor’s actually the adopted one. After all, Loki and Hela are so alike that they have to be biological brother and sister. But if Loki’s a Frost Giant, how come he looks so much like Odin’s first born?
Well, a new theory might’ve found the perfect explanation for Loki and Hela’s similar appearance. It pools together information from 2011’s Thor and Ragnarok to work out that the mirrored looks might subconsciously be a deliberate effort on Loki’s part.
Inferring from a moment in Ragnarok when Loki appeared to read Valkyrie’s mind, it says that baby Loki saw a memory of Odin holding his own daughter when he was found by the warrior king as an infant. This is why he changed from his natural Frost Giant form upon being picked up and transformed into a Caucasian, green-eyed baby.
This is a smartly-conceived theory that does a good job of making sense of a story that clearly developed in unexpected ways as the Thor franchise went on. For instance, Hela’s actually Loki’s daughter in the comics (and the original Norse mythology), which is why they typically look alike.
However, this alternate explanation for their revamped familial relationship works well, plus it adds a tragic new element to Loki’s character. When Odin found him as a baby, he attempted to impersonate his other child in order to be wanted by the old man. Doesn’t that make you want to give the trickster god a hug?
The apocalyptic-level sibling rivalry between Thor, Loki and Hela was so enjoyable in Thor: Ragnarok that we’d love to see them unite again. Unfortunately, though, two out of the three are most likely dead as things stand, but fingers crossed that some sort of reset in Avengers 4 will bring them back to life.
