When it was confirmed by a brief shot in a Loki promo that the mischievous Asgardian was canonically gender-fluid, the internet was gripped by a sea of celebration and more than a little pearl-clutching on either side of the divide. Obviously, we’re talking about an interdimensional supervillain in a shared universe of stories adapted from comic books, but those decrying the death of the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the hands of the “woke mob” clearly haven’t brushed up on their Norse mythology.
In any case, there’s a very strong chance that sex and/or gender won’t even factor into Loki at all, whether it’s from a narrative, dialogue or ideological standpoint. For close to a thousand years it’s been a key part of the trickster’s personality, though, and he’s gotten up to all sort of wild and crazy things over the centuries by making use of both his fluidity and penchant for shapeshifting, something which Tom Hiddleston is keenly aware of, as he revealed in a new interview.
“It has been in the story of the character for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Loki is a trickster. Boundaries and identity has always been fluid and I’ve really enjoyed that. I remember even when I was first cast reading about that stuff and I’m really pleased that we have a place to explore it.”
On one mythological occasion, Loki tied a rope around his testicles to have a tug of war with a goat, in an effort to dissuade a vengeful giantess from seeking retribution for the death of her father, for some reason. He also once transformed into a horse and ended up pregnant, giving birth to an eight-legged steed named Slepnir, which is technically MCU canon as well, after Odin was seen riding the beast into battle in the first Thor.
He shapeshifted himself into a lovely handmaiden to infiltrate a giant’s wedding to reclaim his brother’s hammer, too, and he even fathered three children with a giantess named Angrboda that turned out to be a snake, a wolf and a zombie, so a piece of paper in a Disney Plus show making it official is hardly tearing up the rulebook.
