Disney, the powerhouse of entertainment, is shockingly bad at writing their characters. This is evident through multiple Marvel characters. From glossing over the trauma they put their characters through to changing the motive and personality of a character every other movie, they can’t seem to effectively create their characters.
This is most evident in the character Loki, known as the egotistical, narcissistic brother of Thor. Loki is most known for his villainous role in The Avengers movie, and he is a great example of Disney’s awful writing.
In The Avengers, Loki is a shallow, self-centered, man-baby who wants nothing more than for the people of Earth to bow at his feet. A perfect picture of villainy. Or he would be, if that was where his story started.
The first movie Loki appeared in was Thor, where his motives and overall personality were much more tolerable than in The Avengers. His motive wasn’t to be vindictive; it was to get recognition he never got. He desperately craved the attention and praise Thor got from their father and Asgard as a whole.
Loki’s story seemingly ended with the conclusion of the movie when he purposely fell off a bridge after realizing he’d never be loved like Thor. But he ended up surviving his suicide attempt and that’s where The Avengers movie starts.
After going through as much trauma as Loki did, you would think it would be brought up in the next movie or even be the main topic of discussion for his character, but you would be wrong. Disney decided to never bring up Loki’s failed suicide attempt again and make him a petty villain in the next movie, completely diminishing him into a one dimensional character.
Loki’s character has heaping amounts of potential. His heartbreaking motives and moral gray area could breed some interesting plot lines, but if you put a character in a box labeled “just a villain” then that’s what you’re going to get. Just a villain.
At the end of Thor: Ragnarok, Disney started to give Loki a redemption arc: hope at a better future with his brother by his side. But in the very next movie, they killed him off in the opening scene and called it a day. This enraged a lot of Loki fans, including me.
While this seemed like the end of his character, as many Marvel fans know, Loki never truly dies. Disney released the Loki Series this summer, and it gave me hope for the character. Disney claimed Loki would be at the forefront of the TV show with no one overshadowing him and he would get a lot of character development. But what we got was more than a disappointment.
The first episode is filled with other characters holding Loki accountable for his actions, and he feels remorse for them.They took a deep dive into the interesting psyche of Loki, finally using the character to his full potential. I was blown away by how amazing the writing and plot was.
Then episode three happened. The entire show ends up centered around a variation of Loki, named Sylvie, who has the most annoying personality I’ve ever seen in a Marvel character, which is saying a lot. Throughout the rest of the season Sylvie continuously bullies and ridicules Loki for simply being himself. It felt like Disney was trying to tear down the character they worked so hard to build up in the first episode.
Along with bullying their own character, Disney decided to repeatedly bring up how much of an egotistical narcissist Loki is, which is not true. Loki doesn’t want power because he feels like he’s entitled to it, he just wants recognition. This, once again, demeans the character by making Loki one dimensional.
While the show is attempting to give Loki a redemption arc, Sylvie’s storyline vastly overshadows that. Sylvie is the main conflict, Loki’s love interest, and completes her life’s mission at the expense of Loki and the rest of the universe. She is made into the main character even though the show is literally named after Loki.
Every movie Loki has ever been in the spotlight was never on him. That’s why the idea of a show solely about him was so intriguing. But only after the third episode the spotlight is stolen away from him once again.
Loki is Sylvie’s punching bag and he just puts up with it. In the attempt to give the character growth Disney stripped him of all his personality and spirit. He is now a kind, soft spoken guy, who is drastically different from the sassy and clever character he was before.
When it comes to writing, Disney does an awful job, especially with Loki. They wasted a character who could have been a favorite across the fandom. Now he’s condemned to the fate of being just another shallow villain who’ll get a bad redemption arc.