‘Loki’ Head Writer Explains Alligator Loki: “It’s So Stupid, But It Also Makes Total Sense”

Tom Hiddleston isn’t sure whether Alligator Loki – the alligator wearing golden horns in the latest episode of Marvel’s Disney+ series Loki – is actually an alternate universe version of a Loki, or if it’s just an alligator. “The question is, ‘Is he really Loki? Or is he just green?'” Hiddleston said in a new interview. “It’s such a funny question that [the Lokis] all bicker about. One thing about Loki is that Loki loves to be right. And they all have a different opinion about this alligator.”

Another person with an opinion about Alligator Loki is Michael Waldron, the show’s head writer. And here’s Waldron’s explanation of how this completely original character who does not appear in any of the comic books made its way onto the series and into some pretty good company.

Speaking with Marvel.com, Waldron revealed that the idea for Alligator Loki came out of a meeting he was having with a couple of the show’s producers. “We were talking about [how] we want to meet many different versions of Loki in this show,” he said. “I was just like, there should be an Alligator Loki. And it’s like, well, why? Because he’s green.” Who needs more explanation than that?

The character makes quite a splash in the show’s fifth episode, stealing scenes from the likes of guest star Richard E. Grant. Director Kate Herron explained that they used a stuffed animal as a stand-in on the set, which someone added googly eyes to as a joke. Here’s a photo of the “diva” between takes, courtesy of Herron’s Twitter account:

“We had some early versions when we were doing visual effects that probably were a bit too cute, in the sense of it was a bit more like a cartoony kind of alligator,” Herron told Marvel.com. “But it just became funnier and funnier the more it looked like a real alligator that just happened to be wearing the horns. That was the sweet spot. Once we landed in that spot where it felt like a real alligator, but with a kind of slightly jaunty horns on, that’s where we were like, ‘Oh, there he is.'”

But while it’s pretty apparent that the humanoid characters in the episode’s subplot are Loki variants, there’s a nagging question about whether this is just a random alligator that has somehow worked its way into their midst. “It’s so stupid, but it also makes total sense,” Waldron said. “You almost have to take it seriously, like maybe he is [a Loki]? Why shouldn’t there be an alligator version of Loki? For all we know, that’s an alligator universe or whatever. It’s just the sort of irreverent thing that, in this show, we play straight and make the audience take it seriously.”

But ultimately, Waldron would not confirm or deny the gator’s status as a true God of Mischief. “I know [the answer], but I want people to wonder. I want that to be the next great Marvel debate. Is Alligator Loki really a Loki or not?”

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