One of the “Undying” debates of Infinity War stands to talk about whether Loki died in Avengers: Endgame or not. As far as my personal opinion is concerned, Loki is dead. It was confirmed by Joe Russo that Loki is indeed dead and there’s nothing to talk about it, but the two brothers have lied on our faces so we cannot put a 100% faith in what they say. There are many compelling theories about Loki’s survival, but his death was real this time, and Thanos’ word cannot be undermined just like that.
Loki died and there was a big reason behind it. Reddit user mariofan366 has come up with his explanation stating why Loki needed to die in the beginning of Infinity War. Without further ado, let’s just jump into it quickly.
“Early drafts of Thor Ragnarok had Thor go to Hel/Valhalla to rescue Loki who was there because of his death in The Dark World.
Loki was also supposed to be in Thor’s vision in Age of Ultron, but they removed it because test screening audiences got confused and thought Loki was behind Ultron. Thor’s vision was of Hel. Heimdall was in it and Heimdall died in battle. Loki was almost in it and Loki died in battle.
Many people have thought it was stupid for Loki to try to kill Thanos. So stupid, one could call it suicide. Maybe it was suicide. Dying in battle places you in Valhalla (that’s how it worked in the comics, the movies might be different), so maybe he went there to talk to Odin or Frigga. Or maybe he went to Hel to talk to Hela. Or maybe he just went to one place to spare being snapped.”
Well, there’s a back-up theory of Loki going to Hel. In every movie that we have seen till now, Thor has visited 8 out of the 9 realms that are there in the Universe. The only realm we haven’t seen is Alfheim (Home of the Light Elves). Here are all the 8 Realms that Thor related movies have shown so far:
- Asgard
- Midgard (Earth)
- Jotunheim (Frost Giants Home)
- Svartalfheim (Dark Elves Home)
- Vanaheim (Liberated by Thor at the start of The Dark World)
- Nidavellir (Where Infinity Gauntlet and Stormbreaker Axe are built in Infinity War)
- Niflheim (Land of the Dead where Hela rules and the Valkyries fell)
- Muspelheim (Home of Surtur and the Fire Demons)”
If this pattern of the previous movies is to be believed then, it is highly plausible that Thor will visit Alfeim somehow in Avengers: Endgame. But there’s not much of a reason that we can come up with to send him to that Realm. Also, it is argued that Hel was only shown through the vision that Wanda gave Thor in Age of Ultron. We didn’t see the real version of Hel. So, it will make more sense if Thor takes a trip to Hel/Valhalla.
So, Loki being in Hel would give us a way for him to come back even after Thanos’ snap. The reason for that could be anything. It could be one of the possibilities mentioned in the above theory, or it could be something else. But there’s a high chance that instead of Alfheim, Thor will step foot into Hel and meet the likes of Loki, Odin, Frigga, and even Hel. The Reddit user goes on the predict how Loki will come into play in Avengers: Endgame:
“Loki went to an Asgardian afterlife on purpose (Loki isn’t dumb he knows what he’s doing). I’m confident we’ll see some Loki in Endgame (because 2012 NY) but I do think we’ll see post-Thanos-choke Loki too.”
This does make a lot of sense, and if this is what will happen in Endgame, then perhaps a trip to Alfheim may have been saved for the future. That indeed confirms that there would be another Thor movie even after Endgame (but obviously we cannot be sure of that). Avengers: Endgame releases on April 26.
