Relationship Spotlight: Thor & Loki (The Avengers)

It occurs to me that the MCU really doesn’t have too much in the way of actual family relationships (plenty of the-family-you-choose relationships, but here, we’re talking about biological and/or legal families.)  There have been a few prominent instances – Hank & Hope and Scott & Cassie in Ant-Man, the Maximoff twins, Gamora & Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy (in a “hey, we were both abducted by the same guy who waged war against our home worlds and then raised us” kind of way,) and now Spidey and Aunt May (and I hear T’Challa has a sister?  We gonna meet her?), but really, the MCU is full of people with empty branches on their family trees.  Lots of orphans, lots of only children, lots former child assassins raised by Russian operatives (okay, so many just one of those.)

So that leaves us with the Asgardian royal family, and most importantly, brothers Thor and Loki.  The interplay between these two, and the incredibly screwed-up drama therein, is the best part of the Thor movies, and while the Cate Blanchett and Tessa Thompson of it all is awfully enticing, it still tops the list of reasons why I’m looking forward to Ragnarök.  (Thor-and-Loki-related spoilers.)

It’s a time-honored sibling dynamic:  charismatic golden boy Thor (who, in his first film, is too cocky for his own good) and bitter also-ran Loki (who, of course, goes progressively further off the rails over the films.)  Thor is his father’s heir, wielder of the mighty Mjolnir, and he has no problem expecting to get whatever he sets his mind to.  Loki, meanwhile, festers at the slights he perceives against himself and delights in psychologically manipulating his less-cunning older brother.

I’ve said before that Loki is a great villain for Thor, because he creates situations that Thor can’t simply fight his way out of.  Untangling himself from one of Loki’s stratagems requires Thor to think harder and plan more carefully, and he needs to stretch different muscles in order to succeed.  The more often they face off against each other, however, the more difficult an opponent Thor is becoming for Loki.  I’m not sure if Loki still thinks of Thor as a self-involved oaf or if his increasing off-the-rails-ness is tripping him up, but he doesn’t seem to realize how much wiser Thor is getting to his tricks, and he’s not stepping up his game accordingly.  But when he’s on, no one can play Thor like Loki, who know just what knives to twist.

Their opposition is made even better by the fact that they are brothers and, as much as Thor knows he has to do whatever it takes to stop Loki’s evil schemes, he still can’t bring himself to finish Loki off (it’s one of the few instances where it makes sense that the villain continues to be allowed to live.)  Loki resents Thor and wants what Thor has, which he feels should be rightfully his, but Thor still loves Loki despite everything.  It says a lot that after the events of Thor and The Avengers, Thor still tells Loki, “I wish I could trust you.”  At this point, he knows he absolutely can’t, and kudos to him for taking that into account in their dealings together in The Dark World, but he still wishes he could.  I love that.  It shows how deeply Thor’s loyalties run, and it also demonstrates just how skewed Loki’s view of their relationship is.  I don’t doubt that Thor has always been Odin’s Number-One Son, but they’re at odds because of Loki’s perception and choices, not because of what Thor has unjustly done to him.  Where will Ragnarök take them?  Six months before we find out…