Joss Whedon Explains Why Loki’s Cameo Was Cut From ‘Avengers 2’

Late last year, Idris Elba let slip that he and Tom Hiddleston filmed Avengers 2 cameos in a scene with Chris Hemsworth as Thor. But, if you've seen the movie, you've noticed that Tom Hiddleston and Loki are nowhere to be found. What gives? Director Joss Whedon says that the scene they filmed just “didn’t play.”

Avengers 2 spoilers ahead!

Whedon confirmed to MTV that he did shoot a scene with Heimdall, Loki and Thor, but wound up cutting it from the final film.

We did shoot something, but it didn’t play. The movie has so much. It’s so filled. We didn’t want it to feel overstuffed. I really wanted to have Loki in it, but I understood the decision that there were now too many voices in the chorus. At some point the embarrassment of riches is actually embarrassing.

The scene in question would’ve taken place during Thor’s hallucination/dream brought on by Scarlet Witch. Elba’s role in the film is still there, mostly serving to explain to the audience what it is that is freaking Thor out.

For those who've had Avengers 2 complaints, the most repeated is that the film is overstuffed, so it makes sense that Whedon would want to trim some fat. A little surprising that he would want to cut a cameo from one of the most beloved characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Whedon is nothing but a slave to honest storytelling.

If you badly need your Loki fix, Hiddleston has confirmed that he’ll be returning in Thor: Ragnarok and later in Avengers: Infinity War. Yes, both of those movies are over two years away, so you might instead want to pre-order the Avengers 2 DVD, which is said to have plenty of deleted scenes from the film.