This is my favorite picture of Loki. Image : Marvel Studios

Loveable, wonderful baby brother Loki. How ba d a guy were you, really?

Maybe not quite as bad as we thought, according to Marvel itself. Some eagle-eyed fans have spotted something interesting, on the official Marvel website: an interesting update to Loki’s on-screen bio that confirms a notable fan theory and, in the process, makes Loki seem like a nicer boy than we thought. (Thanks Comic Book Resources for drawing attention to it!)


It’s not clear when the website was updated with this bio, or this section of Loki’s bio, but here’s what it has to say now:

Offering the God of Mischief dominion over his brother’s favorite realm Earth, Thanos requested the Tesseract in return. Gifted with a Scepter that acted as a mind control device, Loki would be able to influence others. Unbeknownst to him, the Scepter was also influencing him, fueling his hatred over his brother Thor and the inhabitants of Earth.


Intriguing. According to Marvel, it’s official that the Mind Stone, situated within the scepter that Loki used in The Avengers, was not just influencing other people—it was influencing Loki, causing his turn from ambiguous antagonist in the original Thor movie to full-blown Big Bad in The Avengers.

This isn’t something that’s ever confirmed in the movie itself, but it makes sense. After all, Loki’s motivation in that film doesn’t fully make sense with his previous appearance. He went from jealous brother to embittered, world-conquering fascist pretty dang quick, and this is a neat explanation.

Also, it makes him just a little more sympathetic, which seems like a good idea if you’re going to, I dunno, make him the protagonist of a TV show. Just saying.

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