Avengers: Age of Ulton type Movie

Tom Hiddleston’s Loki had some of the best scenes in The Avengers, from bringing an entire crowd in Germany to their knees to getting whipped around like Raggedy Andy by the Hulk. And fans of the mischief-making villain should savor those moments — because Loki won’t be back for the sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron. “He’s not in it,” Hiddleston confirms to EW. “Here’s the thing: I don’t think there’s anything else Loki could contribute to The Avengers, narratively. Joss gave me so many wonderful things to do in that first film that we’d only be trying to repeat ourselves, and probably less well in the second one.”

The actor, who earned a spot in EW’s New Hollywood issue (on stands now) for bringing Loki to life with such devilish charm, says there are no hard feelings — he truly believes it’s better for the series to move on without him. “When I think of all the things I loved as a child, for example, Hans Gruber wasn’t in Die Hard 2. And in Indiana Jones, by the time he moved from the Lost Ark to the Temple of Doom, there was a whole new bad guy. I think keeping it fresh and new is good for The Avengers even though it’s a shame for me. And let’s face it, there’s seven or eight of them as it is, and Joss is thinking about adding two more, so the screen’s gonna be a busy place. But I had the time of my life on that film. It was the most fun ever.”

But the character isn’t gone for good: Loki fans can still get their fix on Nov. 8, when Hiddleston reprises the role in Thor: The Dark World. “Oh, I’ve got plenty to do in Thor [2], believe me. A lot of new stuff. It’s a new iteration of the character,” he says. ” It’s a new development. Another trick, another poker game for the god of mischief. And he plays it well.”