‘Loki’: Tom Hiddleston Explains Sophia Di Martino’s Surprise Villain Reveal

Bet you didn’t see that ending coming! Honestly would a Loki series really be a Loki series if it didn’t end every episode with a big, show-redefining reveal? And the end of Loki episode 2 did just that, bringing a major player on the show and in the entire MCU from out of the shadows and into the light. That character is—SPOILERS—Loki. Or is she Sylvie Lushton, aka The Enchantress? Or something else?

Regardless, it’s not the Loki you know, or even the Loki you expected. At the end of Episode 2, we finally see the Loki that’s been hopping from era to era, slaughtering teams of TVA Minute men at every Nexus. That Loki doesn’t look like Tom Hiddleston. It looks like Sophia Di Martino. Confused? Let’s sort this out using what we know.

Who is the variant Loki? Why is the variant Loki a woman?

As far as we know, the variant Loki is Loki, as much Loki Loki is Loki. Got it? The show actually teases that the serial killer Loki may not look anything like the Loki we know. The animated intro video in Episode 1 showed that little cartoon guy who was late to work deviating from his predetermined past and turning into a whole bunch of rando beings. The same happens in Episode 2 when the squad of Hunters are prepping to go after the murderous Loki. They show a bunch of different variations of all the Lokis they’ve previously encountered, including one that’s a troll.

The show even set up the possibility for Loki to take on a new gender presentation in Episode 1. If you look at the Loki file that’s handed to Agent Mobius, you can clearly see that Loki’s “sex” is listed as “fluid.” After all, Loki is a shapeshifter.

So not only is Sophia Di Martino playing Loki, the show actually gave us a lot of hints at this reveal from almost the beginning of the series. Di Martino is a British actor who has plenty of TV credits across the pond, including the BBC series Casualty and Election Spy and Channel 4’s Flowers.

Is Loki a woman in the comics?

As in Norse mythology, Marvel’s Loki is whatever Loki wishes to be at any moment—and that has included taking on a female presenting form. The most memorable time this happened in the comics was back in 2009 following a rather definitive Ragnarok event. All of Asgard’s citizens perished only to be reborn on Earth in new bodies. Thor made it his mission to find all of the reborn Asgardians and bring them to a new Asgard, this one floating over a small town in Oklahoma. There was just one catch with Loki’s resurrection: the god of mischief stole the body intended for Sif and returned to the land of the living to do, uh, Loki stuff.

And more recently, at the end of the Loki: Agent of Asgard series in 2015, Loki switched things up again just ’cause. So yes, there is plenty of precedent for this in the comics… except that Loki’s never been a blonde.

Is this Variant Loki really Marvel’s Enchantress?

Well, that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? In the comics, Enchantress is probably the highest-profile Thor villain who has yet to appear in the MCU. Debuting way back in 1964’s Journey Into Mystery #103, Enchantress is a Norse goddess who does what her name implies: she enchants, manipulates, etc. And like Loki, her color scheme is green and unlike the Lady Loki of the comics, she’s a blonde. Those are visual clues that Sophia Di Martino is possibly playing Enchantress and not a version of Loki, per se.

There’s also the fact the credits for the Castilian Spanish dub lists this character not as “The Variant,” but instead “Sylvie.” And on top of that, IMDb credits The Walking Dead‘s Cailey Fleming as playing “Young Sylive” in episode 4.

Who is Sylvie? Sylvie Lushton is the name of the second Enchantress in the comics, a normal girl from Oklahoma who gets magical powers and models herself after the Asgardian villain.

All that considered, there are still twists and turns ahead in Loki and this character.

What can we expect from this other Loki in future episodes?

While he couldn’t tell us everything (or really anything, TBH) about this new Loki, Tom Hiddleston did tell Decider about working with Sophia Di Martino on this shared role.

“I cannot wait for audiences to see Sophia in this,” Hiddleston told Decider. ” She has taken certain characteristics, which are very familiar to me: mischief, playfulness, maybe a little bit of interior fragmentation and some broken emotions in there. But [she is] so committed and she made it completely her own. And she did all her own preparation and research and it was such a fun dynamic.”

Hiddleston added that sharing the screen with Di Martino in her Loki garb felt like there was, “a mirror that we’re both looking into. But also, the moments when it wasn’t familiar were really fun too.” And how will this affect Loki moving forward? “I think for Loki, it’d be quite destabilizing.”

One thing is for sure: there is a lot on the way with this take on the character. Head writer Michael Waldron could at least say that: “Sophia is amazing such a tremendous actress… I guess, you know what makes her a great foil for Tom? Truthfully, you’ll just keep on watching and you’ll be able to see all the answers to that question.”

New episodes of Loki appear on Disney+ on Wednesdays.

Stream Loki on Disney+