Immortal Thor writer Al Ewing recently reflected on Loki’s role in the story.

In an interview with Marvel, Ewing, who penned Loki: Agent of Asgard in 2014, discussed his return to Loki in Immortal Thor. The writer insisted that the God of Mischief is an essential part of the Thor mythos, “I feel like Loki is an important supporting character/antagonist in Thor comics; you can’t really do without them,” he said. As long as Thor shines as the main character, Ewing believes Loki will always have a vital secondary role as they do in the current series, “That’s the case (in Immortal Thor). Thor’s the star, but Loki has a vital role as a kind of sidekick who’s also a recurring problem, and to do that we had to make a couple of tweaks,” the writer said.

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Immortal Thor #5

Written by AL EWING Art by MARTÍN CÓCCOLO Cover by ALEX ROSS

Ewing explained how he approached Loki’s characterization in Immortal Thor, stating, “Basically, we had to finally answer the question of “Is Loki friend or foe?” and the answer is ‘Yes.’ Rather than treat ‘When will Loki betray everyone?’ as a scary question looming in the background or as something that won’t come up—which can only end in slightly disappointing ways, as either Loki turns Full Evil and loses or his growth or they were, once again, Nice All Along (Or are they?)—we treat it as just part of the mythological condition.”

Loki the Teller of Tales

Ewing discussed Loki’s adoption of an aspect of their persona during Immortal Thor that could bring them into conflict with the God of Thunder.. “Loki can take their aspect as Teller of the Tales—which is a necessary function and sometimes demanded by Thor when the King of Asgard needs his Skald—but the Teller of the Tales is also Thor’s Enemy,” the writer said. “You never know when Loki’s going to flip to that mode, just that there’s a very good magical reason for it. There is a very good in-story reason for it, which will be explained at about the mid-point of the run,” Ewing revealed.

Ewing continued, “So hopefully, we have a new status quo at the end of this where Loki isn’t binary good/evil, and if that switch flips, it’s a terrible tragedy, but more a situation where Loki can function as a villain, which many writers would like to have back, and they can do that without a huge regression. Loki can even put on the old costume if you want! Go full nostalgia, knock yourself out—there’s just a potential in-world reason now that doesn’t break everything.”

Immortal Thor #5 will arrive in comic book shops on December 13, 2023.

Source: Marvel