The Cult of Marvel’s Loki(s), and their (Queer) Redemption

Abstract

Marvel’s Loki is a hero, a villain, a Young Avenger and a Dark Cabal member; a child, an adult, and an alligator; Prince (and Agent) of Asgard and King of Jotunheim; bi/pansexual and genderfluid; an architect of Ragnarök and sacrificial saviour of New Asgard; a Sorcerer Supreme and a Presidential candidate known variously as the God of Evil, Lies, Mischief, Outcasts, and Stories. Each iteration of the 60+ year-old character is a legitimate and concurrent variant of Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirbys’ original creation, occupying canonical positions within the wider transmedial, multiversal and more-or-less linear Marvel narrative (McMillan 2021; Wolk 2021).