SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains very light spoilers for Thor: Love And Thunder. If you have not yet seen the film, proceed at your own risk!
Tom Hiddleston’s Loki isn’t featured in Thor: Love And Thunder (a bit of trivia that director Taika Waititi and co-star Chris Hemsworth like to joke about), but the new blockbuster does find a way to honor the memory of the character. In the scene where Thor goes to Russell Crowe’s Zeus hoping to get an army to help him stop Christian Bale’s Gorr The God Butcher, the God of Thunder’s clothes are ripped off and it’s revealed the he found time to get some serious ink after the events of Avengers: Infinity War, as it’s shown that he has a massive “RIP Loki” tattoo on his back.
It’s a great moment in the middle of Thor: Love And Thunder, and it turns out that it has ties back to a joke that got rejected from Thor: Ragnarok.
While interviewing the stars of Thor: Love And Thunder at the movie’s recent Los Angeles press day, I asked Chris Hemsworth and Taika Waititi about the origins and design of Thor’s tribute to his deceased brother. The writer/director/actor explained that he first had the idea for an “RIP Loki” tattoo while making his first Marvel movie, and he was encouraged by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige to go even bigger with the concept while working on his second. Said Waititi,
Yeah, that was my [idea]. I tried to get that in Ragnarok. There was this little scene, and him and Loki were talking, and he goes like, 'I thought you were dead! I mourned you! I got this tattoo!' And he lifts up his sleeve and it says like, ‘RIP Loki.’ We had another opportunity to do it this time, and Kevin [Feige] was like, 'Yeah, let's go big though. Let's put it all over his back.'
Given that assignment, Chris Hemsworth and the filmmakers of Thor: Love And Thunder went to town giving Thor a wide variety of back art. In addition to saying “RIP Loki” between the Avengers’ shoulders, there is a giant depiction of Loki’s helmet, a broken heart, a scroll, a moon, and a banner that reads “Rest In Mischief.” It’s a hell of a lot better than a simple forearm tattoo.
I suppose the reason why Kevin Feige might have said no to the idea in Thor: Ragnarok was because that would have meant the character sporting the ink through the adventures in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, but a new era has begun in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and part of the fresh chapter is that the God of Thunder has a lot of back tats.
Chiming in, Chris Hemsworth added that Thor almost had a forearm tattoo as well in Thor: Love And Thunder, but it had nothing to do with mourning his dead brother. Instead, the idea was a tribute to a shared love of rollerblading that the character has with Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster. Said the actor,
We had another tattoo reference as well. When we were talking about rollerblading. Was it 'Blade... Once you blade, you never fade.' Yeah. But that didn't make it in the movie.
You can get a look at all of Thor’s body art on the big screen right now, as Thor: Love And Thunder is playing in theaters everywhere. There’s a lot to dig into once you’ve seen it, so after your screening be sure to head over to our ending explained feature, and our piece about the Thor 4 end credits scenes.
