Marvel’s newest Disney+ series Loki has been a big hit with fans. Every week, the show unveils a new twist that keeps viewers coming back for more, and episode 3 was no different.

During the episode, it becomes clear that Loki, who is played by Tom Hiddleston, is attracted to Sylvie, played by Sophia Di Martino. His interest in her is a bit unusual given the fact that she’s a variant of him, which would mean that Loki is falling in love with himself. 

Despite how odd the budding romance might seem to viewers, the Loki creative team assures that the decision was very intentional, and recently explained why they thought it would be great for Hiddleston’s character. 

‘Loki’ head writer Michael Waldron wanted the show to include a love story 

During a recent interview with Marvel.com, Waldron revealed that he wanted Loki to have a love interest from the moment he pitched the show to producers. 

“That was one of the cruxes of my pitch [for the series], that there was going to be a love story,” head writer Michael Waldron explains to Marvel.com. “We went back and forth for a little bit about, like do we really want to have this guy fall in love with another version of himself? Is that too crazy? But in a series that, to me, is ultimately about self-love, self-reflection, and forgiving yourself, it just felt right that that would be Loki’s first real love story.”

Loki and Sylvie initially build the foundation for their romance while they’re both trapped on the moon. As it crumbles around them, Loki confesses his admiration for her, and Sylvie puts her arm on him, creating a branch in the timeline that was never supposed to happen. According to Waldron, this is where the relationship shifts. 

“The look that they share, that moment, [it started as] a blossoming friendship,” continues Waldron. “Then for the first time, they both feel that twinge of, ‘Oh, could this be something more? What is this I’m feeling?’ These are two beings of pure chaos that are the same person falling in love with one another. That’s a straight-up and down branch, and exactly the sort of thing that would terrify the TVA.”

Tom Hiddleston is excited for viewers to see Loki and Sylvie’s relationship develop

Hiddleston himself had an interesting take on Loki and Sylvie’s relationship, noting that although she is a variant of him, she’s not necessarily the same person as Loki. 

“I don’t think Loki’s relationship with himself has been very healthy,” Tom Hiddleston explains. “Trying to accept those aspects of himself, which he’s been on the run from, was a way of thinking about that in a really interesting way. Also, Sylvie’s not Loki. Sylvie is Sylvie. That’s interesting, too. I’m really excited to see what people make of it.”

Loki director Kate Herron shared a similar sentiment, noting that Loki’s attraction stems from him seeing qualities in Sylvie that he might be lacking personally. 

“Who’s a better match for Loki than himself?” Herron said. “The whole show is about identity. It’s about him, and he is on a very different path, and he is on a different journey. He sees things in Sylvie that he is like, ‘Oh, I’ve been there. I know what you feel.’ But she’s like, ‘Well, I don’t feel that way.’ And I think that was the kind of fun thing about it. She is him, but she’s not him. They’ve had such different life experiences. So just from an identity perspective, it was interesting to dig into that.”

New episodes of Loki are available for streaming every Wednesday on Disney+.

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