The Loki series has been a perfect reminder of why the character of Loki has endured for so long within the MCU. One of the reasons he was given a series in the first place after his fate in Avengers: Infinity War was because the fans (and perhaps the creatives behind Marvel as well) just weren't ready to say goodbye to the character yet. As was mentioned in the latest installment of Assembled on Disney Plus (a show in which a behind the scenes look is given to all of the Marvel Disney Plus shows), up until the show, Loki had about two hours of screen time in total across the MCU and had somehow managed to become just as beloved as characters who headed their own film franchises like Iron Man or Captain America.
So what was it about this particular character that was so endearing to fans? Part of it is the complexity of the character, and the intense arc that Loki goes on throughout the course of the movies he appears in. He goes from villain to antihero to heroic martyr for the cause from Thor to Infinity War, and a lot of his journey was perhaps relatable to fans in some way. He feels isolated, and has a lot of insecurity, and feels like an outcast even from his family. The show only gives him more depth, and makes the character that much more nuanced and fun to watch. However, one of the main reasons that Loki has been such a fan favorite for 10 years is directly because of the man behind the role: Tom Hiddleston himself.
It's easy to say that Loki is just a character, and could be played by anybody, but it really feels as though he wouldn't have been such a standout figure without Tom Hiddleston's masterful portrayal. He gave Loki his charm and his depth, and the character certainly wouldn't have been the same if any other actor had tried their hand at the God of Mischief. That's not to say that no other actor would have been good, but Tom Hiddleston really brings something special to the character, mostly because he has such an obvious love for (and deep knowledge of) Loki.
No one, at least not at Marvel Studios, knows Loki as well as Hiddleston does. He's been around in the film universe for going on 11 years now, but he's been passed around to different writers, directors, and producers. The only person who's been with him the whole time is Tom Hiddleston. It stands to reason that anyone who plays a character for that long is going to be intimately familiar with them, and it's clear that Hiddleston isn't tired of being Loki yet.
In a recent interview, he even answered a fan question that queried about whether or not he would play Loki for the rest of his life if he was asked to. His answer was yes, which is almost surprising to hear, as one would assume that after a while an actor would get tired of playing the same character and being in Marvel movies for that long, but Hiddleston seems to be able to find a new joy with it in every project.
He even held the now-infamous "Loki seminars" for his Loki cast-mates in which he sat them all down and gave a rundown of Loki's time in the MCU and important pieces of info about his character. Any actor who knows their character that well and is that willing to talk about him at any given moment clearly has a deep affection for that role. Hiddleston was also an executive producer on the Loki show, which meant that he had more input in the creative process than ever before, and he talked about how great it was to be able to sit in on the process of creating the show before they ever got to the shooting stage, and get to help craft the character's arc on the show from the beginning. If anything, it would be great to see him have even more creative control in the second season, because he's clearly much more of an authority on Loki than any writer they could bring on.
It was a risk for Marvel to initially cast no-name actors in the first Thor movie, but in the end, it was clearly the perfect decision. Chris Hemsworth became one of the most bankable actors in Hollywood, and Tom Hiddleston gained his own notoriety, particularly amongst MCU fans. He really made the character his own, and in the process made Loki a much more memorable and beloved character than anyone likely planned at the beginning of his journey. Now that he's been given the chance to keep the character around in the MCU with Loki, it will be interesting to see in what new directions he's able to take the character, and how many other sides of Loki we'll get to unlock.