Sunday, June 13, 2021

Entertainment Weekly: Loki Takes Over (2021)

 May 20, 2021: 

**I apologize for this post being uploaded so late - I forgot to push the publish button. You all can understand my mind being a little rattled after seeing this photoshoot right?!? ***


During the Disney+ Streaming Day event, Entertainment Weekly announced their newest digital cover star, Tom Hiddleston. My only issue with a digital cover is that it means I can't go buy this in the stores. We need physical copies of this! 



The graphic video cover, included several rejected Headlines for the coverstory including: Loki Returns, Loki Charms, and Livin La Vida Loki. Ultimately, they settled upon LOKI TAKES OVER.




I will add that the Loki Charms headline was an easter egg, because a few days later they announced a special Loki collector's edition of Lucky Charms



Some of my favorite quotes from the interview (Chancellor Agard): 


Kevin Feige on why Loki was one of the first shows on Disney+: "[fans wanted] More Hiddleston, more Loki." ain't that the truth. 


Kenneth Branagh on casting Tom as Loki after he originally auditioned for Thor: 'Tom has a wild imagination, so does Loki. He's got a mischievous sense of humor and he was ready to play, it felt like he had a star personality, but he was a team player." 


Tom on the Loki series: "I love this idea [of] Loki's chaotic energy somehow being something we need. Even though, for all sorts of reasons, you don't know whether you can trust him. You don't know why he's doing what he's doing. If he's shapeshifting so often, does he even know who he is? And is he even interested in understanding who he is? Underneath all those masks, underneath the charm and the wit, which is kind of a defense anyway, does Loki have an authentic self? Is he introspective enough or brave enough to find out? I think all of those ideas are all in the series - ideas about identity, ideas about self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and the difficulty of it."


Director Kate Herron on Loki School: "I got [Tom] to do a thing called Loki School when we first started. I asked him to basically talk through his 10 years of the MCU - from costumes to stunts, to emotionally how he felt in each movie. It was fantastic." 


Tom on filming Loki during the pandemic: "It will remain one of the absolute most intense, most rewarding experiences of my life. It's a series about time, and the value of time, and what time is worth, and I suppose what the experience of being alive is worth. And I don't quite know yet, and maybe I don't have perspective on it, if all the thinking and the reflecting that we did during lockdown ended up in the series. But in some way, it must have because everything we make is a snapshot of where we were in our lives at that time." 


Tom on whether there will be more Loki: "I'm open to everything. I have said goodbye to the character [again]. I've learned not to make assumptions. I suppose, I'm just grateful that I'm still here, and there are still new roads to explore." 



Photography by Charlie Gray

 
Fashion: 

The photoshoot was styled by Holly White. A new stylist for Tom, but a frequent collaborator with Tom's Betrayal co-star Zawe Ashton and long-time friend Hayley Atwell. You can see more of her work here. Tom's go-to groomer, Petra Sellge, was also on hand.

The cover suit was from Giorgio Armani. 


Those who have followed Tom (and this blog) for some time will know how important Giorgio Armani was to Tom Hiddleston's early career. Before Gucci, Before Ralph Lauren, Before McQueen etc, it was Armani. Armani was the first major designer to dress Tom for events and premieres. Tom wore Armani pretty much exclusively from 2010-2013. So, you're looking at all the promo for Thor, The Avengers, and Thor': The Dark World in Armani. There was never a proper endorsement but Tom Hiddleston was referred to as a "friend of the House".  For Tom to be wearing Armani again, as Loki steps out from the shadow of the Thor and the Avengers, is definitely very significant. 


The other two looks from the photoshoot are Scabal. 


I can't find any record of Tom ever wearing Scabal before, not even for a photoshoot. Scabal is originally a Belgian company that opened its store on Savile Row London in 1972, Most of their fabric is woven in Huddersfield, England. 

The second suit is blue. The lighting makes it appear more grey, but you can get a better look at it in the many video posted accompanying the photoshoot. 


Umbrella? Really Tom? 🤣


This video posted by Charlie Gray is the real winner. fyi: If I ever tried that marker trick I would hit myself in the face. 
 


Tom Hiddleston also wore the Scabal suit to introduce a new Loki clip at the MTV Movie Awards on May 16, 2021.