The MCU’s Loki Is Secretly Peter Pan - Theory Explained
Could Tom Hiddleston's MCU Loki be Peter Pan, rather than the God of Mischief? Debuting in 2011's Thor, Loki began his Marvel movie career as a charmingly charismatic - but rather straightforward - villain, and doubled-down on his evil by invading Earth in 2012's The Avengers. Since then, however, Loki has earned redemption in two completely separate timelines. His original form helped Thor defeat Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, then died at the hands of Thanos. His Disney+ variant brought down the TVA and fell in love (with his female self, but still...)
Both versions have shown remorse for their past misdeeds, and acknowledged their misbehavior was borne through a desire for love and attention. As Loki evolves into a more complex MCU entity, and Tom Hiddleston cracks out additional weapons from his dramatic arsenal, the more intriguing Marvel's Loki becomes. The more he also looks less like Asgard's God of Mischief, and more like Neverland's Peter Pan...
On a surface level, Loki and Peter Pan both share a penchant for green, dabble in a spot of magic, and are notoriously lacking in parents. Both characters also show a reluctance to grow up - one refuses to age, the other does uncanny impressions of his brother's work friends. More obvious story parallels emerge in Loki, where episode 5 sees an alligator variant chomp off President Loki's hand, mirroring how Peter Pan's crocodile turned Captain Hand into Captain Hook. As pointed out by Reddit user River_Rattler, the two heroes fight with daggers and barely ever age, while Loki leads a ragtag band of stragglers he saved just like Peter Pan commands the Lost Boys. Neverland, meanwhile, is akin to the Void dimension the TVA's junk gets tossed into - there's even a shipwreck nearby when Loki first lands.
A comparison between Marvel's Loki and J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan may seem ridiculous at first, but there's a mythological basis behind their similarity. Barrie based his character on the Greek god Pan, who is famed for his goat-like horns - the very same horns you'll find on Loki's trademark helmet. And though not a god of mischief, Pan was God of the Wild, associated with music and sexuality, which all feels very much within Loki's sphere of interest. In the MCU, Loki is, of course, a Frost Giant, and with Russell Crowe's Zeus bringing Greek mythology to the MCU in Thor: Love & Thunder, it's highly unlikely Loki and Pan are one and the same. Nevertheless, Thor's presence in the MCU has exposed how Earth history mashes up and misinterprets mythological figures into their own belief systems. Perhaps Loki somehow sneaked his way into Greek mythology as well as Norse (for a laugh, obviously), and some of his attributes - the helmet, for example - became incorrectly attributed to Pan, who then subsequently inspired Peter Pan.
Eternals may provide an alternative explanation behind Loki's Peter Pan-isms in the MCU. Chloé Zhao's 2021 effort confirms Kingo and Thor are old pals, meaning the Eternals likely hung around with Loki too. In the Marvel comics, Sprite directly influences J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, and this is referenced (albeit not explicitly confirmed) in the MCU also. Rather than Barrie borrowing Sprite for his most famous character, maybe the author drew inspiration from one of the Eternals' friends instead - a certain Asgardian trickster.