Loki writer confirms Sylvie romance and that the show is written as a "love story"

Loki
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Love is in the air for Loki. And Loki. In the ultimate narcissistic move, Tom Hiddleston’s God of Mischief has fallen for another version of himself – with head writer Michael Waldron confirmed what we all likely suspected.

"That was one of the cruxes of my pitch [for the series], that there was going to be a love story," Waldron told Marvel’s official site.

It seems, though, there was hesitation in going all the way – if you’ll pardon the expression – with Loki crushing on his Variant. "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?" Waldron said. "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."

Waldron pinpoints Loki and Sylvie’s moment of connection on Lamentis during Loki episode 4 as the first real time that the pair realize they have feelings for each other – something cemented by Loki’s boyish stuttering during the episode’s final moments.

Director Kate Herron also reveals that the Loki/Sylvie relationship was leaned on even more in the interim after production was forced to shut down last year.

"As we were cutting it together in the studio, everyone was, ‘Oh, this [relationship] is really cool. Let's dig into that more. When we went back to filming, we added or tweaked scripts basically to [emphasize it]."

But the course of true love (or self-love) never did run smooth. Loki and Sylvie are now very much on the outs – but not through their own making. Tom Hiddleston’s Loki has been ‘pruned’ and finds himself face-to-face with a handful of new Lokis – including Richard E. Grant’s Classic Loki. Sylvie, meanwhile, has Ravonna Renslayer trapped in the depths of the TVA. For those shipping ‘Soki’, it might be some time before these star-cross’d lovers can find themselves once more.

Catch up on the MCU story so far with our guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order.

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.