Catlady48

So, if you haven’t read it already, you might want to go back to Part 1 here.

I spent a bunch of time highlighting this novelization for research purposes (I plan to write some stories about our tricksy boy at some point) and while I know it’s Thor’s story (which has some interesting bits to be sure, especially depending on who writes him), there’s some really intriguing Loki content here, and it speaks volumes just how much is actually cut out of the book versus the movie.

I’m actually going to start off this entry with some of the information provided at the end of the book (”A Guide to Asgard & More”)

First, there’s Odin, whose description is literally: “is king of Asgard and the mightiest of the Asgardians.”

Like, I don’t know about you, but that comes across as rather sus, my friends. Nothing about his family, who he cares about, his oft-spouted “peace”.  Nope. Power.  That’s it.

There’s Queen Frigga: “Mother to both Thor and Loki. Her greatest attributes are beauty, Asgardian strength, and great patience.”

I mean, other than (gag) offering her appearance as being one of her main characteristics, sure, ok, she’s strong and very patient (anyone would be to put up with the rest of the shenanigans that Odin and her kids are constantly up to). She’s also described as a mother- an involved parent.  Where Odin is basically just like “IM KING BEYOTCHES” The queen seems to have at least some priorities that don’t focus on holding onto power.

Then we get to Thor, who is “Asgard’s greatest warrior, son to Queen Frigga and King Odin Allfather, and brother to the trickster known as Loki.  He is Prince of Asgard and is next in line for the throne.  Thor’s closest friends and most trusted allies are the Warriors Three, Lady Sif, and Loki.”

Here we learn more (Frigga gets top billing, which is refreshing), especially how Thor and Loki relate to one another.  It’s pretty telling that Loki, while being called a trickster is also considered a “closest friend and most trusted ally.”

Then we get to Loki’s entry: Loki, the Master of Magic, knows deep down that the throne of Asgard will never belong to him. Often the voice of reason to his brother Thor, Loki is the one who summons Odin to save them, the Warriors Three, and Lady Sif from the grave threats on Jotunheim, though Loki’s motives might not always be completely honorable.

Just to break this down a little.  Loki’s billed as “Master of Magic,” which means that his magic is strong and a defining trait. 

I do find it interesting that it specifically skirts around his actual parentage/throne and just specifically says that Asgard’s throne won’t be his.  Also, the way it sounds in Thor’s description is that Thor, by the virtue of being eldest, is the one getting the throne, but there’s some interesting phrasing later on in the book that makes it pretty obvious that’s not the case.

The fact that Loki (billed as a trickster in Thor’s entry) is also considered the voice of reason, it is very interesting they also note that he “might not always be completely honorable.”

To extrapolate from that phrasing, it means that he is likely always honorable to some extent, it’s just that his motives are sometimes not aligned with that of Thor/Odin.  Which, considering that he is the voice of reason….might not be a bad thing?  Plus, it is pretty obvious that the motives of most of the Asgardians are that of glory in battle, delighting in violence, and using heavy-handed displays of machismo to gain and hold onto power.  Loki grows up under this kind of socialization, so it goes to show that he might pick up on some of those cultural lessons, but figure out different ways to use them since his power seems to be more scholarly/magical than sheer brawniness.

Over and over again we see that many of Loki’s end goals are actually very similar to that of Odin and Thor.  But he is regularly derided and attacked for going about it in a way they don’t approve of (ie: making plans, using magic, gathering allies, and influencing people to get what he wants instead of calling some massive one on one duel to the death in a coliseum with spears).

Another section details information on the Casket of Ancient Winters:  “While there are many dangerous items inside the vault, the Casket of Ancient Winters is the most feared.  Taken from the realm of Jotunheim by Odin to prevent the Frost Giants from taking over the Nine Realms, it has the power to cause instant and never-ending winter.

Ok, that sounds pretty horrifying, right? It’s a weapon! It could hurt people! Odin had to take it away for the good of peace, right? RIGHT?!

NOPE! IT WAS THE APOCALYPTIC DESTRUCTION OF THEIR ENTIRE WORLD!

Here’s what the book has to say about Jotunheim: “The Realm of Jotunheim was once full of stunning cities built entirely of ice.  After Odin took the Casket of Ancient Winters, the once beautiful buildings began to crumble and melt.  Now most of the land has floated away in large chunks.  The Frost Giants wander the desolate and lonely landscape, angry and thirsting for revenge against Asgard- and their king, Odin Allfather.

Ok, so imagine you live in a world with your own cities, culture, and society, and some asshole comes to your world and basically takes away all of your technology murders the majority of your people, and destroys your world so badly that your entire people are now homeless in a wasteland with no opportunity to rebuild?  How many children died of starvation on Jotunheim? Did Odin steal and then sell or “adopt” out other Frost Giant babies to Asgardian families or sell them to other worlds as slaves?

From Ragnarok, you can see that there’s some pretty damning evidence that Odin built Asgard using slavery, so it’s quite possible that they had no trouble using Jotuns in a similar manner:

Are we actually supposed to believe that they are happy about that? There’s a truce, sure, but did Asgard go to help the other ice giants that were affected by the complete destruction of their world? Nope.  They were literally subjected to genocide and the last stragglers were left to die slowly.  If the situation had been reversed, I imagine that Asgard would consider themselves justified in trying to retaliate against Jotunheim.  But since they’re big, blue, “monstrous” etc….well, that makes it ok according to Odin.

I find it really interesting that the book doesn’t include a scene where Loki turns blue and finds out about his parentage, so that’s really interesting as well. This is turning into a bit of a novel, so I’ll save that bit for Part 3.

And then this happens. Oh if only…

I read a Tumblr post saying the ravens that fly past the scene of Thor and Loki’s reunion could be Huginn and Muninn, which is a really neat idea regardless of whether it’s true or not. So I did this… but my characterisation may well be dubious - I know zilch about Norse mythology except what Wiki’s told me, and I haven’t read Journey into Mystery either (though I mean to!).

Based on hair growth, if nothing else, it seems that a fair amount of time must have passed between Loki’s appearance in the post-credits of Thor (2011) and his dramatic entrance via the Tesseract in The Avengers (2012). Despite the apparent time jump, Loki’s physical well-being is still clearly… not great. His appearance has improved in some ways from the horror show above (the burns have healed, his mouth isn’t full of blood), but he shows a number of signs of heat exhaustion, at a minimum (something especially relevant because, remember, Loki’s a Frost Giant). He’s visibly exhausted and disoriented, he nearly collapses on multiple occasions, he’s sweaty and pale with dark and sunken eyes. This is not a healthy man. And while there was maybe an argument to be made for his prior physical distress being contributable to the effects of the wormhole, whatever’s happening here is all Thanos.

Beyond his immediate physical state, he comes across as paranoid, afraid—desperately fighting to get through just this one moment, and then the next, and then the next. If he just holds it together a little bit longer, he’ll be safe. He’ll be able to rest. Watch how he stumbles. Observe his deathgrip on the sceptre and on the truck rail. Look at his desperate facial expression and body language. He’s trembling.

Now we’re getting into psychology, and well… Loki says some odd things throughout this film. The Loki of Thor (2011) was clearly dealing with a mental health crisis, but the Loki of The Avengers (2012) seems—not to put too fine a point on it—crazy. And he’s not just crazy. His words and his body seem to, at times, be in direct conflict with one another. He may talk down to the humans, but he appears to take little pleasure in actually hurting them. And yet he summons an army of aliens with the expressed purpose of doing just that. He’s sassy and grandstanding while facing the Avengers, but on the occasions where he’s violent with civilians, as well as whenever he’s alone, he appears to dissociate from himself. Look at his face. This is not remotely fun for him. He looks dead inside.

Overall, Loki’s body language and facial expressions often betray a Loki who is struggling to justify his actions. He seems, at times, almost as though he is speaking to himself as much as he is taunting the Avengers or humanity. Here are some quotes/scenes that grab my attention.

For a start, there are these exchanges with Fury shortly after he first arrives via the power of the Tesseract:

Fury: “This doesn’t have to get any messier.” Loki: “Of course it does. I’ve come too far for anything else.”

“I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose.”

Loki: “I come with glad tidings of a world made free.” Fury: “Free from what?” Loki: “Freedom. Freedom is life’s great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart, you will know peace.”

He goes on to reiterate his bizarre speech about “freedom” again in Stuttgart.

“The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life’s joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.”

This all sounds a lot like indoctrination to me, and it’s worth noting that the Black Order—for whom Loki is ‘working’ in this movie—is literally a cult. In fact, they use very similar rhetoric at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War. Compare this to Loki’s rhetoric on the nature of freedom:

“Hear me… and rejoice. You have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Titan. You may think this is suffering. No. It is salvation. Universal scales tipped toward balance because of your sacrifice. Smile, for even in death you have become Children of Thanos.”

And then there’s Loki’s outburst directed at Natasha after the Avengers have taken him prisoner for the first time and she’s trying to get information out of him:

“You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you and they will never go away!”

Before this moment, he seems relatively calm and in control. Something changes here; he becomes disgusted and aggressive. His words could easily be applied to himself as well. Here Loki is on Midgard, pretending to have his own agenda. “Something that makes up for the horrors”. Yet as much as Loki claims to be free of sentimentality, we as the audience know better. We can see it in his microexpressions and his body language. We know of his being psychically linked to The Other. We see the nature of Loki’s interactions with them: the tears in his eyes, the threats and his attempts to suppress and hide his fear, the pain they’re able to inflict on him with just a touch.

“If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you. You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain.”

There are also subtle indicators that Loki’s memories might have been tampered with, such as his initial conversation with Thor.

“Our father—” “YOUR father. He did tell you of my true parentage, did he not?” “We were raised together! We played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?” “I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss.”

Yes, of course, it’s possible that this is hyperbole on Loki’s part. Regardless, it’s worth noting as part of a pattern of bizarre, cult-like behaviours that Loki displays throughout the movie. It becomes even more noteworthy in light of the revelation that Loki was being influenced by the mind stone all the while. The specific phrasing Marvel uses is, “fueling his hatred over his brother.” Does that include distorting his perception of what’s happened between them? It’s not conclusive, but it’s certainly possible.

Now, Loki does at times appear to be genuinely enjoying himself. I’m not denying that or sweeping it under the rug. But look at the context. Notice when he seems to be the most amused. It’s when he’s grandstanding. It’s when he’s the center of attention. When people run screaming from him. When he’s being interrogated. It’s not the violence that pleases him; it’s the recognition. For the first time in his life, he’s center stage. He feels powerful. And Loki will always take negative attention over no attention at all.

Simmer down there, you lovable maniac.

At the other end of the spectrum, however, we have moments like just before he stabs Thor, in which he looks at the destruction around him with legitimate panic and horror written on his face. As though he’s awoken from a haze and is only just realising the extent of what he’s done. (Side note: for the life of me, I’ll never understand people who call Loki a psychopath. Every single time we’ve seen Loki hurt Thor, he does it literally with tears in his eyes. And yet Ragnarok would have us believe he’s done so all throughout their childhood just for funsies).

Surely this isn’t the expression of a man who wants all this death and destruction—who’s carrying out his own will. And why should he? Even if he truly meant to/cared about ruling Midgard, there’s little reward in ruling a world of corpses.

Which brings us to our ultimate conclusion. As mentioned above, there have long been theories—now confirmed canon—that Loki was under the influence of the sceptre AKA the mind stone throughout The Avengers (2012). An observation I had missed initially is that some fans desperate to cling to Loki’s identity as a Villain™ have differentiated between the total mind control of Barton and Selvig and the ‘influencing’ of Loki’s behaviour via the sceptre. But note that the same language is used for both instances:

“Gifted with a sceptre that acted as a mind control device, Loki would be able to influence others. Unbeknownst to him, the sceptre was also influencing him.”

I do believe that the mind control over Loki was less effective; he clearly maintained some measure of autonomy, despite the sceptre’s influence. But I still think it’s important to note the consistency of language used. And in fact, it’s worth noting that his control over Barton and Selvig wasn’t absolute either. Barton admits he may have failed to kill Fury because of his connection to him; Selvig installs a failsafe for shutting down the portal.

I had a similar explanation of Loki’s pleased look while he’s taking the guy’s eyeball (yeah, it’s written in first person, get over it):

People had begun gasping and muttering and backing away in confusion as soon as I had struck the security guard, but when the whirring device began digging out Schäfer’s eye—then they truly started to panic, screaming and shoving and trampling each other in their haste to flee for the doors. This, this was power of a kind I had not possessed since Thanos had taken me prisoner. Not the power to seize a man and maim him: that I had never lost. No doubt I could have injured or even killed several of Thanos’s Chitauri guards before the rest of them overpowered me and beat me senseless, then delivered me to Thanos’s tender mercies. No, the power was in the way these people perceived and reacted to my simple act of violence. They were terrified and confused; they did not know what to think of me, other than to fear me. They needed someone to tell them what to think, and would take instruction from someone whom they feared.

Tom Hiddleston as Loki in ‘The Avengers’, (2012). Dir. Joss Whedon.

Day 5 of Fighting Loki. And because seeing Loki fight is only fun when they are in gifs, these week no static pictures (though there is nothing wrong with that!) but gifs! yay!

Day 4 of Fighting Loki. And because seeing Loki fight is only fun when they are in gifs, these week no static pictures (though there is nothing wrong with that!) but gifs! yay!

“My first command cannot be to undo the Allfather's last.”

I love how Loki already refers to the relics as stolen, and to himself as a prisoner. It shows just how trapped he feels in an Asgardian society that cannot stand him. The accusation of theft shows an awareness of Asgard’s flaws and that at this point he thinks more clearly on Asgardian wars and their outcomes. It also shows Loki thinks from the perspective of an outcast and rejected outsider. That experience he has had is only affirmed and solidified with his discovery that he is not Asgardian, and would never belong.

“You could have told me from the beginning, why didn’t you?”

“…to protect you from the truth.”

“Because I am the monster parents tell their children about at night?”

How was that twisting words? Odin had to protect Loki from the apparently awful truth that he is a frost giant. It requires protection because being a frost giant is a flaw, and makes one a monster. Odin thinks he is acting lovingly towards Loki because he gave this inferior creature a chance at being a superior one. He is too selfish to realize that is the deepest form of hatred and rejection.

I also love how Loki sees through Odin and his manipulation immediately. Odin has lost his grip on Loki in this scene and he collapses because things which he cannot control are a problem to him.

“Because no matter how much you claim to “love” me…“

It absolutely wasn’t all in Loki’s head! I think it’s pretty clear that Odin would’ve never been eligible for a “parent of the year” award. From childhood, Loki and Thor were raised in opposition:

I’m going to quote Alan Taylor and say “their father so completely screwed up their childhood. You don’t tell two boys that their both meant to be king but only one will do it.” And I’ll add: you definitely don’t tell two boys they’re meant to be king knowing full well that their fates were predetermined. Loki never stood a chance because a) he was second-born  b) he was not Asgardian. 

But we all know honesty was not Odin’s strong-suit. 

I wonder how long it took for this little boy to learn that he was always going to play second fiddle to his brother…

But moving on to the end of Thor, where Loki thinks that destroying the Jotunheim (and finishing the war that Odin started) will prove to his father that he is just as strong and formidable as Thor. 

“I only ever wanted to be your equal” well doesn’t that line just sum up Loki’s character perfectly? He only wanted to be given the same treatment as his brother; to make his dad proud. His entire arc in the first Thor film is centered around trying to gain Odin’s affection, and Odin refuses to give it to him.

This is a piece of the script, which also helps elaborate: 

And there’s an awesome post here about this gif, below, which describes the semiotics of the shot much better than I ever could.

Let’s talk Avengers. There’s a throw away line in there where Thor tries to remind Loki that they were raised as brothers (they played together, fought together, etc.) and Loki responds:

And this isn’t the only time this “shadow” is referenced. Frigga mentions it in a scene that they savagely deleted from Thor: The Dark World.

I love this interview of Tom from D23, where he talks about Loki and Frigga’s relationship in comparison to Loki and Odin’s relationship.  

One has to wonder if Loki’s mischievous ways started as an effort to gain his father’s attention? Of course it was. 

This scene is so hard to watch because Odin is so unnecessarily cruel when he yells “your birthright was to die!” Ugh I hate it. 

“I really don’t see what all of the fuss is about” and why would he when he follows his father’s example. “I went down to Midgard to rule the people of earth as a benevolent god, just like you.” And here he points out the hypocrisy— a king can conquer and destroy and he’s lauded as a hero. 

Exhibit A & B:

“All this because Loki desires a throne” This is the best display of Odin’s ignorance, because as we all know, Loki never wanted a throne. Odin never understood what Loki truly desired… actually, he never understood Loki period.Loki and Thor are two sides of the same coin. It’s the reason why he couldn’t be the parent Loki needed and why he bonded with Thor better. I would assume that training Thor to be the next king took precedence over any relationship he could’ve had with his second-son. 

But on the bright side there’s always Loki and Frigga’s beautiful relationship! Because he may have had a shit father, but Frigga was always there for him. She always strived to understand him and make him feel worthy and loved :,) 

(…Okay I’m done because I’m gonna cry)

My only nitpick (which isn’t really a nitpick with this post specifically but more with the Loki fandom as a whole) is the bit about Frigga always being there for Loki. Because I see this all the time. This fandom has a tendency to treat Frigga like a damn saint just because she was the only person who paid any attention to Loki. But that’s a really low bar.

Yes, Loki was close to Frigga. Yes, she gave him the attention he didn’t get from his so-called father. Yes, I think she genuinely loved him. But I can’t stand seeing her held up on a pedestal. The way she treated Loki when he was in prison in TDW—the emotional manipulation, the gaslighting—was downright abusive. And I hate how rarely I see anyone talk about that.

When she catches him casting illusions to make himself feel better, she criticizes his attempts to avoid reality rather than reassuring him that he doesn’t need to be Thor, that he’s already worthy just as he is. She tells him, “a true king admits his faults” while she’s married to (and defending) Odin, who is massively hypocritical and more than happy to scapegoat and manipulate anyone in his way. She acts as though Loki’s complaints are irrational and unjustified. She lets him know in no uncertain terms that he doesn’t have the right feel betrayed, even though he was betrayed.

So, I was looking at a gifset I recently reblogged, and noticed this:

Those pillars behind Loki and Thor? That kind of jointed columnar structure is generally produced by volcanic activity. It can be seen on beaches in southern Iceland, or the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland:

These formations are formed by cooling magma/lava. So for those same elements to be visible on Jotunheim’s surface, it had to have had volcanic activity at some point. Plus, a lot of the tall, looming stone structures we see could have been formed by volcanic dykes shooting through stone that was later eroded, leaving the denser volcanic stone behind. Jotun architects may have carved into these, and them emulated the formations with their very stark, linear and geometrical architectural style, which meshes with the landscape.

Now, another reason for my volcanic Jotunheim theory is that for life to persist, there would have to be some sort of warmth in order to allow for the existence of liquid water (or whatever liquid element they rely on on) to sustain some kind of food source. 

Jotunheim, whenever we see it, is very dark. The surface is frozen and doesn’t seem to enjoy much sunlight, so it’s probably pretty far from its star, or otherwise enjoys minimal heat radiation on the surface. 

But if Jotunheim has an active molten core, then vents/eruptions/etc. could provide life-sustaining sources of warmth from below. Deep sea vents and rifts could lead to liquid oceans under the surface ice, with thriving ecosystems of fish and other sea-life. You could also have subterranean pockets of fungus and lichen that could be harvested, or could provide grazing for larger creatures that could then be hunted.

he doesn’t go to Loki’s cell. doesn’t talk to him. spends as much time as possible away from Asgard. I think part of it is anger - the betrayal, the sense of how could he do this, a desire to punish Loki by ignoring him (because more than anything else, Loki has always hated being ignored). 

but I think part of it is also fear and confusion: Thor doesn’t get why things have changed so much, and he’s afraid of confronting Loki about it, because on some level Thor doesn’t want all his worst impressions to be realized. he hopes there’s some kind of explanation, some kind of reason, maybe even some kind of excuse. but he’s afraid that there just…isn’t, and doesn’t want to face the possibility that the Loki he knew growing up is just…gone forever. 

so rather than deal with that, he avoids it, and avoids Loki, because as long as he doesn’t see Loki he doesn’t have to deal with him, and on some level Thor really doesn’t want to. 

with Frigga’s murder, the anger overcomes that fear, but he still retains this closed off, hard-hearted facade, because he’s determined, even then, not to deal with the implicit vulnerability of asking why.

I think it goes beyond, I think he is deathly afraid that the brother he grew up with just never existed

that it was all a roose

that if he takes off Lokis last mask he will find nothing under it

Omega style

I agree, Thor doesn’t want to face that the brother that he knew is no longer there, or worse see he never was what he thought, but I also think Thor doesn’t want to face Loki because he doesn’t want to see the that he is still his that his brother that he love. Thor does not want to see Loki as his own person and doesn’t want to look back at the past and recognize it wasn’t what he thought.

In a way Thor does want to think the Loki he knew gone and that he’s purely a villain now that he can justifiably turn his back on. Because if Thor sees Loki still has those qualities he had before and he still the same person deep down it forces Thor to recognize Loki as a full person, with flaws, with desires and needs of his own. That in turn forces Thor to some self-reflection and see his own flaws.

That being said, mcu doesn't hold Loki accountable for his actions. Its narrative actively punishes him for being a "bad" victim.

He faces no consequences for Jotunheim. Nor New Mexico. It's always NYC instead. Because Loki has to take responsibility and be tortured and locked away as punishment for being tortured and mind controlled. Yet nobody even mentions Jotunheim ever again after the end of T1.

He is held accountable for "betraying" Mobius, he is held accountable for "betraying" Odin, he is constantly punished for not being happy with being abused and mistreated, and TR mocks him for the fact that the Grandmaster is being a huge creep towards him. He is NOT held accountable for his crimes. Moreover, him participating in genocide, torture and murder is encouraged once it serves Thor/Mobius.

Loki is not facing consequences of his actions. He's being beaten down for being a victim and, more importantly, being an uncooperative, unhappy victim who tries to resist abuse.

And his "redemption" is him regretting pushing against his abusers and sacrificing himself in their name. Not helping to rebuild Jotunheim or joining the avengers to defend innocent people. Actually, him joining an avenger to save the world didn't count as an act of heroism by the mcu's narrative - TDW isn't considered to be his redemption arc. TR is. The difference between these two movies? Loki refuses to submit to the people who hurt him in TDW. He has boundaries and his own interests. TR has him run back to Thor after being tortured by him and then turn into Thor's supportive, obedient shadow.

Once again, Loki isn't facing the consequences of his actions. He's being punished for being a "bad" victim. Or, occasionally, for being a victim in the first place.

You know one of the saddest thing is Loki has so much self loathing and one of the reasons why is he doesn't like hurting people and everyone that gives Loki a "chance" wants him to hurt people.

“You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are part of you. And they will never go away.”

Loki does have morals, he has a sense of right and wrong, but the tragedy is Loki can never abide by his morals, because his keepers decide their wants are what he must do.

Loki in every relationship has been taught loyalty then morals, and Loki has ended up internalizing the notion.

Loki has repeatedly been in the right, but he's always punished. Unlike the movies were he still did wrong things that could at least justify him being punished the series he is fully correct, yet he's still made to be in the wrong.

The TVA was a shame and isn't good for anyone except a single conquer, yet Loki is punished for "betraying" Mobius. Even though he was pursing a target Mobius wanted him to purse in the first place.

Sylvie killing HWR didn't solve the problem and only made things worse, just like Loki said could happen if they didn't consider the possibilities. Yet Loki is treated like he betrayed Sylvie for not doing what she wants.

Even when Loki is acting in self-preservation that doesn't hurt anyone, or is trying to consider the lives of other as whole he is treated as wrong and a betrayer because he's not doing what his keeper wants, and the notion sticks with him even when he's proven right.

Loki is told loyalty comes before morals.

Natasha can at least abide by her own code of morals. She at least has that option to chose for herself. In Civil War she has the opportunity to think about it and choice for herself.

Loki doesn't get that choice, he can't even have a line for himself he won't cross.

Loki's death is called a punishment by the creators because of his failure and betrayal. But the person he failed to serve was a monster planning to kill trillions.

Okay so I realized something in my multiple viewings of the Avengers.

These are the plans for everyone’s floor at The Avengers tower and really if they are in order of what floor they are going to be on it shows how well Tony pays attention to everyone.

Thor is at the top, because he is the god of Thunder and would probably like the easy take off/landing and view.

Hawkeye is the next floor down, because “He see’s better from up high.”

Steve is next because he’s the Captain and team leader and is going to want to have to be in the middle of his troops. Also, he’s an artist and if the skyline of Manhattan isn't inspiring I don’t know what is.

Tony’s next, because, really, it’s Tony. While he’s not going to have the pent house he’s at least going to want to be surrounded by his new friends. Also, it’s still high enough up that he can take off and land without a problem.

Than we have Widow, who is closer to the ground floor so she has easy access and entry points while still being secure.

and at the Bottom we have Bruce, who is witnessed by the first Helicarrier take off isn’t too fond of the Idea of being too high up in case he Hulks out. So if he has a ground level floor than he can Hulk out without causing damage by knocking things off the building or Jumping down.