Elba and Tom Hiddleston’s cameos should have been a surprise

Nov 5, 2014 18:53 GMT  ·  By
Joss Whedon confirms Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston cameos in “Avengers: Age of Ultron”
   Joss Whedon confirms Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston cameos in “Avengers: Age of Ultron”

When you have a project as big and expensive as Marvel’s upcoming second Avengers film, “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” the last thing you want is leaks, least of all from people you place your trust in, like close collaborators. Mr. Idris Elba, here’s looking at you.

Though he should have probably known better than to casually let it slip that he and Tom Hiddleston are making a cameo in “Age of Ultron” as their characters Heimdall and Loki, respectively, the actor revealed a few days ago that he had been called for a surprise cameo in “Ultron.” Apparently, he shot a scene with Loki and Thor (Chris Hemsworth).

“Surprise” was the operative word in the paragraph above.

So, when Vulture caught up with director Joss Whedon the other day, no wonder he came across as upset with Elba that he would act in such a rookie manner. To his credit, Whedon won’t say if he actually sent a “tsk, tsk” email to Elba, but concedes that “should he receive an email from me, there might be an attitude of scold.”

He admits that leaks with projects of this magnitude are to be expected, no matter how ironclad the NDA you have them sign. Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige got in touch with Elba the moment his comments went online – and viral, and I assume the chat wasn’t exactly a friendly one.

That Elba will return as Heimdall isn’t that much of a shock, but Loki’s appearance in “Ultron” is of the utmost importance, especially since no one expected to hear from him until the third “Thor” movie, “Ragnarok,” which opens in 2018.

Marvel has already said that “Ragnarok” will pick up after the events in “Ultron” and will see Loki as king of Asgard, doing the kind of stuff you’d expect Loki to do – and which will bring about the end of the world. So his cameo in “Ultron” will set the wheels in motion for that.