Thor and Loki are two of the most iconic characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They have become famous around the world thanks to their portrayals in several films by Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston who have both turned these comic book legends into cinematic colossuses.
Yet, despite their appearances as being like other superheroes in the MCU, they are much more than that – the embodiment of ancient myths and legends that have lasted for hundreds of years.
So, you might be wondering – exactly how old are Thor and Loki in comics and movies? This article will set out to explain exactly how old this pair of siblings is and what their ages say about the Marvel Universe.
Let’s start by analysing how old the God of Thunder and the Trickster God are in Marvel’s comics because they have existed in the comics for much longer than in the films.
In the comic books, Thor and Loki’s ages are to put it mildly somewhat fudgeable. Throughout the near fifty odd years that the characters have existed his age has changed from one thousand years to one millions years which of course is an incredibly long time.
This isn’t helped by Marvel’s depiction of Ragnarök as a continuing cycle until Thor himself stops it in the 2004 run of the comic. This leaves open the claim that there have in fact been multiple Thors, all alive and all living for a very long time before Ragnarök destroys them.
The same of course also goes for the trickster God Loki who, if the cycle theory is to be believed, will have also gone through several life times and rebirths.
This would make working out Thor’s true age even trickier because we have to consider whether or not to include the previous Thor’s in this analysis or not and whether or not we should only look at the current iteration of the character.
If we consider the repeating of Ragnarök to be either a mistake or that it is an attempt for humans to understand Thor’s life and become confused (Thor himself in the comics never directly says that the cycle wipes the slate clean as far as his age) and instead look at a conversation which Thor has in which he states he first went to Earth when humans were still using stone tools.
This would come million or so years ago meaning that Thor’s age would be closer to a million than a thousand.
The answer simply is that Thor and Loki’s ages are extremely hard to determine in the comic books because of how many writers have worked on their stories over the years and their desire to make their mark on the character has resulted in his age being incredibly loose and hard to pin down.
Let’s now turn to looking at how old Thor and Loki are in the Marvel Cinematic Universe which has a much clearer answer as to how old the two brothers are.
How Old Are Thor And Loki In The Movies?
The ages of Thor and Loki in the films are far easier to estimate because we hear how old Thor is directly from him and based on that we can have a good idea as to how old Loki is as well.
In Thor: Ragnarök, the most recent Thor centered film in the MCU, Thor explicitly states that he is 1,500 years old meaning that the God of Thunder is slightly older than the youngest age set for Thor but nowhere near the one million benchmark that appears in some comics.
As Loki was adopted when Thor was still young, we can estimate that Loki is around the same age but perhaps slightly younger – maybe 1490 or 1498. This would still make Loki extremely old and one of the oldest characters in the MCU alongside his brother, father Odin, and the rest of the Asgardians.
How Asgardian aging exactly works in the movies isn’t clear yet and we will surely find out more in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder film which will hopefully give more of an explanation as to how old Thor’s people truly are.
Now that we’ve explained the true ages of Thor and Loki in both the comics and the movies, let’s move on to looking at the powers each possesses.
What Kind Of Powers Do Thor And Loki Have?
Now that we’ve explained how old they are, let’s take time to explain the extent of their powers.
Taking Thor’s powers first, he is one of the strongest superheroes out there with a muscle density that was described in Infinity War as being like his muscles were made out of metal fibres. He is stronger than most human beings and can withstand physical confrontations with people like Thanos and still survive.
However, Thor’s strength is not the sole extent of his incredible powers. He can manipulate the elements and summon electricity bolts from his own hands, a feat that is incredible until you realise that he can do this with or without his mighty hammer Mjolnir.
Thor can also fly and teleport himself across great distances and control the weather, powers that are all incredibly useful when you are trying to defend the Earth against hordes of alien invaders.
Loki has a similar range of incredible powers although, being the trickster God, most are focussed on manipulation of perception and sorcery.
Loki can manipulate an individual’s field of perception and hypnotise them; he can levitate if he wants to and project himself across the ether through astral projection. He can also shapeshift, a power that has come in very handy for the Trickster God in years gone by.
Why It Is Important To Know How Old Thor And Loki Are In The Comics And Movies
Now that this piece has explained how old the two mighty Asgardians are, it is worth taking the time to explain why it matters that we know how old they are.
The reason that it is important that we know how old Thor and Loki are in the comics and movies is because they are two of most immature characters.
At least when they initially appear in the films, to ever grace the MCU and to see their growth and development once they become involved with humanity despite their great age shows what kind of lives they were living on Asgard before and helps us to understand just how much they have changed in a relatively short time.
It is also important to know how old Thor and Loki might be in the comics because it gives us a sense of scale. They have both existed longer, depending on the comic, than most of human civilization.
This gives them both a sense of gravitas and makes them far more interesting characters than they otherwise might have been.
That is why it is important to know Thor and Loki’s age because it gives context and background to them and also makes their journeys that bit more impactful.
