Loki has had to contend with many different foes during his time in the MCU, sometimes they have been his brother Thor and the rest of the Avengers, and sometimes he has been aligned with the Avengers against even bigger threats such as Thanos.
But in Loki’s first appearance in the comics in 1962, his enemy was something that modern-day MCU fans would definitely not expect – water. In Journey into Mystery Vol 85, Loki follows Thor to New York City, where he tries to trick Thor into giving up Mjolnir. Once Thor gains the upper hand, Loki tries to escape – firstly under the cover of a flock of pigeons (pigeons then become a recurring theme, with Loki disguising himself as one in later issues), and then on the Mobil Gas Pegasus logo brought to life. As one does.
Thor manages to knock Loki off Pegasus and into the Hudson Bay, and he proclaims; “Loki’s magic powers are useless in water!” Thor then picks Loki up and takes him to the top of the Empire State Building, so he can fling him back to Asgard. He says; “I’m keeping you wet so you can’t use your magic against me!” A line which it’s hard to imagine in the Marvel movies.
It’s probably a good thing that continuity is not a big deal in comics, as Loki’s water weakness was quickly forgotten. As we know from Thor’s fantastic snake story in the best Thor movie Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Loki likes to transform himself into animals, but in the comics he seemed fond of pigeons. In one issue, Loki transforms himself into a pigeon, but Thor immediately finds him by tossing a bag of peanuts at the flock and watching for the one who has “more important things on his mind.”
Loki of course now has his own Marvel series, and his main enemies are now time itself, the pesky Loki variants, and a terrifying enemy in the form of Kang the Conqueror. We’ll have to tune in to Loki season 2 on October 5, 2023 to find out more.
Check out our guide to all of the upcoming Marvel movies, including The Marvels and Deadpool 3.