Tom Hiddleston's 'Thank You' Letter To Joss Whedon

Tom Hiddleston has written Joss Whedon a heartfelt "thank you" letter for creating the role of Loki for him in the Avengers and Thor movies.

The British actor has proved a hit with audiences and critics as Thor's mischievous half-brother - and now director Joss Whedon has revealed the enthusiastic email he got from Hiddleston after he saw the script for The Avengers for the first time.

"I am so excited I can hardly speak," Hiddleston wrote.

"The first time I read it I grabbed at it like Charlie Bucket snatching for a golden ticket somewhere behind the chocolate in the wrapper of a Wonka Bar. I didn't know where to start.

"Like a classic actor I jumped in looking for LOKI on every page, jumping back and forth, reading words in no particular order, utterances imprinting themselves like flash-cuts of newspaper headlines in my mind - 'real menace,' 'field of obeisance,' 'discontented, nothing is enough,' 'his smile is nothing but a glimpse of his skull,' 'Puny god.'"

And T-Hiddy compared the role to Hans Gruber, the sinister villain played by Alan Rickman in Die Hard.

"Thank you for writing me my Hans Gruber," Hiddleston went on. "But a Hans Gruber with super-magic powers. As played by James Mason.

"It's high operatic villainy alongside detached throwaway tongue-in-cheek; plus the 'real menace' and his closely guarded suitcase of pain.

"It's grand and epic and majestic and poetic and lyrical and wicked and rich and badass and might possibly be the most gloriously fun part I've ever stared down the barrel of playing. It is just so juicy."

The filmmaker also recently commented "this is one of those emails you keep forever", and quipped that it was longer and more articulate than the script itself.