The Unexpected Way Marvel Fixed Loki's Mind Stone Plothole
There was an idea. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people and see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could, gently cradling a multi-billion-dollar franchise in the process, while also taking time to kick the snot out of Tom Hiddleston.
There was just one problem (two if you count Age of Ultron): Tom Hiddleston was just too darned adorable. Even with his precocious habits like trying to enslave the human race and giving tone-deaf speeches about subjugation to crowds of Germans, the puckish ne'er-do-well kept plucking at audiences' heartstrings as if to say, "You can't stay mad at widdle ol' me!" As time went on, Loki's machinations shifted from world domination to being a silly little stinker, and fans noticed.
And then there was the Mind Stone of it all. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe did an astonishing job of retrofitting its narrative together, it was tough to justify their genocidal lilac antagonist's decision to fork over an Infinity Stone to the Norse god of mischief in the moments leading up to 2012's Avengers. Thanos' whole bailiwick was "get every Infinity Stone, kill half of the universe, transition to farming," and regifting one-sixth of his favorite collection sure seemed like a step in the wrong direction. Wouldn't pawning the Mind Stone (in scepter form) off on Loki just make his job that much harder?
And so Marvel took two potential plot holes and solved them both with one elegant stroke: they updated Loki's social media status.
Loki, the Mind Stone, and the subtle art of retcons
Around 2018, fans noticed that the Marvel Studios website had changed their entry on Loki, adding an important detail to the lapsed ice giant's biography leading up to the events of Avengers. It suddenly read:
"Arriving at the Sanctuary through a wormhole caused by the Bifrost, Loki met the Other, ruler of the ancient race of extraterrestrials the Chitauri, and Thanos. Offering the God of Mischief dominion over his brother's favorite realm Earth, Thanos requested the Tesseract in return. Gifted with a Scepter that acted as a mind control device, Loki would be able to influence others. Unbeknownst to him, the Scepter was also influencing him, fueling his hatred over his brother Thor and the inhabitants of Earth."
Almost as if by magic, a pair of plot inconsistencies were tucked tidily away. Loki wasn't a bad bad guy, he just had his better angels shouted down by a corruptive mystical space rock. His more affable attitude in Thor: Ragnarok suddenly fit nicely with the ongoing franchise. As for Thanos, he used the Mind Stone scepter as a means to an end, basically taking the concept of "you've gotta spend money to make money" and applying it to Infinity Stones.
Boom, just like that, it was socially acceptable to crush on Loki again, and there were no more mistakes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.