Marvel’s god of thunder will indeed be matching wits with everyone’s favorite trickster in the live-action “Thor” movie – but in a bait-and-switch worthy of the ol’ Norse villain himself, it looks like the studio has surprised everyone with its choice of an actor to play Loki.

From Deadline Hollywood:

I’ve learned that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and Thor director Kenneth Branagh have cast their Loki, the nemesis to the lead in Thor set for release on May 20, 2011. He’s Tom Hiddleston, unknown to American audiences but an award-winning British actor and Royal Academy Of Dramatic Arts (RADA) graduate. He played Winston Churchill’s son in HBO’s The Gathering Storm, but, more to the point, note that Hiddleston starred in Ivanov opposite Sir Kenneth on the London stage and also starred with him in the BBC miniseries Wallander. Marvel Studios won’t confirm my news, but Hiddleston had been considered as a possible Thor.