Tom Hiddleston made an appearance at Comic-Con. Sort of. He wasn’t actually, physically in San Diego (OR WAS HE? No, he wasn’t). But Tommy did crop up in some “special” footage from Guillermo del Toro’s first look at Crimson Peak at Comic Con. Del Toro promised that he would bring Hiddles and the rest of the cast to Comic-Con next year, because Crimson Peak is still 18 months away from a release date. Del Toro also had nice things to say about the cast of CP, including this about Lord Dragonfly: “I must tell you girls, Tom Hiddleston is the nicest f–king guy on earth. It used to be in the past that you were either nice, or you were good-looking and an a–hole. Now that barrier is ruined.” So, there you have it.

But still, you want more evidence that Tommy is the adorable, kissabl, puppy-like, swan-sonneting dork-lord of your dreams? Well, then I have got something for you. According to a new biography of Joss Whedon, when Whedon stepped in to do a decent draft of The Avengers, Tommy wrote him a lovely email/letter telling Joss how brilliant and fantastic he is. Here is the letter:

Joss,

I am so excited I can hardly speak.

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” …

… Thank you for writing me my Hans Gruber. 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.

I love how throughout you continue to put Loki on some kind of pedestal of regal magnificence and then consistently tear him down. He gets battered, punched, blasted, side-swiped, roared at, sent tumbling on his back, and every time he gets back up smiling, wickedly, never for a second losing his eloquence, style, wit, self-aggrandisement or grandeur, and you never send him up or deny him his real intelligence…. That he loves to make an entrance; that he has a taste for the grand gesture, the big speech, the spectacle. I might be biased, but I do feel as though you have written me the coolest part.

… But really I’m just sending you a transatlantic shout-out and first-bump, things that traditionally British actors probably don’t do. It’s epic.

[Via Business Insider]

Joss wrote him back, of course, and you can see Joss’s kind respond here. I’m debating with myself whether I think Hiddles is a giant dork for this. When I first read the letter a few days ago, my immediate reaction was CRINGE. It’s just so ass-kissy and overly obsequious. I waited a while and re-read it. And my reaction was different the second time around. I think it’s mostly a nice letter, gushing and complimentary and it’s just the kind of letter one fan-boy would send another fan-boy. So, fair enough. Hiddles is just so EXTRA though. Sigh…

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Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News, Getty, WENN.