The Matt Damon Character He’s Played the Longest Isn’t Jason Bourne, And He’s Just As Iconic for Some

September 7, 2026, 2:30pm

While most actors are known for their overall body of work and the many, varied characters they play over their careers, every so often there’s an actor who takes on one character and makes them their own for years, portraying them across multiple projects. Sometimes, that same actor does it with more than one character and that’s the case with Matt Damon. The actor might be presently getting major critical acclaim and even awards buzz for his role as Odysseus in The Odyssey, but for many people he’s beloved for his role as Jason Bourne, a CIA assassin with dissociative amnesia that he’s played in five films over 14 years. However, while Jason Bourne is iconic and Damon’s run on the character has been long, it’s actually not the character he’s played the longest. There’s another — and that character has a fanbase of its own.

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If you guessed that the character that Matt Damon has played longer than Jason Bourne is Loki, then you’re right. Damon played the fallen angel in Kevin Smith’s 1999 film Dogma. In the film, Loki has been eternally banished to Wisconsin for insubordination and Loki, along with his fellow fallen angel Bartleby (Ben Affleck) figures out a loophole that would let them return to Heaven. The problem? That loophole would literally end all existence. While Loki ultimately met his end in the film, the character made a surprise reappearance 20 years later, making him Damon’s longest running character to date.

Matt Damon’s Loki is the Perfect Bookend to His Bourne Career (And a Surprisingly Complex Character)

Damon’s Loki might not be his biggest character, but he holds an interesting place in the actor’s career even beyond the title of his longest-running role. His first outing as Loki comes relatively early in his career, particularly as he’s just started to get serious critical acclaim — just two years before Dogma’s release, the actor hit major success with Good Will Hunting, both for his performance but for the screenplay which he co-wrote with Affleck (and would go on to win Academy Award for.) This breakthrough success marked a big transition for Damon’s career with more serious roles. His role as Loki in Dogma serves as a bit of a lighthearted moment before things really take off and we see Damon fully become an action star with The Bourne Identity in 2002. The more lighthearted role of Loki in Dogma makes for an interesting tone in Damon’s career even as his roles become more serious. That said, what makes Loki really stand out is that, despite Dogma being a comedy and Loki being a less serious role, Damon brings a lot of layers to the fallen angel. The character goes on a real journey in the film just as much as the other characters and we ultimately see him develop a conscience and understanding of what his actions might bring about — and in a sense, what it means to be human. This is incredible, layered work and it sets a tone for what to expect from Damon going forward.

There’s also something really special about Damon’s surprise return as Loki in Jay& Silent Bob Reboot beyond it being a fun cameo situation. Loki’s appearance in the comedy also serves as a bit of reference to Damon’s actual career. In the Jay & Silent Bob appearance, Damon’s Loki breaks the fourth wall and reveals that after the events of Dogma, God resurrected him and for the past two decades he’s been living his life as the actor Matt Damon as well as the spy Jason Bourne. It’ s hilarious in context of the film, but it also, in a sense, acknowledges that his career really took off in the years after Dogma — and the significance of the Bourne character to that. It’s fun for fans (Loki was one of the more interesting and complex characters in Dogma) and it’s a lovely way to acknowledge Damon’s body of work.

We probably won’t see Damon’s Loki again, though with Smith’s View Askewniverse always bringing back various characters and performers from previous films, one never knows for sure and it is possible that Damon’s tenure as the character could be eclipsed by Jason Bourne yet. Damon confirmed back in July that there have been discussions for him to reprise the role as Jason Bourne for a new film. If that happens, it would certainly push Bourne into the “longest running character” spot for Damon. However, even if that happens Loki will always be special. It’s the character that gave us a real glimpse at Damon’s range right as his career took off and continues to remind us that the actor can be serious, action-oriented, and funny all at once, something that has only gotten better the longer his career goes on.

Oh, and Damon’s MCU appearance where he plays Loki? Not the same Loki — but you have to admit, that was hilarious.