I believe in this instance that Coulson is right. Loki lacks conviction because there is no real reason he would want Earth. It's not a strategic advantage as it contains nothing (we've seen) that would offer him a way to take over Asgard or any of the other nine realms. Asgard which has always been Loki's true goal. In Thor we see how hard he pushes to try and prove himself once Frigga allows him to wear the crown and take over as king. How much he wants to be the hero, worshiped and respected as Thor would have been. Earth will offer him none of this, while he may have pushed the humans down to rise above it-- they mean nothing to him, they're ants, and not his true goal. The respect of ants means nothing, the respect of Aesir means all.
Stark even wonders about it at one point, why would Loki want to rule Earth? Of course he doesn't have time to think it through but it's a puzzling question to those who do not even know his true motivations.
He doesn't want Earth, he wants a ride home.
A thing to keep in mind is Loki's plans usually have plans those plans have plans and schemes and so on and so forth. Coming in and blowing up a bunch of stuff after making the good guys bicker a little is quite flat for a person of Loki's skill sets.
He steals the tesseract in such a visible way-- which he's been keeping tabs on, as seen in the post-Thor credits scene-- which causes Fury to gather the Avengers and sets things into motion. If he intends for the Avengers to get involved at this point is negligent because he knows the power of the tesseract will draw the attention of Odin and therefor Thor.
It's then he allows himself to be captured-- even Stark and Rogers comment on how odd it is because he could have easily fled but choose not to. Of course then Thor shows up and Loki is sure he has the All-Fathers attention and his trick is already working against those involved. He slips information here or there and in the end he lands defeated-- a good smashing from the Hulk, sure, but he doesn't bother to draw himself away afterward.
He lets the heroes believe they've won, which is the easiest way for him to win. No one second guesses it because they all believe Loki to be weaker than Thor, crazed and a coward. In truth he just needed a way home and a way away from Thanos. They threaten him with pain, with finding him no matter where he may run and obviously have some sort of connection to him. In battling and losing as he did that puts him back in Asgard-- but not just that but under the protection of Thor and the others, not to mention in the position to usurp all that especially if he gets his hands on some of the things hidden in Odin's vault.
Why else would Selvig, while completely at a loss for his sense of self, still install a fail-safe into the portal? Why would Loki lie about possessing the cosmic cube to The Other? Loki isn't a team player and deigns no person worthy of ruling over him, that much is obvious, so why would he subject himself to Thanos' rule?
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I believe in this instance that Coulson is right. Loki lacks conviction because there is no real reason he would want Earth. It's not a strategic advantage as it contains nothing (we've seen) that would offer him a way to take over Asgard or any of the other nine realms. Asgard which has always been Loki's true goal. In Thor we see how hard he pushes to try and prove himself once Frigga allows him to wear the crown and take over as king. How much he wants to be the hero, worshiped and respected as Thor would have been. Earth will offer him none of this, while he may have pushed the humans down to rise above it-- they mean nothing to him, they're ants, and not his true goal. The respect of ants means nothing, the respect of Aesir means all.
Stark even wonders about it at one point, why would Loki want to rule Earth? Of course he doesn't have time to think it through but it's a puzzling question to those who do not even know his true motivations.
He doesn't want Earth, he wants a ride home.
A thing to keep in mind is Loki's plans usually have plans those plans have plans and schemes and so on and so forth. Coming in and blowing up a bunch of stuff after making the good guys bicker a little is quite flat for a person of Loki's skill sets.
He steals the tesseract in such a visible way-- which he's been keeping tabs on, as seen in the post-Thor credits scene-- which causes Fury to gather the Avengers and sets things into motion. If he intends for the Avengers to get involved at this point is negligent because he knows the power of the tesseract will draw the attention of Odin and therefor Thor.
It's then he allows himself to be captured-- even Stark and Rogers comment on how odd it is because he could have easily fled but choose not to. Of course then Thor shows up and Loki is sure he has the All-Fathers attention and his trick is already working against those involved. He slips information here or there and in the end he lands defeated-- a good smashing from the Hulk, sure, but he doesn't bother to draw himself away afterward.
He lets the heroes believe they've won, which is the easiest way for him to win. No one second guesses it because they all believe Loki to be weaker than Thor, crazed and a coward. In truth he just needed a way home and a way away from Thanos. They threaten him with pain, with finding him no matter where he may run and obviously have some sort of connection to him. In battling and losing as he did that puts him back in Asgard-- but not just that but under the protection of Thor and the others, not to mention in the position to usurp all that especially if he gets his hands on some of the things hidden in Odin's vault.
Why else would Selvig, while completely at a loss for his sense of self, still install a fail-safe into the portal? Why would Loki lie about possessing the cosmic cube to The Other? Loki isn't a team player and deigns no person worthy of ruling over him, that much is obvious, so why would he subject himself to Thanos' rule?
He wouldn't.