With the completion of the first season of Loki, we’re halfway to the multiverse saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Marvel Studios’ Loki is the third Marvel Studios series to stream on Disney Plus directed by Kate Herron. The series features an ensemble cast that includes Tom Hiddleston as the titular antihero, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer, Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15, Eugene Cordero as Casey/Hunter K-5E, Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius, Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie, and Tara Strong as Miss Minutes. The first season also included remarkable cameos and special guest star roles from Jack Veal as Kid Loki, DeObia Oparei as Boastful Loki, Richard E. Grant as Classic Loki, Jonathan Majors as He Who Remains/Kang and MCU stars, Jaimie Alexander and Chris Hemsworth with Alexander reprising her role as Lady Sif who was last seen in the second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hemsworth voicing Throg.
Moments after the time travel shenanigans of the Avengers in “Avengers: Endgame,” Loki escapes with the Tesseract and finds himself stranded in a desert in Mongolia. Moments later, he is being arrested by the minutemen from the Time Variance Authority (TVA) as he has officially violated continuity. Loki as a scheming bad guy who hasn’t learned important lessons yet was treated as a common criminal, processed and prepared to be judged, was eventually “saved” by Mobius M. Mobius from being reset, due to “another” TVA case. This is where he realized that he needs to follow wherever he is, in order to escape. Since he’s granted a stay by Mobius, who does something that could almost be considered worse to Loki - Mobius holds him accountable. It was an oblique interrogation - it was fun - asking Loki what his plan was, should he have achieved his conquest. This leads Loki in circles as the God of Mischief struggles to accept his current situation. This sets up Loki to, as we expect, work for (at least temporarily) with the TVA. Key moments from the God of Mischief’s life have been presented in the time theatre - watching his own life being taken away by Thanos, he has finally embraced the truth, that he can never go back. Mobius eventually revealed the real reason why he wanted to work for him, there is another variant of Loki and is causing violence. The pilot episode ended in Salina, Oklahoma, when a group of hunters were hunting for a variant where a hooded figure set them on fire in a brutal moment. This was eventually revealed as Lady Loki in the following episode, The Variant.
The overall presentation of the series was excellent. The marketing team was able to promote the series and the cast extraordinarily. The production value of Loki is very high. The cinematography and editing are incredibly glorious. The CGI in the scenes is realistic as it can be. The costumes are comic-accurate and suit the characters magnificently. A few of our favorites are the Vote Loki costume, Classic Loki costume, He Who Remains costume, and Alligator Loki. The scoring of the episodes matches the plot of the series. Tom Hiddleston did an outstanding job with his performance of the Asgardian song, “Very Full.” We love the fact that Marvel Studios gave Loki an opportunity to lead in his own series and of course, for Tom Hiddleston to showcase his talent. Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino, Tara Strong, Richard E. Grant as Mobius, Sylvie, Miss Minutes and Classic Loki respectively were perfectly cast. These actors were definitely born for their Marvel roles. The similarities between Tom and Richard were so uncanny that Richard really looks like an older version of Loki. In terms of structure, Marvel Studios is relatively new to the TV scene. It’s understandable how they are very experimental with all of their Disney Plus series. However, they can still improve on their structure and way of storytelling. They can take notes from the past Marvel TV shows. However, the opening credits of the season finale were such a serve. Another flaw of the series is the metaphor presented when it comes to loving oneself. The reaction towards the Sylvie and Loki relationship by the fans is 50/50. It is definitely weird to see Loki be in love with a female version of him. Even if they come from two different timelines, their surnames Laufeyson and Laufeydottir still make them somehow related. The relationship didn’t really grow over the course of the episodes. It felt rushed. If they’re pushing for character growth, it isn’t. Self-love and finding your identity do not happen by falling in love with another version of oneself. On the brighter side, this lady version of Loki (whether she be the “Enchantress” or plain Sylvie) was necessary, this is where the Loki that we will know before Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame will emerge. This is the Loki we’ve known - the one who will sacrifice his own life to save Thor’s, in this series: his newfound “friend” Mobius and his affection to Sylvie. No series is perfect though.
With Loki, the viewers were officially introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse. The series has shown that multiple variants of characters exist in various timelines across the multiverse. The Loki that we’re following in the series is not the Loki that we have always known who was able to redeem himself in Thor: Ragnarok. We’re following the Endgame Loki from 2012 who escaped and got captured by the Time Variance Authority (TVA). In the early phases of the MCU, we’ve only been familiar with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra, but now, more and more organizations are coming into existence. The introduction of the multiverse in the MCU further solidifies the canonicity of the Marvel Television shows pre-WandaVision such as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Daredevil, Jessica Jones, The Punisher, Runaways, Cloak & Dagger, etc. and even guarantees the arrival of fan-favorites such as Tobey Maguire’s version of Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield’s version of Spider-Man, Deadpool and many more to the main MCU timeline. With Loki being part of the multiverse saga, we just don’t know what surprises await us in the upcoming installments namely Spider-Man: No Way Home which is heavily rumored to be a Spider-Verse film and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In addition, Loki will tie-in into Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Loki is also confirmed to be renewed for a second season. Filming for the second season starts in January 2022.
Loki proves that it’s one of the glorious shows to ever exist by having a successful series premiere on Disney Plus with 890,000 viewers on a Wednesday. Thus, Disney Plus decided to move their programming releases on a Wednesday. Wednesdays are indeed the new Fridays.
To sum it all up, we enjoyed watching Loki. The introduction of the multiverse in the series made it really a glorious and thrilling experience. There were a lot of emotional moments between the characters. The cameos also instantly grew on the viewers. Despite their short screen time, they were able to exhibit their outstanding acting skills, and their roles were indeed pivotal to drive the plot. Jonathan Majors’ performance in the season finale was fantastic, and it was one of the best villain introductions in the MCU ever. The season may have ended on a huge cliffhanger, but we just can’t wait for season 2 and the rest of the multiverse saga. Overall, we rate Loki a 9/10.
Lead Writer - Carlos Miguel Andres
Co-Writer - Pola Teneza
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