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Loki's character arc in Infinity War was cut off abruptly leaving fans craving for much-needed closure. However, the powers that be @MCU had other plans for the God of mischief, resurrecting him, one last time.
We pick up where we left off in Avenger's Endgame or the Avengers I (2012) movie based on your understanding of the time-space continuum. Loki picks up the Tesseract/space stone and disappears into a desert followed shortly by the Time Variance Authority (TVA).
Hunter B15 literally knocks some sense into Loki in super slow motion and drags his butt back to the TVA. Hunters in TVA are field agents who "hunt" variants and bring them back to the TVA.
Variants on the other hand are individuals who don't stick to the sacred timeline set forth by the hallowed TVA. What follows next is the most elaborate character arc played out in the MCU across consecutive series episodes.
The Plot of Loki Disney Plus Series
The Loki Disney Plus series starts as abruptly as his death in Infinity War, leading the audience on a merry-goose chase that eventually is rewarding. Laufeyson quickly moves through every stage of grief from denial to acceptance when he reaches the TVA.
This is followed by him assessing his situation and accepting any way out that is offered to him by the officials in the mysterious time monitoring organization.
As the logo indicates, you come across several interesting Loki variants that surprise you one after the other. But the twists are bigger than just a mashup of every Loki possible in the multiverse.
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Through the series of episodes, you see Thor's adopted brother grow as a person through introspection and self-reflection aided by his variant comrades. The concept of time-loops and time portals as a weapon or monitoring device is explored here in detail.
Loki is meant to set in motion a large chain of events in the MCU ranging from the Multiverse of Madness to Wanda movies and cameos. This has something to do with the sacred timeline maintained by the TVA, while the other time branches are "pruned" and kept in check. Considering the release of Shang Chi, Eternals, and other movies, it's interesting to see where this will lead.
Cast
I was genuinely surprised to see Owen Wilson don the role of Mobius the TVA agent. After Wedding Crashers and Meet the Parents, it's completely unexpected to see him play this character.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw looks stunning as the TVA Judge Renslayer, playing the silent but deadly type. She is just so pretty! Wunmi Mosaku is Hunter B-15 in the TVA and does a fantastic job of it. The last series I saw with Mosaku was Lovecraft Country, where she played an incredibly complex role really well.
Eugene Cordero plays an introverted analyst at the TVA and has been known for his comedic chops in various comedic series and movies.
Another character that you won't forget anytime soon is Miss Minutes, the Clippy of the TVA, played by Tara Strong. That adorable voice has breathed life into many characters on kids' shows and is refreshing.
Sophia Di Martino plays an excellent female Loki making an excellent Loki couple with the OG Tom Hiddleston. Richard E Grant is retro Loki that's a lot of fun to watch as well!
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Loki Series Season 1
The first scene sees Loki teleporting out of the Stark Tower (after the Avengers defeat him) and into the Gobi desert. While he tries immediately to assert himself as a god to the locals, Hunter B15 b*tch whacks him with a time stick and takes him back to the TVA.
Loki is then processed by Mobius against the wishes of Renslayer and recruited into tracking another Loki variant. This variant who calls herself Sylvie is bent on dismantling the TVA for snatching her from her life.
Over a few episodes, both variants get to know each other with some friction at first which turns to love pretty fast. Sylvie uncovers the deceit of the TVA and gets to meet the entity behind it all.
There are amazing Loki variants in this season with extraordinary abilities and even better jokes. The plot seems complicated with the onus on the payoff being immense.
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Loki Series Season 2
Season 2 picks up after Sylvie does something to change the sacred TVA timeline forever. Loki is left to pick up the pieces of Sylvie's destructive actions. Loki gets Mobius on his side to help save all timelines, while He Who Remains/ Kang now rules the TVA openly.
There is so much growth for Loki as a character in this season that it makes all the complex plot points worth it.
We are introduced to a rogue TVA agent with a selfish agenda. Victor Timely who is a Kang variant is shown with his origin story and Renslayer's alliance with He Who Remains is explored in detail.
You get to see some great sci-fi acting with Tom Hiddleston showing "time slipping." Next Loki gets in league with Victor Timely to repair "The Time Loom" which refines raw time into well-defined timelines.
One of the better special effects is the "spaghettification" that is said to happen to all matter when sucked into a black hole. And the silence that follows after.
I think that the ending to Season 2 is satisfying, and in some ways is as grand as the scale of the actual paper Marvel Comics.
Update 18/07/2024 - The unique success of the Loki Series
The Disney Plus Loki Series is the only live-action version of the latest Marvel phase that has two seasons of this spectacular series. What does this mean? At the very least it means that it stands on its own as far as continuity goes apart from a few exceptions. It also means that Loki has great writers behind it who have built a meaningful plot that is executed really well. There is genuine character development for every cast member without having to worry about the burden of canon consistency.
The fact that any continuity errors can be isolated with multiverse loopholes is another factor to consider, but you can see the writers haven't used the multiverse as a silver bullet for continuity issues in the larger MCU.
Coming back to the double-season double take that Loki Series deserves, every other MCU series released at the same time was a one-season wonder. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Ms Marvel was just a transition towards Captain America 4 and the Marvels. However, Moon Knight, Hawkeye, and Echo all lasted for a single season before vanishing like the snow of yesteryears.
If the MCU treats their series just as a transition device to the movies they are making it will hurt this fictional universe badly in the long run. The reason why the Marvel Universe took off in the first place was not skillful cementing of story gaps, but multiple storylines that come together organically while making sense on their own as well.
Disney Plus needs to go back to what they do best - telling stories with passion. What they are doing now however is labored worldbuilding similar to that "find the difference" game where you compare things in the series to the movie and say what's missing.
Should You Watch It? - Yes, Yes, and Yes!
Anyone who has seen a single MCU movie needs to watch this series as an homage to the magic that Marvel weaves with its stories. Even if you have been living under a rock for the past 10 years, watching this series will be interesting, to say the least!
Originally posted on 21st August 2021 and Updated 18th July 2024