“I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose.”
In the case of the hit Disney+ Marvel series, Loki, “glorious purpose” refers to continuing the next installment of the very intricately-designed universe, with extremely devoted and critical fans, which is none other than the Marvel Cinematic Universe: a multi-billion dollar media franchise of movies, television shows, and more, which are based upon the classic Marvel superhero comics.
Following the release of the first two MCU television series, Loki was released onto the increasingly popular streaming platform, Disney+ on June 9th, 2021. Featuring Tom Hiddleston returning as beloved supervillain turned anti-hero turned hero, Loki, as well as with a supporting cast of Sophia Di Martino, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Wunmi Mosaku, Loki became yet another Marvel project to feature the idea of the multiverse.
After getting into trouble with the Time Variance Authority (TVA), Loki finds himself in a bit of a pickle. He ends up trying to catch a version of himself from a different universe, and along the way, discovers the disorder behind the TVA.
The show is connected to many other Marvel projects, including Avengers: Endgame, Iron Man, Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnarok, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
The first season received a pretty high IMDb score of 8.6, a great Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score of 92%, and a Rotten Tomatoes Audience rating of 90%.
I found the first season to be quite enjoyable, albeit a bit difficult to follow at times. As you might expect, a show dealing with all of time across every single universe in the multiverse is, needless to say, complex.
However, I enjoyed how they incorporated the stories into the plot. The multiverse parts of the story did feel a little forced (probably because they were) but they managed to create a very interesting story with lots of well-developed characters and fan-appealing scenes.
The end of the first season also (finally) introduced Kang the Conqueror into the MCU. Presented as “He Who Remains” in the season finale, a variant version of the character, Kang himself goes on to be one of the main players in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
Kang the Conqueror is a beloved (and extremely powerful) supervillain in the Marvel comics, and the first episode of Loki’s second season seemed to not-so-subtly hint at his extent of power.
The first episode of Loki, season two, was released on October 5th of this year. There are currently three episodes available to stream on Disney+, with more to come in the coming weeks.
The season premiere, entitled “Ouroboros” after the new character played by Ke Huy Quan, follows Loki as he is being pulled in between two different timelines. The present timeline, where he has his friends, and the future — a disturbing timeline in which Kang Variant, “He Who Remains,” is the leader of the TVA. The episode received an IMDb score of 8.3/10.
The first episode was very entertaining, and I cannot wait to finish the rest of the series when it comes out. It is clear that this story is going to be pivotal for the future of some other Marvel projects, yet it still manages to capture the comedically quirky vibe of the first season.
So far, the whole second season itself has a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer rating of 85%, a Rotten Tomatoes audience rating of 91%, and an overall IMDb score of 8.1.
Loki is only one step in the future of Marvel projects. In the next few years, fans can expect several highly-anticipated imaginations of well-loved Marvel Comics stories, including The Marvels (November 10), What If…? season 2 (Late 2023), X-Men ‘97 (Early 2024), Deadpool 3 (May 3, 2024), Captain America: Brave New World (July 26, 2024), Ironheart (2024), Daredevil: Born Again (2024), and something I am extremely excited for, Blade (February 14, 2025)!
With years and years of planned content for the future, Loki is only one part. There are so, so many comics that have yet to be taken to the silver screen, and fans like me can appreciate the spectacle of a comic brought to life.
