After stealing the Tesseract during the events of Avengers Endgame in another timeline, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) finds himself called before the TVA, the Time Variance Authority, which exists outside of time and space. Loki is forced to answer for his crimes against the timeline and is given a choice: face deletion from reality or assist in catching an even greater threat.
Minor spoilers below for Loki, major spoilers for Infinity War and Endgame.
Loki is the third MCU series, arriving after two majorly successful installments, WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, and focuses on everyone’s favorite trickster Loki. The original Loki we knew and followed through several films was killed in Infinity War at the hands of Thanos so this series instead focuses on the Loki from the past timeline the Avengers interfered with when getting the stones in Endgame.
At this point Loki was still more of his villainous self than the anti-hero he would later become in later events. And this Loki is now plunged into a much bigger plot involving the consequences of messing with time, space, and reality, which was a concept introduced in Endgame that is now being followed through with here, and we get our first step into the long-awaited multiverse that is set to be one of the main themes of this era of the MCU. It was clear this series was going to be one crazy ride, with one of the most beloved MCU characters leading the charge.
So how did it turn out? Show creators Kate Heron and Michael Waldron delivered a truly amazing and insane show with glorious purpose! It delivers on its promises while also giving us a truly nuts yet compelling adventure with the God of Mischief as the lead.
Tom Hiddleston once again is perfect as Loki, but this might be the best portrayal of Loki we have had in the entire MCU. Now, keep in mind this alternate Loki has not experienced the events of The Dark World and Ragnarok so he is the much more dangerous, arrogant, and mischievous villain we knew from before. But this show proceeds to peel back the layers of his character by having him torn down from his high horse, facing the reality of his past actions as well as forcing him to question his existential role in life. Is he meant to be the bad guy forever and keep on being the well-known deceitful cretin? Or is there a far greater role for him to take?
These are things we see explored on his mind-bending journey that is full of mystery, self-reflection, and a surprising amount of emotion. But of course, Loki being Loki, he’s always going to have some fun along the way, all of which is achieved perfectly by fantastic writing and Tom Hiddleston’s complete dedication to the role. He really soared to new heights in this series as this character who had long since been in Thor’s shadow but was now able to shine hugely in new ways.
And then have Agent Mobius of the TVA, played by the always lovable Owen Wilson. To be honest I didn’t know what to expect from Owen Wilson and his character in this series, but he was absolutely fantastic in this. He has a really solid dynamic with Loki and can come off as funny as well as charming and yet pull off surprisingly serious moments too. From the very first episode we see him rip into Loki and tear him down from his pedestal, challenging him with a lot of philosophical conversations that I found to be really engaging and interesting. And this is coming from the guy we all know likes to say “wow.” It’s such a huge departure from previous roles we have seen him in. He was such an excellent addition to the series, with his own unique journey alongside the God of Mischief, trying to keep the timeline safe, or at least that is what he is lead to believe.
The TVA itself is a very mysterious yet imposing new group that gets explored in various ways throughout the show, expanding our knowledge of the MCU while also having its own secrets. And as shown through some of its members, like Mobius and the judge Ravonna Renslayer, played wonderfully by Gugu Mbatha-Raw, this group isn’t necessarily a good-guy group. The TVA is established as a highly Authoritarian group that only seeks to keep order in the main timeline and keep things that are meant to happen on track, no matter how terrible certain events might be.
There are a lot of things you can question about this group, especially when the show creators establish just how powerful they are in comparison to other things, in the most shocking way possible. You definitely end up taking the TVA very seriously, although it isn’t afraid to have a more humorous and self-aware aspect of that I think is done well. The group even has their own artificial intelligence mascot known as Miss Minutes, voiced by one of my favorite voice actresses, Tara Strong, who has also been the voice of Harley Quinn on numerous occasions.
There is also a very interesting mystery surrounding the group’s creation and its supposed creators who decree the paths of all beings within the singular timeline and seek order when things are not going the way they should, according to them. Obviously, I won’t go into any spoilers but let’s just say there are very big surprises that are certainly going to make you question everything.
One of the most interesting inclusions is an alternate variant of Loki named Sylvie, played by Sophia Di Martino. She is a female version of Loki who is attacking the “Sacred Timeline” and the TVA for motives that become more clear as the series progresses. She shares some traits with our Loki as you would expect, but she feels very much like a separate being who is capable of many different abilities, has her own personality, and is someone who might even surpass our Loki in terms of cunning, intelligence, and even power. She makes for an interesting rival for someone like Loki to deal, with but I do love how the two interact; they have a lot of scenes together that have a lot of depth and meaning. She was a very likable character who has her own flaws like Loki, and is given an absolutely fantastic performance by Sophia Di Martino.
Also, she isn’t the only alternate variant of Loki we get to see in this series, as the show takes the route of Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse and introduces us to several versions of Loki that are both hilarious and awesome. {⚠️Minor Spoiler ⚠️} They even have a Loki variant that is an alligator, which will forever be funny to me. {⚠️Minor Spoiler Over⚠️} However, the interesting thing is that show creators didn’t copy what Spiderverse did when it came to having all these variants interacting with each other. They instead took some unique turns that stay true to the character of Loki, which I really liked.
The story itself is also really damn good. Despite an exposition-heavy beginning the series starts out strong, showing us exactly what kind of series this will be, expanding the MCU further and expanding on Loki as a character. And it all takes place in a very sci-fi setting that has the look and feels of a Stanley Kubrick film. The show is very character-driven like the previous shows, but this one goes further with its emotional depth, humor, and even themes that haven’t been touched upon in the MCU before. I was surprised to see how many philosophical and existential themes were interwoven within the narrative that really fleshed out each character in a unique way, including Loki himself.
There is a lot of great detail put into this series that makes it incredibly thought-provoking, there is just so much you can analyze and it is never once uninteresting. Are there things people can get confused about, especially with everything regarding timelines and multiple realities? Absolutely, but I found myself able to catch on to things really quickly, understanding everything that is established regarding newer elements that expand upon the ever-growing MCU.
And when things go insane they really get insane, especially when you get to episodes 4, 5, and 6. This series likes to throw a lot of crazy surprises at you that are seriously going to mess with your head, but in a good way.
The action is really well-executed, featuring a mix of magic and sci-fi clashing together similarly to Thor Ragnarok’s awesome action. A lot of elements in the series definitely feel a lot like Thor Ragnarok, especially the tone, narrative, visuals, and the action, but I feel it stands out more as its own thing with Loki’s abilities being the focus, along with the unique nature of the TVA that is vastly different than what we have seen before. I still think The Falcon and The Winter Soldier has the better action but this show’s action goes for a lot more visual flair to stand out more, and I feel it definitely succeeds on that front. And this may be a slight nitpick but there were a few occasions where some fights were edited a bit choppily, though again that could be just me.
The visuals, effects, and cinematography are completely outstanding and easily the best of the MCU shows so far. A lot of the visuals, especially in the realm of the TVA, are very mind-bending and very Stanley Kubrick inspired as I mentioned before. The creators really have a keen eye for all sorts of visuals and sets with glorious colors that leap off the screen, thanks to some solid cinematography and lighting.
The CGI is very very good and is significantly better than the effects we have had so far in the previous shows (although their effects are good too). The amount of effort made in the visual departments shows that Marvel and Disney aren’t treating their shows any differently than the films in terms of making them look gorgeous on every visual level possible, especially when it comes to some of the practical sets and new worlds. Every episode feels almost like a mini-movie with just how much effort is put onscreen, as well as the truly amazing shots we get with spectacular cinematography. Many shots can be mind-bending in this series but some are just so beautiful that they can really enhance the emotion you feel for a certain scene as well as adding a lot of depth. The visual quality is beyond anything I expected and I hope that is something they keep up in future shows.
The music by Natalie Holt is absolutely out of this world, with a sci-fi heavy score that enhances the strangeness and excitement of this time jumping adventure. It feels so unique and fresh compared to anything we have had in the MCU so far and it can also feel rather haunting at times. The main theme that plays with the title card and credits is my ultimate favorite of the entire score as it really incorporates all elements of the show and makes for a theme that every time you hear it you can feel your hair stand up for how cool and haunting it sounds.
The show manages to stick the landing in its finale, perhaps the best and most mind-blowing finale we’ve had among the MCU shows so far. Obviously I won’t give any spoilers, but trust me when I say it heavily impacts the MCU going forward and opens the door for a surprise second season. What is going to happen beyond this point? I have no idea but I couldn’t be more excited.
Loki for certain hits the hardest among all the MCU shows for how amazingly crafted it is in so many ways. WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier are great shows for their own reasons, but Loki manages to take bigger steps, especially in terms of scale and stakes. While the other two were somewhat grounded personal stories, this felt like an epic that propels the cinematic universe forward into new territories that we will see explored in future installments. I truly praise the show creators and all the hardworking cast and crew of this series for delivering such a fantastic series and I just can’t wait to see more. I’m going to give Loki Season 1 an A+.
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