Director: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Michael Waldron
Writers: Eric Martin, Michael Waldron
Stars: Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Synopsis: The mercurial villain Loki resumes his role as the God of Mischief in a new series that takes place after the events of “Avengers: Endgame.”
Loki had a magnificent freshman season. Their sophomore effort confirms the show is the best Marvel series, by far. While the first season was soaked in its well-regarded, irreverent mischievousness, the second season abandons some of that dark playfulness for deeper, richer themes. The filmmakers behind the shape-shifting trickster, easy to love but hard to embrace, have found that sweet spot where Loki has begun to see his soul and redemption arc brought out by his new partner while his nefarious nature is always near the surface.
The sophomore season of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) starts with the titular character jumping through different variant timelines after Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) kills Victor Timely, AKA the notorious He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) in last year’s finale. His death caused a splintering of variant timelines, creating major internal problems for the bureaucratic organization known as the Time Variance Authority (TVA). Not only are lines drawn and sides chosen, but Sylvie’s actions have caused a branching off of thousands of timelines, something the organization is meant to stop and protect the one true sacred timeline.
This was all part of He Who Remains’ plan, as the Multiversal War caused him to create the Sacred Timeline and the TVA to protect it. However, we discovered that everyone is a variant, even the leading players like Loki’s new BFF, Mobius (Owen Wilson), Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku), and even Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). Heck, it seems like Miss Minutes (voiced by Tara Strong), the He Who Remains AI creation, is the only original, even though she’s been through various updates over the years.
That sets up the story. While two different factions debate the merits of keeping or eliminating timelines, Loki and Mobius are set to chase down Sylvie, Ravonna, and Miss Minutes to protect everyone, not just themselves. This sets the impressively darker tone and more decadent themes in Loki’s second season as they debate faith, control, and, above all else, the value of human life, no matter the variant.
What I admire about the second season of Loki is that creator Michael Waldron doesn’t get bogged down in the trappings of the season finale; he cuts the cord immediately. Waldron could have spent the entire season trying to bring Loki back to the Sacred Timeline but wisely cuts to the chase in the first episode, having Loki jump back into the original future quickly. Otherwise, you’d have abandoned what made the first season enjoyable—the buddy chemistry between Hiddleston and Wilson.
What makes this season so interesting is that Marvel embraces Loki’s antihero character, which sets up the plot and slowly transforms his character into something gradual, heartfelt, and empathetic. For instance, Sylvie saw timelines as a source of control for uncaring and cold government officials last season, while Loki understood there was a greater good. That’s where Waldron and company begin to fold into those themes we talked about above, something that the film The Creator played with last month (and even The Matrix), like freedom of choice versus conformity, individualism versus collectivism, existentialism, and most importantly, morality.
The cast is near pitch-perfect, with the addition of Ke Huy Quan, who plays the author of the TVA manual, O.B., who consistently delights by bringing a positive energy to the series’ darkest scenes. Then you have Blindspotting’s Rafael Casal, who plays agent X-5, who questions the TVA’s actions and finds solace in the life that was taken from him (think Joe Pantoliano’s Cypher in The Matrix), like being the star of a 70s star of a shlock horror film.
And, of course, we need to address the elephant in the room: Jonathan Majors’s role not being cut in Loki reportedly because filming had already wrapped well after the abuse allegations surfaced. (Producer Kevin Wright was also quoted saying Majors won’t be recast because he was hesitant to do so without knowing how the case would play out.) I know the late Roger Ebert made a famous point to his partner Gene Siskel about being able to separate them two decades ago. Still, you can’t watch Loki with Majors in the scene without the alleged issues of domestic violence popping into your head. Still, Majors is a gifted talent, and his turn as Victor Timely is very good here, showing some of the innocence of Timely before the change of personas.
However, if you can get past the real-life issues of Majors, the show is great fun with its combination of mind-blowing storytelling and disarming charm from the cast. The series is a creative burst of fresh air, embracing the famous comic’s limitless storytelling and using the plot of branching timelines to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
Frankly, Loki uses the multiverse storyline better than most of Marvel’s famed filmography. With multiple jaw-dropping moments that keep you guessing and knowing the unexpected can be coming at every turn, that’s a rarity in television, where networks and streaming services want to do nothing else but follow the episodic rule book step by step. Loki is more morally complex, engaging, even divisive, and suspenseful than anything Marvel has done in recent years.
