We’ve been pretty preoccupied with WandaVision for the past couple of months now (with good reason), but as that fun Marvel series on Disney Plus heads toward an exciting conclusion, we’re poking our heads up and looking toward one of the next MCU series on the streaming horizon.
Loki is now officially set to debut on Disney Plus on June 11, 2021.
So, what do we know about Loki the series?
Disney provided this description for fans to chew on:
“Loki features the God of Mischief as he steps out of his brother’s shadow in the new series that takes place after the events of Avengers: Endgame.”
Well, that’s not super helpful, so let’s see what else we either know or can surmise about the show, from other information provided by Marvel or the past MCU films.
The Cast
We know we will have fan-favorite Tom Hiddleston reprising his role as Loki from 6 previous MCU movies (Thor, The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame). The series will also feature Owen Wilson as an agent of the Time Variance Authority (a new entry into the MCU) and several other newcomers to the MCU.
The Plot
OK, safe to say we don’t really know here. Much like the case of WandaVision, Marvel and Disney have not provided too many details on the plot or what we can expect from the new series. However, they have released a trailer that gives us some clues.
It appears (and makes sense) that the new Loki will not actually be the version we saw in the story arc up through Avengers: Infinity War. Fans will remember that Loki was killed by Thanos in that film. While Loki has faked his death in other MCU movies, this time it looked pretty final. So, who is the Loki in the series? From the trailer, it looks like we will now be following an alternate timeline version of Loki, who we saw briefly in Avengers: Endgame when several Avengers traveled back in time to the events just following the first Avengers film after Loki was captured. In Endgame, we see that version of Loki uses the Space Stone to escape, which he did not do in the timeline of the other movies. So, it appears that the Loki we will see in the new series will be one who is still the villain he was directly following the first Avengers film and before he had his eventual redemption, when he teamed up with Thor in Thor: Ragnorak and was then killed fighting Thanos in Infinity War. Confused enough?
The trailer then shows us that this version of Loki (we’ll just call him Loki from here on) in the custody of the previously mentioned Time Variance Authority. He will later either escape or go to work for the TVA, depending on how you want to interpret the video. We also get a very brief shot of what might Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow on a strange world, Loki jumping out of a plane after calling on Thor or Heimdall to ‘be ready’.
Is Loki the Hero of Villain?
Who knows? Based on the trailer and what we can assume about the character, he would certainly start as a villain, but like ‘our’ Loki from the later MCU movies, perhaps he evolves a bit. But, let’s face it, fans probably prefer a slightly questionable version of Loki. He is the God of Mischief after all.
However it plays out, it looks like MCU fans are in for another treat to follow up on the great start that WandaVision has made to kick off 2021. Stay tuned!
