By Charles Kirkland Jr.
Tom Hiddleston returns to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as The God of Mischief gets his own story in the new Disney+ show, Loki.
So the last time we saw Loki was during Avengers: Endgame where he stole the Tesseract and disappeared as the Avengers were pulling their time heist. Of course, his disappearance has caused him to become a major threat to the existence of the sacred timeline. Therefore, the Time Variance Authority (TVA) is dispatched to apprehend Loki and rectify the error he has created. Well, being the “God of Mischief” that he is, Loki is determined to find a way to manipulate the agency and expose it for the fraudulent creation that he hopes that it is.
Loki is a series on Disney+ that stars Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wunmi Mosaku, Sophia Di Martino, and Richard E. Grant. Loki is directed by Kate Herron (Sex Education, Daybreak) and the series is written by Michael Waldron and Larry Lieber based upon characters and stories created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. While Larry Lieber is a staple in the MCU writers stable, showrunner Waldron previously wrote one episode of Rick and Morty and is also the writer of the Doctor Strange sequel.
The story of this show is unlike anything that has happened in the comic book universe in the fact that it is not a rehashed story. This one is original but not unique. In fact, it is almost obvious that this series exists to not only justify and explain the threads from the movies but to also set up the events in the movies which will follow. There is not yet a connection between this series and the upcoming events in Black Widow, a smart, knowledgeable (and attentive) comic book fan will clearly see the setup for the upcoming Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.
This series is very, very clever. It lacks the action of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier of course because the protagonist, if you can call the villain that, is not much of an action person. After all, the last time Loki tried to get physical, he got his neck snapped. But that was a totally different Loki. This Loki is the familiar, cocky, whip-smart, and formidable trickster that we are used to seeing.
We know what to expect from Hiddleston and he doesn’t disappoint. The refreshing new entries to the Marvel Universe are Wunmi Mosaku who plays an imposing TVA agent, Owen Wilson who plays a TVA detective, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw who plays a TVA judge whose comic book roots are important to the developments in movies that will follow. The biggest surprise is the role that Sophie di Martino plays which will not be revealed here. Suffice it to say, her role has a significant part in the Marvel comic book multiverse.
Unrated for television, Loki is an original and intelligent work that (after only two episodes) has its audience curiously rooting for an anti-hero. It is well-timed with its six-part story ending right at the time of the next big entrance into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Widow, and while it may not have a connection there, it is exciting to see where this is going.
Loki is available only on Disney+.
Grade: B