User Reviews

Season 1: It's been a while since I watched season 1, but from what I remember, I loved it! Tom Hiddleston is a great actor, and I love his performance as Loki. I loved his performance in the first Thor film, and I was thrilled to see that he got his own show. The TVA is a cool concept. Sophia Martino did a great job playing Sylvie.

Season 2: This season was even better. I was happy to see Loki getting another season, and I was even happier watching it. The story was a fun continuation from Season 1 and built off it really well. I think it was episode 4 of season 2 that ended with a cliffhanger, and it felt a little bittersweet, and episode 3 was a little slow for me, but over all, I loved Loki. I want to see a third season, but I doubt they will due to Season 2 finally seeming like the end of the whole show, but who knows?

Loki season 1 (2021, Disney+) Eric's Grade: A 'Loki' at first glance may have seemed like an afterthought to other MCU shows such as 'WandaVision' and 'Falcon and the Winter Soldier', but as the series drew closer this definitely seemed like it was going to be much more interesting than I originally thought. It also opens up some very interesting doors for the MCU as a whole, and all we can do is wonder, for now, where those doors will lead. We thought that 'WandaVision' was going to be the show to inject the multiverse into the MCU lexicon, but in reality 'Loki' has pulled the pin on that grenade with 'Avengers: Endgame' laying the groundwork. 'Loki' season 1 is a six episode run on Disney+ and stars Tom Hiddleston reprising his role as the God of Mischief. I am amazed at how different these first three series have been and how they really seem to defy any easy genre classification. In fact the Wikipedia article on 'Loki' lists its genres as action adventure, crime thriller, fantasy, procedural drama, science fiction and superhero. It is also quite interesting that I walked into this really without much in the way of expectations and that allowed the show to really forge an unexpected path which felt fresh, new and utterly delightful. So deep into the MCU as a storytelling entity it is nice to know then can still generate original stories while continuously tying all the content together. As good as this is it still felt like only part of a story ending on a pretty extreme cliffhanger which apparently they realized as in lieu of their standard end credit scene they literally just said Loki will return in season 2.

So how exactly is there a Loki show when the Loki we all love to almost hate was dispatched by Thanos in 'Avengers: Endgame'? When the Avengers concocted the plan the retrieve Infinity Stones from the past the idea of the multiverse and branch timelines was introduced and discussed for a minute between Banner and the Ancient One. In a failed attempt to retrieve the Tesseract Loki picked it up and vanished, and up until now that has never been addressed. That Loki is the one we are following on this story. The idea of multiple versions of the same character existing in different timelines is the core concept of this series. A mysterious agency tracks Loki down and brings him to a place seemingly out of time called the TVA. Here we get a decent amount of exposition on how everything is supposed to work. It is a tutorial for Loki, but also functions as such for the audience as well. Basically there exists a sacred timeline. The TVA was created by entities known as the Timekeepers to preserve the timeline and when people like this Loki divert from the predetermined path it creates a branch that must be fixed and the 'variant' as they call the offending parties are pruned which we think is killed but later find out they are really just sent to a void at the end of time. We meet Owen Wilson's TVA agent Mobius M. Mobius who is at first at odds with Loki but enlists his aid to help him track down a dangerous variant killing his colleagues. The variant as it turns out is another Loki. The first part of the series deals with finding this other Loki who turns out to be a female variant played by Sophia Di Martino who calls herself Sylvie. Her and Loki not only end up revealing the TVA to be somewhat of a sham or at least the Timekeepers part as well as all people working there are variants, but also start to fall for each other which is weird on a lot of levels but they have good chemistry so we just kind of go with it.

Once the sham is revealed in a very 'Wizard of Oz' type scene they both wind up getting to the void at the end of time where we meet a bunch of Loki variants including a wonderful version of classic Loki played by Richard E. Grant and even an alligator Loki. Kid Loki here was disappointing as he just did not seem to be well cast which is rare for Marvel. Beyond this void Loki and Sylvie find the Citadel at the End of Time where they meet He Who Remains played by Jonathan Majors. He reveals he is behind the TVA with the basic premise of keeping an evil version of himself from taking control of the multiverse. He leaves the decision up to Loki and Sylvie what to do with him. She wants him dead no matter what, but Loki thinks they should give it some thought. This causes a rift between them. We do get a kiss between them but in the end Sylvie is able to send Loki back to the TVA trapping him there so she can then kill He Who Remains. The death scene is very underwhelming and I know this is technically Disney but still that should have had a bit more panache. She is left unsatisfied meanwhile in a very 'Planet of the Apes' moment Mobius does not recognize Loki back at the TVA and we pan to a huge statue of Jonathan Majors in lieu of the Timekeepers indicating that the dangerous variant of him has already arisen to power, and that's where it ends! Still so many questions.

It is funny because we have been led to believe that watching the Disney+ streaming shows was not vital to understanding film continuity, but as these shows continue to blast big holes and open up pretty large doors in the MCU I don't know how that is possible. The writers and showrunners are also starting to rely more and more on the viewers having a pretty deep knowledge of Marvel lore. I am not certain it is a requirement but it greatly enhances the experience if you understand how much stuff they are inserting from the comics such as all the Loki variants who all exist in the comics. Sylvie seems more like a version of the Enchantress from the comics more than an actual Loki variant. The judge Renslayer is from the comics and gives a key hint to the identity of who is all behind this based on what you know of her from the comics. Mobius is also a character from the comics as well as the demon smoke monster Alioth. The most interesting tidbit along these lines though is man behind the curtain, Jonathan Majors and his character. He references himself as He Who Remains which is an entity in the comics associated with the TVA and the Timekeepers, however, that is not really who he is playing, or more likely they are wrapping He Who Remains into the mythos of another character. He is really here to be Kang the Conqueror, who is going to turn out to be the more dangerous variant of himself he referenced before dying, and I am not sure if they expect a casual audience to know this or if they just feel like it is not vital information at this point yet. We know Jonathan Majors is Kang because Disney announced he was cast as that character in the next Ant-Man movie.

This show really does quite a bit in 6 episodes. It has wonderful re

Loki season 2 (2023, Disney+) Eric's Grade: B Season 2 of 'Loki' focuses on the continuing adventures of Thor's brother as he navigates a secret time safeguarding organization known as the TVA. Tom Hiddleston returns as the titular God of Mischief, and the show features many returning cast members from the previous season. Most notable of new cast additions is Ke Huy Quan as TVA employee Ouroboros. While 'Loki' fits in the MCU as a whole the show has a primarily self contained story isolated to the previous season as well as this one. 'Loki' season 2 utilized a weekly release schedule airing its six episodes on the Disney+ streaming service from October to November 2023.

Season 1 ends on a tad of a cliffhanger that feeds directly into the direction of season 2. Sylvie, a Loki variant, has killed He Who Remains at the end of time thinking she was setting timelines free. Instead He claimed he was really keeping many dangerous versions of himself at bay which, upon his death, will now be free to spill forth causing mayhem and chaos. Loki as a result of Sylvie's action wound up back at the TVA at a point where he was unknown, and Kang, the next ubervillain played by Jonathan Majors, was starting to take a major foothold. The balance of the show is Loki trying to keep his small group of TVA friends/team together in order to somehow save the sacred timeline that threatens to burst free of its confines. There is a lot of comic book style science thrown around, but you just sort of have to roll with it. As everything they do seems to fail Loki is confronted with an ultimate decision on a possible solution, but will he see it through to a universe saving conclusion or revert to a selfish Loki of old?

There is a lot to like in 'Loki' season 2 and while you cannot point to this show as MCU salvation or something that points the whole universe in the right direction this is still an excellent companion to the first season and provides a good next chapter for the character, and quite possibly a final chapter depending on how they want to proceed. The elephant in the room is Jonathan Majors who, due to legal issues, is no longer in the MCU, which is a problem considering he was supposed to be the next Thanos level villain, and 'Loki' did most of the heavy lifting to set up his storyline so as an integral part to the MCU this show now falters as the whole story may be scrapped. That aside you can still watch and enjoy the show for its great characters, engaging story and good special effects for a Disney+ show. I love the production design of the TVA which is reminiscent of 'Severance' or the Dharma stations from 'Lost'. Hiddleston clearly loves the charater of Loki and as a result throws his all into his performance, and Owen Wilson's Mobius serves as an excellent counter point to him. I will say that the comic science and convoluted goal of the season is on the wacky side, but then again it is a comic book movie set at a weird organization that somehow exists outside of time so you have to take certain things with a grain of salt. A great cast comes together to make an exciting and entertaining show that, despite the future of the MCU, deserves to watched and appreciated.

It goes without saying that Tom Hiddleston is great as Loki, but I fear for the future of Marvel on TV, if they have to rely so heavily on star power. Despite the interesting world building, this show suffers from the same problems that plagued the previous The Falcon show. A weak female lead in Lady Loki, who just doesn't hold a candle to Hiddleston in terms of charm and charisma. The TVA's power levels are wildly inconsistent or just plain poorly written. Sometimes they can beat and handle a God like they're children, but sometimes they seem like they wouldn't be able to stop a shoplifter. I enjoyed the finale only because of it's implications for the future of the MCU, not because it was well written or executed. I found it at times clumsy and overly ambitious, with arbitrary solutions to seemingly impossible problems. As much as I love the MCU, I wish they would cut down on the number of new shows, and focus on maintaining quality. Overall, they're still good, but they could be better. Especially with the upcoming slate featuring many obscure characters that lacks a strong and deep library of published content to draw from.

This show was rather weird experience. It had it's fair share of plot holes, but the pacing was the hardest thing to digest.

At least half of every episode was just talking over the table, revealing very little. Take away great acting performances from Tom and Owen, and you have very little left. It's great to have high quality actors, but weak script is weak script.

And why is everyone in TVA human from Earth and everyone else is human lookalike? We saw in Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor what the universe looks like.

As someone who loves science fiction movies, this series was better than a movie. However, it is kindly short and I wished there were more episode but that's it. Loki went on from being a "Puny God" to the owner of the multiverse. I like the fact they have combined science from real life and pretend to sound it realistic, like plenty of possibilities, if time travel was not a science fiction. To be honest, this, series really made me a fan of Loki, the greatest super hero and super villain of all time. I mean he went on from being a stupid villain who want to take over Asgard to the most intelligent scientist that ever lived. I don't know what they are going to do with Loki in the future, but this is the best thing MCU has ever done. In terms of storyline, this is better than the Avengers Endgame. Tom Hiddleston just submitted his legacy as one of the greatest performers in cinema with his acting in this series. Hats off the writer, hats off to the director, and hats off to everybody involved in this series. I like stories more than action and this series just delivered that. I'm totally happy that I got to watch a series so good in a decade or long. The visuals were excellent too. It's a thumbs up from my side.