'LOKI' Looks Forward to More Mischievous Feats

Updated: Jun 9

Solidifying himself as a fan-favorite since his introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2011, Loki Laufeyson (Tom Hiddleston)'s villain-turned-antihero earns a solo series that promises more hijinks throughout time from the God of Mischief himself.

Captivating and akin to the work of director Christopher Nolan, the complexities of the beloved Norse God are spilled out across the screen. It needs a bit of momentum to urge itself forward while making sure it stays away from being all too redundant. There's a generous amount of screen time dedicated to introducing the Time Variant Authority, and how the association will unfold into something greater as the series marches on. While there are time-travel jaunts, there's also time to grow familiar with the TVA: a retro bunker donned with '70s style and brassy, balmy, unsmiling monochrome.

Hiddleston dares not to tone back his white-hot wit, sharp tongue, nor his grandiose, self-loathing performances. Through the TVA, Laufeyson finds himself in the company of Agent Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson), soft-voiced and eager to chip away deeper at what makes his newfound companion who he is. While Laufeyson may be the star of his own series, and in proper full-tilt diva fashion, Mobius's chilled-out charm is calmly charismatic. Together, they share the screen as a peculiar pair.

While there's a bit of a push to really shove the series into motion, there's no slowing it down once it gets moving. There's a bit of deviation from Marvel's predictable stand-them-up, knock-them-down formula that has dominated their franchise. The genre-defying was first put on exhibition by WandaVision (2021-) and Loki (2021-) proceeds to twist the superhero genre into more psychological character studies. Moments of clunky exposition are present, but they're not severe enough to deteriorate away at the heart of the show that teases at time-altering debauchery. Things are sure to fall into place well into the second episode that reminds the titular trickster that there's more to the world beyond just himself.

Loki taps into intrigue as it takes a more cynical and bleak step forward on a path that could fork into any direction that it wants to. There's the ability to both shake up and clean up the tangles of timelines that have come before. Now past the introductory phase of its early episodes stirred up by deja-vu and glazed over with Hiddleston's low, rumbling purrs, Rick and Morty head writer Michael Waldron spearheads the sly Frost Giant who seeks out chaos wherever he goes.

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