Reviews

Loki: Welcome to the madness of the Marvel Multiverse

3 August 202124 August 2021By
Loki: Welcome to the madness of the Marvel Multiverse

The next phase is coming. We review Marvel’s latest series Loki and explore what it means for the future of the MCU. 

Warning: Spoilers ahead!
Rating 4/5

Can Loki evolve?

While Loki is constantly popping up throughout the Marvel universe, he has never been given a platform for audiences to explore and understand his character in depth. As he is such a complex, interesting and strangely loveable character despite his desire for galactical domination, this series was a necessity for many Marvel fans. Luckily for us, director Kate Herron has given us what we have been waiting for. 

This series gives Loki the space to develop and evolve into a more benevolent and human character. He appears to be on the edge of villainy and heroism. The edge of good and evil. We see his capacity to build friendships grow as he starts to make sacrifices for an honourable cause. Of course, it is impossible to know Loki’s true motives as he is the God of Mischief, but it is fair to suggest that the villain may be moving onto a more heroic path. A path he finds out many Loki’s have tried to endeavour on before. Yes, many Loki’s. Welcome to the multiverse.

The Multiverse:

While the multiverse has become more visible in the MCU in recent years, Loki takes the multiverse to a whole new level. It focuses on the TVA (Time Variance Authority), an organisation which aims to keep the multiverse under control. Run by Judge Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and controlled by the Time Keepers, the TVA ensures that every life form conforms to the so-called sacred timeline. The TVA shows Loki the extent of the multiverse by indicating how each individual has many different versions of themselves, known as variants. In short, he is just one in a thousand Lokis. 

The series’ focus on the multiverse gives us an indication on the direction Marvel is going. We can assume that time travel and its consequences will become key elements, along with the multitude of versions of individual characters. It is a fair guess that this new Avengers phase could accumulate into a “multiversal” war.

What to make of Sylvie:

The introduction of Sylvie splits my opinion. Sylvie is the only female Loki in the series, whose sole aim is to destroy the TVA, just as they destroyed her life. I loved how she is used to show Loki’s capacity to love another and even develop caring relationships. Also, the irony and narcissism of Loki falling in love with himself was a nice touch. But whether it was the script, or the acting, I couldn’t help cringe during every conversation between both these Loki’s. The construction of the relationship was clever and could have been one to root for, but with cringey dialogue and awkward interactions, I couldn’t help hoping it would come to an end.

A big one for comic book lovers:

While there are many characters I could talk about in this article (honourable mention to Loki the crocodile and Richard E. Grant as Loki in green spandex), I can’t write an article about Loki without mentioning the introduction of a Marvel comic legend. This is of course Kang the Conqueror (Well, this is one of his names). Other variants of Kang are known as Iron Lad, Rama-Tut, Scarlet Centurion and the one we meet in Loki, He Who Remains. 

Kang the Conqueror is one of the most well-known Avengers’ villains, so it was only a matter of time for him to be introduced to the screen. He Who Remains ends up being the controller of the TVA. He claims that his erasure of individuals who step off their predetermined path is for the greater good. His work prevents much worse versions of himself taking over and starting a multiversal war. This proves to be true when Loki returns to the TVA after He Who Remains has been killed. Mobius (Owen Wilson) has forgotten who Loki is, and we see a statue of who we can only assume is Kang the Conqueror. This suggests that things are going to get much worse. We can’t forget the introduction of Judge Renslayer. While her first name is not revealed, it is clear that she is Kang’s greatest lover and nemesis Ravonna Renslayer. Throughout the series we see her stay loyal to the Time Keepers, while other TVA employers begin to question the system in which they were forced to serve.

However, in episode 10 we see Renslayer lose faith in the system she has pledged to serve and leaves to another time to hunt for answers. We can therefore assume that she will return and we will see the evolution of her relationship with Kang.

 

What does this mean for MCU?

Without a doubt this means that Kang will be a huge element of the next Avenger’s phase. So important in fact that he could become the MCU’s next Thanos. We already know that he will return in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantomania’ and we can expect he will be involved with Dr Strange in the Multiverse Madness. Loki was therefore the perfect way to end this Marvel phase and begin the next.

For Loki, this series has led fans to become more invested in his character, as his character progression is more exciting than ever. Of course, it is hard to imagine a good Loki, his resentful need for power and respect has got in the way of this more often than not, but weirder things have happened.

Loki will return for a second season on Disney +.