The first episode of the latest Marvel Studios television series Loki drops on Disney+ tonight (June 9) after midnight, and it sees the God of Mischief as played in the movies by Tom Hiddleston in a new situation following the events of Avengers: Endgame.
With no offense meant to the stars of the two previous [and very successful] Disney+ and Marvel ventures, Loki might be the most prominent headliner of his own series to date. Hiddleston’s performance in the role as well as the popularity of the character made him almost as big of a focus as Thor had been in the Thor movie series. While one might not have immediately thought “Loki!” as a character to lead a TV show, in many ways, it feels very, very right.
From the two episodes that Disney+ made available to review, I would almost describe Loki as something like Doctor Who on crack — Loki is, of course, a more mischievous alternative to The Doctor, and I assume that would make the Time Variance Authority (TVA) an equivalent of the stodgy Time Lords, but with a bit more personality. The time travel aspect of this series ensures that anything can happen, anywhere, at any time, and it’ll be curious where the whole series ends up after the six episodes of Season 1 are over. After all, if Loki was taken from the timeline during the first Avengers movie, how does that explain the things he supposedly did in the movies since?
Loki is paired with a TVA representative named Mobius M. Mobius who was originally created in the comics to resemble famed comic book editor and continuity cop Mark Gruenwald; in many ways, actor Owen Wilson’s look still seems to be based on the late editor’s appearance. The interaction between Loki and Mobius is fun and a little bit flirty; if there is not Loki-Mobius fanfiction online by next month, my faith in the Internet will be shattered. I will also say that their banter feels more natural and less forced than that between Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which, again, I enjoyed, but not to this same level. There are some other cast members in the series who also deserve recognition, including Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Black Mirror), Eugene Cordero (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), and Wunmi Wosaku (Lovecraft Country).
One thing I particularly liked about the show was the look of the series — a lot of it looks mundane and boring, and at times overtly reminds you of a trip to the DMV. There’s a very Eighties look at times, and also with the music choices as well as the fantastic score.
Being, well, Loki, the show has a great deal of humor in addition to emotional moments so strong that even Loki himself can feel them. The show knows it’s square in the middle of the Marvel Universe, and is the first salvo in exploring a multiverse of madness. I can’t wait to see more, and I’m very curious where everything will go next.
Rating: A.
