Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Loki

  • REVIEW: ‘Loki’ Season 2, Episodes 1-4

    REVIEW: ‘Loki’ Season 2, Episodes 1-4

    Though it’s undoubtedly at least partially revisionist, Marvel Studios has a history of success that seems strongly weighted by the Infinity Saga. The internet is full of talking heads who will tell you that following Avengers: Endgame, the MCU just hasn’t been the same and that the quality of the projects, both theatrical and streaming, has fallen off drastically. 2023 has added fuel to the fire with projects such as Ant-Man: Quantumania and Secret Invasion failing to impress the majority of fans–and even fewer critics–leading to an even louder refrain of “The MCU is dead” than ever before. Leave it to the ultimate agent of chaos and the most entropic entry in the Multiverse Saga to date to restore order to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The God of Mischief has heard your concerns and Season 2 of Loki answers them authoritatively.

    Picking up directly where Season 1 left off, Loki quickly reframes what fans thought happened in the prior season’s cliffhanger and puts Loki up against the clock. As the MCU builds towards an adaptation of Jonathan Hickman’s 2015 Secret Wars, the first episode–and then again the first four–certainly have the feel of the Time Runs Out prelude Hickman weaved through his Avengers and New Avengers titles. While Season 2 of Loki is certainly no adaptation of those–indeed it seems not to be an adaptation of any particular comic run or set of stories but rather an original idea from the production/writing team of Michael Waldron and Eric Martin–the first four episodes are fast-paced, intense and make it very clear that time is running out for all time. Getting down to brass tacks, the premise of Season 2 is this: the death of He Who Remains has created a multiverse that the TVA simply is not prepared to manage.

    (L-R): Ke Huy Quan as O.B., Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and Owen Wilson as Mobius in Marvel Studios’ LOKI, Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth Gatrell. © 2023 MARVEL.

    Starting with but certainly not limited to that premise, it’s amazing just how often these first four episodes of Season 2 of Loki work as an allegory for the criticisms faced by Marvel Studios. As He Who Remains’ death allowed the timeline to break free and grow into something far too large and chaotic for the TVA to handle, so has the Multiverse Saga opened the doors to criticism about Kevin Feige and co. potentially adopting a quantity over quality approach with, at one point, 8 projects planned in a calendar year. The technological MacGuffin of the first four episodes, a Multiplier that allows the Temporal Loom to be able to collar and manage the new timelines, provides the impetus for Loki and Mobius to take a trip through time and allows for the introduction of Jonathan Majors‘ Victor Timely. As the buddy cop duo sets off to find a Variant of the man who built the TVA to restore it to its rightful status as a timespace behemoth, so has Bob Iger returned from retirement with a renewed focus on curating and managing projects and characters amid jeers that there’s simply too much content for fans to consume. And as an all-new, all-different Loki is mocked, reminded that he’s a villain, not a hero, and told to stick to what he’s always done, so too do the critics hammer away at Marvel Studios for breaking away from the “Marvel formula.” Much as the future of Marvel Studios seems up for grabs, the first four episodes of Loki’s second season end with a truly shocking cliffhanger that will leave fans suspended in uncertainty…but not before a return to form and a reminder of what these streaming series should be.

    Like its predecessor, Season 2 of Loki allows Tom Hiddleston all the room in the Multiverse to explore the nooks and crannies of the title character. Hiddleston has filled the godly shoes for well over a decade now and as easy as it might be to question what else there might be left to do with Loki, the first four episodes–and Hiddleston’s continued brilliance in the role–provide plenty of answers. Keeping in mind that this particular Variant of Loki, Variant L1130, was created when he escaped with the Tesseract in the aftermath of the 2012 Battle of New York during a botched effort by the Avengers during their time heist, allows the audience to truly see the realtime (sort of, since it technically takes place out of time) evolution of the character. Not far removed from seeking to subjugate all of humanity, Loki now seeks glorious purpose in keeping them free and, as such, Hiddleston finds space for an empathic Loki who recognizes the true beauty and power of humanity–a truly heroic version of the character, though thanks to some fun plot devices is able to get back to some fun magical mischief.

    (L-R): Owen Wilson as Mobius and Tom Hiddleston as Loki in Marvel Studios’ LOKI, Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth Gatrell. © 2023 MARVEL.

    However, Season 2 is not simply the Tom Hiddleston show. So much of what made Season 1 work so well was the chemistry between Hiddleston and his co-stars, specifically Owen Wilson and Sophia Di Martino and, thankfully, a new creative team did nothing to change that. The Loki-Mobius dynamic is just as strong as always and the fractured relationship between Loki and Sylvie allows for an even deeper exploration of both characters. The brilliant addition of Ke Huy Quan as TVA tech guru Ouroboros will rightfully draw plenty of praise as Quan is an absolute joy in his surprisingly extended role; however, don’t underestimate Rafael Cassl’s saucy X-5/Brad Wolfe who ebbs and flows throughout the first four episodes as an agent of chaos in his own right. Majors‘ brings a definite strangeness to Victor Timely, who isn’t exactly what you think he might be and returners Wunmi Mosaku, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Tara Strong all get more to do to the benefit of the project as a whole.

    As is always the case with pre-release screenings of Marvel Studios projects, critics and press have not seen the whole series which makes a true analysis of Season 2 of Loki impossible. Simply put, no matter how entertaining the first four episodes are, if the last two drop the ball, the project won’t be seen as a success and that’s not something Marvel Studios can afford at the moment. However, what can be said is that for four episodes, Marvel Studios leaned on one of their strongest and most veteran talents to put together what is unquestionably their best effort–theatrical or cinematic–not only of 2023 but of the entire Multiverse Saga. A combination of strong creative work behind the scenes by writer Eric Martin and the directing duo of Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson and an enormously talented cast make Loki a fun sci-fi mystery that will fill the Void-sized void you may have been feeling.

  • ‘Loki’ Season 2 Gets a New Premiere Date

    ‘Loki’ Season 2 Gets a New Premiere Date

    Following in the footsteps of Lucasfilm’s most recent Star Wars streaming series, Ahsoka, the upcoming second season of Marvel Studios’ Loki has shifted its release date just a couple of weeks away from its premiere. Originally intended to debut on Friday, October 6th, Tom Hiddleston will instead make his glorious return to Disney Plus on October 5th.

    The new promo also revealed that, like Ahsoka, new episodes of Loki will roll out at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET rather than the 12 AM PT/3 AM ET slot that Disney’s streaming shows had previously been attached to. While it’s still to early to know exactly how big of a difference the new time slot will make, anecdotal evidence suggests that fans are much happier not having to wait until the middle of the night to catch their favorite show.

    Loki Season 2 picks up in the aftermath of the shocking season finale when Loki finds himself in a battle for the soul of the Time Variance Authority. Along with Mobius, Hunter B-15 and a team of new and returning characters, Loki navigates an ever-expanding and increasingly dangerous multiverse in search of Sylvie, Judge Renslayer, Miss Minutes and the truth of what it means to possess free will and glorious purpose.

  • Marvel Studios’ Reshuffles its Disney+ Release Slate as ‘Agatha’ Gets a New Name

    Marvel Studios’ Reshuffles its Disney+ Release Slate as ‘Agatha’ Gets a New Name

    Marvel Studios has been shifting quite a few of its release dates as of late. While they certainly are going to for all projects that have yet to finish, it seems they also decided to map out some of their TV shows that were set to release on Diseny+ in the coming months. The biggest surprise is that Echo was pushed back (again) to a January release date even though it was previously slated for November 29th.

    What If…? is going to be released on Christmas Day, which is our first confirmation as it was initially going to be released in 2023. So, it’ll be the only other show releasing this year besides Loki later in October, which is already being heavily advertised by Marvel Studios. X-Men ’97 also seemingly is getting a release timing, as it is set for early 2024 after initially planned to release later this fall. Season 2 of the series is already in the works.

    Ironheart is off the schedule for now, as it seems it is affected by the strikes. The same goes for Daredevil: Born Again and Wonder Man, which had to pause in the middle of production. The big surprise is that Agatha: Coven of Chaos is getting another new name, this time Agatha: Darkhold Diaries. It initially was announced with the title Agatha: House of Harknes and is now set to release on Halloween next year.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • The Ultimate List of What to Watch Before Season 2 of ‘Loki’

    The Ultimate List of What to Watch Before Season 2 of ‘Loki’

    With the recent news that Marvel Studios had once again reshuffled their streaming slate, fans have just one more live-action adventure to look forward to on Disney Plus in 2023. The good news, however, is that it’s the second season of what was undoubtedly one of the studio’s strongest beginning-to-end streaming series to date: Loki!

    With a strong core cast returning and Season 1 writer Eric Martin taking over as showrunner, Season 2 of Loki should prove worthy of the lofty expectations fans have for it. While it certainly has some heavy lifting to do in terms of furthering the ongoing narrative of the Multiverse Saga–especially filling in some more of the background of its big bad, Kang–the second season also promises more of what made the first season so great: the bromance between star Tom Hiddleston’s redeemed Loki and Owen Wilson’s Mobius.

    With Season 2 of Loki slated to premiere on Disney Plus on October 6th, it’s time to start your rewatch and, as always, we’ve prepared THE only resource you’ll need to get you started.

    Tier One

    Tier One projects are non-negotiable essentials to be watched/re-watched before streaming Season 2 of Loki. If you want to understand what’s happening, these two projects–listed in chronological order– are all you truly need.

    Loki Season 1

    Since first appearing in 2011’s Thor, Tom Hiddleston has curated one of the MCU’s most enduring and beloved characters in Loki; however, one of the most interesting and certainly most important things to remember while watching Season 2 of Loki is that this iteration of the character, for the most part, isn’t the one fans got to know so well through his five film appearances. This Loki is a Variant–Variant L1130, to be exact–created when Loki escaped with the Tesseract during the Battle of New York during the Avengers’ time heist. While an argument could be made, then, that Thor (2011) and The Avengers (2012) could be included in Tier One, those projects don’t seem to have a significant amount of influence on the streaming series so for folks who need their rewatch to be short(ish) and sweet, those can probably be avoided.

    Of course, Loki isn’t just the story of Hiddleston’s Loki Variant but also the wonderfully spicy L1190 Variant, Sylvie Laufeydottir, played by Sophia Di Martino. It was her actions, after all, that allowed the timeline to branch and create the Multiverse and set the MCU on the path toward Secret Wars. Her relationship with Loki Laufeyson was one of the most interesting aspects of Season 1 and she once again plays a massive role in Season 2. There are also the to-be-continued stories of Wilson’s Mobius, Wunmi Mosako’s Hunter B-15 and Gugu Mbatha-Raw‘s Ravonna Renslayer (please give her something more to do) that will play a role in the sequel season as well. And, of course, there’s Jonathan Majors‘ incredible debut as He Who Remains which provides as much insight into the Multiverse and the Multiverse Saga as anything so far. There’s just no way you can watch Season 2 without at least refreshing yourself on the highlights on Season 1!

    Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania

    Jonathan Majors as Kang The Conqueror in Marvel Studios’ ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA. Photo by Jay Maidment. © 2022 MARVEL.

    Jonathan Majors‘ Kang Variants haven’t really accomplished too much onscreen just yet but relative to what Thanos got done at the same point in time in the Infinity Saga, the new Saga’s big bad has the edge. The death of He Who Remains in Season 1 of Loki allowed for Kang the Conqueror to menance Scott Lang, the Ant-Family and the Quantum Realm in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and his death (or disappearance) at the hands of those allied forces put the Council of Kangs on watch. When the Multiverse Saga is all said and done, Kang is going to play/will have played a key role which makes Quantumania must. The film also helps to get an understanding of how the MCU’s Multiverse works and with how little we actually know, it’s worth it for that alone. Additionally, at least one more Kang Variant, Victor Timely, is known to appear in Loki Season 2 and their are rumors that He Who Remains will find his way back into the mix. It’s possible other Variants will pop up, too, and it’s also very likely that the Conqueror plays some role as well.

    Tier Two

    As mentioned, these three films are the prelude to the opening of Season 1 of Loki. As such, they certainly inform who the character is when he’s apprehended by the TVA’s Minutemen in the Gobi Desert. That Loki underwent significant character development in Season 1 but it’s still worth your time to revisit these projects if for nothing else than to enjoy Hiddleston’s devilish performances as the God of Mischief.

    Thor

    After originally auditioning for the role of Thor, Hiddleston accepted the role of Loki after Chris Hemsworth was named as the God of Thunder…and Marvel fans everywhere have benefitted from it for over a decade. While it took Hemsworth a couple of projects to grow on fans as Thor, Hiddleston owned the role of Loki right away. While Thor may not be at the top of everyone’s rewatch lists, simply ask yourself what the MCU would have been without it and then sit down and enjoy.

    Avengers

    By the time Loki arrived on Earth in the opening of 2012’s The Avengers, Hiddleston’s legend had already taken on a life of its own…and it grew greater as the Prince of Lies became the driving force for the Avengers to assemble for the first time. While he ultimately found himself on the business end of one of the MCU’s most memorable beatings, he was still a dirty, rotten scoundrel with designs on fulfilling his glorious purpose.

    Avengers: Endgame

    Endgame is always worth the rewatch but in this case it provides the Nexus Event that allows for the divergent timeline on which the events of Season 1 of Loki took place to be created. While you really only need to rewatch the film’s retelling of the Battle of New York, feel free to relive one of the MCU’s greatest films in its entirety.

    Tier Three

    These six Tier Three projects are unlikely to have much of anything to do with the plot of Season 2 of Loki; however, if you’re a completist, you’re going to want to do all of your relevant homework!

    The first three projects on the list complete the story of the redemption of Loki, Prince of Asgard, Odinson who ultimately died at the hands of Thanos. They also give you an opportunity to see Hiddleston fully inhabit the character in some of his best work.

    Thor: The Dark World

    Admittedly one of the toughest films to rewatch in its entirety, it’s no fault of Hiddleston; if anything, he makes it watchable. The Dark World begins to truly dive deeply into who Loki is and what is motivations are, creating a version of the character that you love, hate, trust and fear all at once.

    Thor: Ragnarok

    Like everyone else, Hiddleston was having a lot of fun in this one and gave one of his most complete performances as Loki. Ragnarok gave Loki a chance to be the god and hero he always longed to be…but Loki’s gonna Loki and by taking the Tesseract, he sealed his own fate.

    Avengers: Infinity War

    As painful as it might be to watch Loki have his godly neck snapped by Thanos, it’s one of the most important deaths in the entirety of the MCU. Audiences learned quickly that Thanos was a threat to be taken seriously and Thor was given all the motivation he needed to avenge his newly-redeemed brother’s death.

    Spider-Man: No Way Home

    Eh…it talks about the multiverse.

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

    Though this movie doesn’t reference any of the Loki Variants, it does introduce the idea of Incursions and it’s likely that idea will be revisited or further explored in Season 2.

    What If…?

    Season 1 of Loki created the Multiverse in which the stories told in What If…? exist and Loki features as major character in one of the series’ most interesting episodes. The series also gave fans a look at Loki fully realized in all his frost giant glory, something that after being teased briefly in Thor was never really addressed again. So rewatch the entire season or just the episodes with Loki, if you want, but don’t leave these animated stories off your list!

    Frost Giant Loki in Marvel Studios’ WHAT IF…? exclusively on Disney+. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

    There you have it! Now put down your phone, pick up your remote control and get to it!

  • ‘Loki’, ‘WandaVision’ and ‘The Mandalorian’ Getting Physical Releases

    ‘Loki’, ‘WandaVision’ and ‘The Mandalorian’ Getting Physical Releases

    Yes, you read the title right. Finally, a streaming service is listening to fans and is giving some of its projects the physical releases they deserve. As many shows and projects are seemingly getting cut for tax reasons, this is great news for those hoping to at least ensure they still have access to these shows no matter what happens to Disney+, Netflix, or whatever streaming service that is out there.

    Disney already hinted at this move with the recent reveal they are releasing Prey, the Predator prequel film, for physical. Shortly after, they have now unveiled that the same is planned for some of their first big releases on the platform. The Mandalorian is finally getting a physical release for its first two seasons with some beautiful-looking artwork that’ll surely make collectors happy.

    And we also have the physical release of the Disney+ Marvel shows. Loki and WandaVision are the first batch to make their way online and into shelves later this year. It seems that it’ll only be available as a Steelbook packaging with 4K and Blu-ray being available. DVD sale seems very unlikely and it’s unclear if they might also offer some regular Blu-ray boxes later down the line. Though these steelbooks are definitely something one wouldn’t want to miss out on in their collection.

    Source: Collider, Twitter

  • ‘Loki’ Season 2’s First Trailer is Disney+’s Biggest Debut Yet

    ‘Loki’ Season 2’s First Trailer is Disney+’s Biggest Debut Yet

    It looks like having a sequel season is paying off for Marvel Studios, as their recently released trailer for Loki’s second season is already breaking records. While reactions to Secret Invasion were a bit tepid, it seems that people are more than happy to revisit the story of their favorite trickster god trapped in a timeless office of the TVA. The Disney+ series debuted to 80M views with its first trailer.

    It’s not too surprising given that the first season still remains Marvel Studios’ most-watched series on Disney+. Tom Hiddleston has always been a big draw for viewers and the series may remain one of their best so far. While reactions generally have been tepid, a big break between releases and a new movement to slow down their rollout may have given this series a bit more hope to grab people’s attention. The series was also received quite positively with a 90% positive reaction from fans sharing their love for the first season.

    Marvel Studios has had a bit of an uphill battle online while still remaining a power player from a box office perspective. Viewership numbers are difficult to grasp and we have no idea how viewership numbers are considered a success for the streamer, but perhaps this second season will spark an interest to build up their series more than just dropping various single-season mini-series that are loosely connected to the movies with their own stories that add to the MCU mythos.

    Source: Deadline

  • Marvel Studios President Hints at Strong International Performance of Disney+ Series

    Marvel Studios President Hints at Strong International Performance of Disney+ Series

    The Internet will often point to “quality over quantity” in regard to lower-than-usual performing Marvel movies. Though they still dominated most of 2022, their only “shortcoming” so far was Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania underperforming with 470M. Yes, it didn’t make its money back but it’s still an amount most people would dream of in such a competitive market after running for 10+ years. Still, the vocalization of the Internet’s displeasure has also been very openly pointed at Disney+.

    Some say the shows aren’t good enough quality, constantly dragging down the viewership numbers based on 3rd party tracking, and hatred from being too “woke” by a specific crowd. Last year, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Ms. Marvel took the brunt of it, but Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige left with a strong message during Disney’s Upfronts by pointing out that their shows have reached “often two to three times the numbers of viewers” from the “buzziest shows on competitive services.”

    Thanks to Disney+, we’ve expanded the Marvel Cinematic Universe into genre and formats new to us that we haven’t done before. We’ve been able to introduce exciting new heroes and villains, locations and storylines into the MCU. And I’m pleased to share that when you compare our Marvel series to some of the buzziest shows on competitive services, even our smallest series are reaching much more international audience – often two to three times the number of viewers.

    Kevin Feige

    We can’t really prove it and streaming services continue to share very little outside of Netflix, but it’s definitely an interesting perspective to offer. And it’s not like they are inventing numbers, it may be a showcase of the international audience embracing these shows more, and discussions on quality are much more diverse than they appear to be; especially if you see how the Internet reacts toward the existence of shows like The Good Doctor.

    We’ll see what the future holds for these shows, but Marvel is definitely taking a step back and changing up their strategy, such as Echo becoming a binge release. For now, it feels like we’re about to enter a new era as the pandemic has been left behind and theatrical releases are finally a viable strategy again.

    Source: The Direct via Twitter

  • Disney Upfront Reveals First Look at Mobius’ New TVA Suit

    Disney Upfront Reveals First Look at Mobius’ New TVA Suit

    Disney just recently had its Upfront presentation, where it showcased to advertisers just how important it is to invest their money in Disney+. Their new ad-supported model is just picking up speed and it’s no wonder that they would try to push what the future has in store plus all the pre-existing franchises that pull in quite a number of viewership. At the after-party, it seems there are a few displays of iconic imagery from Star Wars and Marvel.

    that isn’t all, as there’s also a showcase of Loki’s second season. We get a look at a black suit that has been teased for the God of Mischief. Not just that, but the standee is next to something that looks like a space-inspired suit from the TVA. The logo is on it, and there were some hints at this being something Morbius wears in the upcoming second season, but it’s interesting that they are including some spoilers from sequences we haven’t seen yet.

    Looking closely at the picture next to Iron Man’s helmet, you can actually see that this suit is, in fact, for Morbius. It’s called a Temporal Core suit and may play into the time travel elements that continue to be a big part of this new multiversal storyline. With the confirmation of a release date during the Upfronts, we’re still waiting for an actual trailer. Of course, they may be trying to focus on Secret Invasions to avoid overlapping too many ads that create the “quantity over quality” belief of the web.

    Source: Twitter

  • Marvel Studios Provides Release Dates for Season 2 of ‘Loki’, ‘Echo’

    Marvel Studios Provides Release Dates for Season 2 of ‘Loki’, ‘Echo’

    2023 will be nearly half over before Marvel Studios first streaming series of the year, Secret Invasion, will hit Disney Plus. However, it looks as though the last quarter of 2023 will have plenty of Marvel Studios entertainment.

    Loki will begin streaming on October 6 and will be almost immediately followed by Echo. In an unprecedented move, Marvel Studios will drop all episodes of Echo on November 29th. It’s expected that the second season of Loki will consist of 6 episodes and while Disney has not officially revealed it, rumors have swirled for months that Echo will consist of five episodes.

    The move also puts Marvel Studios’ new releases back on Fridays, where they first began, after moving to Wednesdays for some time. Should Marvel Studios only release one episode of Loki per week, that puts the final episode out the same day as the planned release of The Marvels. The studio has yet to release an episode of a streaming series on the same day as a film, though they’ve released episodes of their series on the Wednesday before an opening weekend so it’ll be worth following along to see what strategy Disney decides to follow.

  • Owen Wilson Reveals Timeframe for ‘Loki’ Season 2 Release

    Owen Wilson Reveals Timeframe for ‘Loki’ Season 2 Release

    The once robust 2023 slate of streaming projects for Marvel Studios seems to have been pared down significantly following Bob Iger’s return to Disney. At one point, 5 live-action series were expected to stream in 2023, along with a pair of animated series; however, according to a new trade report, that’s been “narrowed to three or four” with the others moving into “2024 or beyond.” Rumors have the first of those streaming series, Secret Invasion, set to launch in June which is significantly later than its original “Spring” release window. That means the other series, including Season 2 of Loki, have been pushed back as well though it looks like fans may not have to wait too much longer than originally expected.

    Before the big Disney slowdown, the second season of Loki was scheduled for a Summer 2023 release and according to star Owen Wilson, it might still make it despite all the delays. While discussing his appearance in the post-credits scene of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania in an interview with ET, Wilson said the streaming series should debut around the “end of summer.”

    I guess they have kind of a little shot of Tom Hiddleston and I and Jonathan Majors from Loki season two. And I think that’s coming out end of the summer or September.

    Owen Wilson

    The “end of summer of September” release of Loki Season 2 would also confirm the delay of Echo until late 2023, per showrunner Marion Dayre, as it seems totally inconceivable that Marvel Studios would roll out Secret Invasion, Echo and Loki Season 2 over the course of 3 months. As for what to expect from the second season, Wilson teases that the series is set to “get very wild” following the events of Loki Season 1 and Quantumania which have revealed a whole lot of Kangs out in the Multiverse, none of whom seem to be up to good things!

    Source: ET