Distributor: Disney+
Episodes: 6
Duration: approx. 54 min per episode (ep 1 & 2)
Loki: Season 1, Episode 1 & 2 (Disney+) – Series Review
We could hear the world collectively crying when Loki’s neck was snapped in 2018’s Infinity War, only for him to appear again in Endgame. During the time-traveling scene of Endgame, we saw Loki being restrained during the events of the first Avengers film. Nonetheless, due to a slipup, the God of Mischief had gotten hold of the Tesseract and made his escape. This resulted in a new timeline, one where Loki would stay alive. This brings us to his very own series, where it’s all about him straying away from the original timeline. We once again see Tom Hiddleston pick up his role as the God of Mischief, in the series that bears his character’s name; Loki.
As we do not want to spoil the entire experience for those eagerly awaiting the series’ release this Wednesday, we will just handle the basics of the beginning of the series. The series will revolve around the God of Mischief, Loki (Tom Hiddleston). In a way, this is not the Loki we have seen die in Infinity War, but a ‘variant’ that has created a new timeline due to the time-traveling escapades that occurred in Endgame. This variant, however, is detected by what will immediately be introduced as the Time Variance Authority (TVA), which detect variants and basically phase them out of existence, making sure only the perfect timeline remains.
Loki had learned the hard way that a perfect plan doesn’t exist, but he still thought he finally escaped the clutches of a possible life behind bars. Sadly, he soon sees people appear in front of him in military outfits, only to tell him he is violating the very specific rules that dictate the flow of time. Unimpressed he tries to brush them off, to be dragged inside the TVA for his trial later. He quickly learns that this time-controlling agency makes no exception for those who create new timelines, and humans and gods are treated equally. He will have to stand trial, and it’s clear that a lot of these trials work in a one-sided fashion. Nonetheless, a TVA agent, Mobius (Owen Wilson), has other plans for the trickster. While this may already sound like a fair bit of information, this is actually only several minutes into the series. To prevent spoilers, we’ll not dig any deeper for now.
Even though the series progresses steadily, we did notice it has some issues with pacing, especially during the first episode. Throughout the course of the first episode, we get treated to a fairly funny and lighthearted introduction, only for it to try and do the exact opposite. While not really an issue, it’s still very noticeable and throws you off a bit. The second episode balances the scale a bit more, and tries to go for a serious undertone, with comedic elements, rather than go from one to the other. There is, however, enough information given to the viewers, making sure they can easily pick up the story of this series. Of course, prior knowledge of the Thor and Avengers movies is needed to fully appreciate the series.
We have to be absolutely honest here: Tom Hiddleston still very much steals the show with his epic portrayal of Loki, but we have to give Owen Wilson a lot of credit too. This veteran actor, often in comedies, goes toe-to-toe with Hiddleston when it comes to hogging the spotlight. True, he was given a slightly smaller dose of the limelight in the second episode, but his character is properly fleshed out, even with a minimum of information. We do hope to learn a bit more about Mobius, but for now, Wilson does a formidable job playing the somewhat quirky agent of the TVA. Supporting roles are also handled with the necessary poise and charisma befitting the roles in the MCU. We do also like the somewhat smaller cast of characters, but wouldn’t mind seeing a few more prominent characters being thrown into the mix.
Conclusion
A few pacing issues aside, we did very much enjoy the first two episodes of Loki. The series brings homage to a character that has been very deserving to get its own series inside the MCU. With only a total of six episodes planned, for now, we can almost foresee a lot of action coming our way for the remaining episodes. We were intrigued to see Asgard’s fallen god being thrown into a situation where is truly powerless, and that godly abilities can also be rendered useless. Even with a slow half in the first episode, we soon found ourselves on the edge of our seat.
Loki: Season 1, Episode 1 & 2 (Disney+) - Series Review,
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