'Loki' Is Sheer Delight

The MCU has been knocking it out of the park with its TV shows.  Each new one ends up being better than the last, with Loki being the best so far.  However, I was honestly not very excited for Loki at first.  When I saw the trailer, it didn’t appeal to me.  It felt “off.”  The tone and aesthetics, especially those coming off the TVA, felt like it was forcibly trying to channel Doctor Who even though this doesn’t match the MCU style.  Thankfully, I was wrong with this notion.  The Doctor Who-esque feel actually worked.  It was just perfect.

Picking up another plot thread left by Avengers: Endgame, Loki follows the 2012 Loki (Tom Hiddleston) that escaped with the Tesseract after the Battle of New York, which was brought about when the time-traveling Avengers of 2023 botched their attempt to retrieve the Space Stone.  However, a secret bureaucratic organization called the Time Variance Authority (TVA) soon reveals itself to Loki, which then apprehends him.

Existing outside time and space, the TVA is founded by cosmic beings called the “Time-Keepers” to monitor and protect the “Sacred Timeline” from branching out into a multiverse.  In order to do so, TVA agents have to “prune” (i.e. wipe out of existence) things or individuals, called “Variants”, that diverted from their fated purpose, and as a result, become the catalysts for the timeline to stray away from its “correct” flow, creating an alternate universe.  Apparently, a destructive multiversal war occurred a long time ago, and to prevent this from happening again, a single timeline – the Sacred Timeline – must be preserved, so that a multiverse won’t exist again.

Thus, since Loki is originally meant to be ultimately killed by Thanos in the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War, this version of Loki has to be pruned.  However, intervening on his behalf is TVA analyst Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson), who suggests of deputizing him instead of executing him.  Mobius believes that Loki can help him stop a very dangerous Variant who has constantly managed to elude capture and who’s plotting the downfall of the TVA itself.  And as it turns out, this Variant is (SPOILER) actually another alternate version of Loki – a female Loki who has since taken the name of Sylvie Laufeydottir (Sophia Di Martino).

Funny (probably the funniest among all MCU TV shows so far), eclectic, absorbing, and stylish, Loki doesn’t let up in presenting a high level of entertainment value.  The narrative is well-supplied with intriguing developments and imaginative twists-and-turns that keep it consistently stimulating.  It offers constant surprises; most things don’t turn out being exactly as they’re initially presented or thought to be.  And the immersion is further boosted by the strikingly creative production design, and gorgeously atmospheric cinematography.

It’s absolutely more inspired and engrossing than I expected, but more than that, it’s also more consequential and more game-changing.   It takes what we’ve come to believe about the MCU so far and turns it on its head.

Then it gives it the middle finger.

“You think the events of Endgame were of epic proportions?  You think what they were dealing with matters of cosmic significance?  Ha, that’s cute (imagine that my tone here is similar to the tone of Rocket when he mocked Scott Lang about going to space early in Endgame).  Oh, by the way.  Those insanely powerful Infinity Stones?  They’re actually just paperweights!”

Indeed, the scope of the MCU gets radically retconned in this show.  And in turn, the long anticipated Multiverse finally enters the MCU, and coming along with it is the concept of Variants, alternate versions of a character – which is a genuine cause for much excitement, since this concept is hopefully going to come at play in a momentous way in Spider-Man: No Way Home, where it’s heavily rumored that Tom Holland is teaming up with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.  For the time being, we get to see its potential and dynamic explored through (SPOILER) the Variants of Loki – most notably, Lady Loki a.k.a. Sylvie, Classic Loki (Richard E. Grant), Kid Loki (Jack Veal), and Alligator Loki.  Furthermore, (SPOILER) we are also introduced to the next overarching villain for Phase 4, which is Kang the Conqueror – or, at least, one of his Variants, He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors).

Loki, however, is not just all about high-concept, big-picture stuff.  It puts in the work with the small-scale details, too.  There’s certainly as much interesting writing with its quieter, more tender aspects as there is with its grander and more ambitious elements.  Characters are fabulously well-layered, and dramatic moments are effectively heartfelt and thoughtful.

Loki’s character development in this show is definitely outstanding.  Remember that he’s starting off as his 2012 version.  He’s still a villain.  He’s not yet the anti-hero that developed through Thor: The Dark World and Ragnarok.  Hence, the show has the given challenge of carving a more convincing and richer “heel-to-face” storyline for him.  And it does so with flying colors.  It gives him an arc that masterfully peels off his layers, wonderfully exploring what makes him tick and whatnot, and develops him more or less into the same redeemed character that evolved in the original timeline, while also making him more fascinating and beloved than he already was.

But equally appealing is Sylvie.  Not only because (SPOILER) she’s the exciting realization of Lady Loki in the MCU, but because she’s an actual character assigned with a personality, depth, and all that.  A charismatic character on her own, she definitely becomes more compelling as a result of the superb chemistry that she shares with Loki – and vice versa.  In fact, truth be told, theirs is my most favorite romance in the MCU ever.

The MCU has had some pretty terrific ‘ships, but there have been only two that made me kilig – Pete and MJ in Spider-Man: Far From Home and Loki and Sylvie.  But between the two couples, the latter has made more impact to me.  I don’t really know how.  It just got me mightily.  First of all, it’s just so like Loki to fall in love with an alternate female version of himself.  It befits his vanity, but at the same time, subverts it.  So, I guess this weird, poetic, narcissistic, juxtaposed nature of the romance significantly impressed me.  However, other than that, they simply have genuinely winsome romantic chemistry that, like the best of romances, it tugged at my heartstrings and gave me quite a rush of dopamine.

All in all, I genuinely find Loki to be perfect – if not a perfect show, then at least a perfect experience.  Embodying the enchanting characteristics of its eponymous character, it delights with ravishing consistency.

I’m so, so happy that there’s a season 2.

Next up: What If…?