Loki’s rewriting of the MCU
The hit Disney+ show is making us rethink everything we thought we knew about the Marvel Cinematic Universe
IT HAS VARIANTS ON A THEME
If your story needs a Tony Stark-type but Robert Downey Jr is too expensive, never fear! Loki teaches us that you can introduce a “variant” version of the character, expelled from their own timeline by some ill-defined accident. This variant can be younger, or a professional cyclist, or a different gender. Loki takes the alternate reality premise that powers the upcoming What If? animated series and puts it into the live-action universe. We just have to trust Kevin Feige will not simply adopt the comics’ habit of rewriting, or ret-conning, history whenever it becomes inconvenient for a character to stay dead.
IT’S ENTERED A MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS
Between this, Doctor Strange And The Multiverse Of Madness and Ant-man And The Wasp: Quantumania, it’s clear that the MCU is getting into some timey-wimey, multi-reality, multipletimeline stuff. The comics have played with these ideas for years, as have non-mcu films like Spider-man: Into The Spider-verse, but now the “reality” of the MCU is shattering before our eyes. If the TVA has artificially maintained just one timeline and if Loki succeeds in bringing it down, we could see our heroes and villains playing with their counterparts from other universes: not just alternate but additional variants. Imagine facing an entire platoon of Thanoses (Thanosi?) or Helas. Sure, this could confuse casual Marvel viewers, but it also offers fans the same delicious, manic crossover fun that powered Miles Morales’ first outing.
IT’S RESET THE BALANCE OF POWER
Remember when Infinity Stones were as powerful as it got? Pfft; that was weeks ago. If the MCU is ever going to build to another crescendo as satisfying as Endgame, they need to establish new cosmic stakes. That means — figuratively and literally — sticking the Infinity Stones in a drawer and inventing new weapons and threats. With one scene Loki has taken care of step one, and cleared the decks for a whole new MCU meta-saga. In fact, the very existence of the Time Variance Authority helps to explain why all these new frontiers are opening up for Doctor Strange and Ant-man, so that once again the TV show provides context for an upcoming movie outing. They’re outsourcing exposition, and having fun doing it.
IT’S FOUND AN LGBTQ+ IDENTITY
There’s still seemingly endless Loki stories to tell, no matter what Shakespeare play keeps Tom Hiddleston busy or how many times his Loki dies. That’s especially true now that director Kate Herron and writer Michael Waldron have made it clear that Loki is bisexual, a major step forward for openly LGBTQ+ MCU representation. And with a second season of the show reportedly in development, that offers new potential romantic ground to explore. We may be burdened with his glorious purpose for some time yet.
LOKI IS ON DISNEY+ NOW