The first season of the American television series Loki, based on Marvel Comics featuring the character of the same name, sees Loki brought to the mysterious Time Variance Authority (TVA) after stealing the Tesseract during the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), and is forced to help catch a dangerous variant version of himself. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and television series of the franchise. The season was produced by Marvel Studios, with Michael Waldron serving as head writer and Kate Herron directing.
Tom Hiddleston reprises his role as Loki from the film series, with Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wunmi Mosaku, Eugene Cordero, Tara Strong, Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino, Sasha Lane, Jack Veal, DeObia Oparei, Richard E. Grant, and Jonathan Majors also starring. Loki was officially confirmed among the various Disney+ series in development from Marvel Studios in November 2018, along with Hiddleston's involvement. Filming began in February 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia, but was halted in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production resumed that September and completed in December. The series takes place after the events of the film Avengers: Endgame, in which an alternate version of Loki created a new timeline, diverging from the events of The Avengers (2012). The season has a crime thriller tone, and sets up the events of the MCU films Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).
The first season premiered on Disney+ on June 9, 2021, running for six episodes until July 14, as part of Phase Four of the MCU. It received positive reviews, with praise for the cast's performances, musical score, and visuals. A second season was announced in July 2021.
Episodes
Cast and characters
Tom Hiddleston as Loki:The Asgardian god of mischief and Thor's adopted brother, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name. This is an alternate, "time variant" version of Loki who created a new timeline in Avengers: Endgame (2019) beginning in 2012. Because of this, he has not gone through the events of Thor: The Dark World (2013) or Thor: Ragnarok (2017), which reformed the previously villainous character before his death in Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Hiddleston expressed interest in returning to the role to explore Loki's powers, particularly his shapeshifting, which plays into the series' exploration of identity. Loki's sex in the series is denoted by the Time Variance Authority as "fluid", referencing the character's genderfluidity in Marvel Comics that had previously been speculated on for the MCU given his shapeshifting ability. Waldron said he was aware of how many people identify with Loki's genderfluidity and were "eager for that representation". The season also reveals Loki as bisexual, becoming the first major queer character in the MCU, and also explores more of Loki's magical abilities, such as his telekinesis and energy blasts. Hiddleston also portrays President Loki, another variant of Loki who commands an army and is at odds with Kid Loki. Hiddleston called President Loki "the worst of the bad bunch", describing him as "the least vulnerable, the most autocratic and terrifyingly ambitious character who seems to have no empathy or care for anyone else". Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer:The former TVA Hunter A-23 who rose from the ranks to become a respected judge; she oversees the Loki variant investigation. Director Kate Herron compared both Mbatha-Raw and Renslayer to chameleons, and said Renslayer was always "trying to dance the line" with Mobius of being both his superior and his friend. Herron added that Mbatha-Raw brought a warmth to Renslayer, while also channeling her pain. Loki explores the origins of Renslayer, which predates the character's appearances in the comics, and Mbatha-Raw enjoyed being able to start "something fresh" with the character. Mbatha-Raw called Renslayer "incredibly ambitious" and felt there was the "ultimate personality clash" between her and Loki. She continued that Renslayer has "a lot on her shoulders" and has to make "morally ambiguous choices", which forces the character to keep secrets and build up layers. Waldron believed that Renslayer had "the making of a very complex villain". Mbatha-Raw also portrays Rebecca Tourminet, a vice-principal at a school in Fremont, Ohio, in 2018. Learning that there were different variants of Renslayer in different times was "mind blowing" to Mbatha-Raw. Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15: A high-ranking Hunter of the TVA determined to stop the variant that has been killing Minutemen troops. Eugene Cordero as Casey: A TVA receptionist. Cordero also portrays Hunter K-5E in the new TVA seen at the end of the season. Tara Strong voices Miss Minutes:The animated anthropomorphic clock mascot of the TVA. After being created solely to introduce the TVA, the writers found more ways to include Miss Minutes in the season since they found her to be a fun character. Miss Minutes has a "protective" relationship to He Who Remains, with Strong believing she understands "how important her role is and how important it is to the universe". Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius:An agent of the TVA who specializes in the investigations of particularly dangerous time criminals. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige noted that the character is similar to Wilson in that he is unfazed by the MCU; Hiddleston helped Wilson prepare for the role by explaining and showing him moments from the MCU films, which Wilson felt was useful for when Mobius interviews Loki in the season. Wilson and Herron examined Good Will Hunting (1997) as inspiration for Mobius being a mentor and therapist for Loki who still pushes him. Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie:A variant of Loki who is attacking the "Sacred Timeline" and has enchantment powers. She does not consider herself to be a Loki, using the name "Sylvie" as an alias. While Sylvie was inspired by Sylvie Lushton / Enchantress and Lady Loki from the comics, she is a different person with a different backstory from those characters as well as Hiddleston's Loki. Di Martino said Hiddleston had "looked after" her and gave her advice on playing the character, while she did her own research and preparation for the role. Di Martino kept her regional accent for Sylvie, to not sound "too posh or too well spoken" to help reflect the life Sylvie had lived. Hiddleston felt Di Martino incorporated "certain characteristics" he uses for Loki to portray Sylvie, while still making the character "completely her own". Herron believed that Sylvie dealing with her pain put her in a similar headspace as Loki was in Thor (2011). Di Martino looked to the fight scenes of Atomic Blonde (2017) to create Sylvie's fighting style, calling her a "street fighter" with more of a brawler fighting style, compared to Loki's "balletic" style. An extensive backstory for the character was written by series' writer Elissa Karasik, with Waldron hopeful some of the material could be featured in the second season. Cailey Fleming portrays a young Sylvie. Sasha Lane as Hunter C-20: A TVA Hunter kidnapped and enchanted by Sylvie to reveal the location of the Time-Keepers. Jack Veal as Kid Loki: A young variant of Loki who created a Nexus event by killing Thor and considers himself the king of the Void. DeObia Oparei as Boastful Loki: A Loki variant who makes wild exaggerations about his accomplishments. Richard E. Grant as Classic Loki:An old Loki variant who faked his death to escape being killed by Thanos and decided to live his life in seclusion until he became lonely. Classic Loki can conjure larger, more elaborate illusions than Loki. Jonathan Majors as He Who Remains:A scientist from the 31st century who ended the first multiversal war by destroying "evil variants" of himself, and created the TVA to prevent a new multiverse from forming and to keep his variants from coming back into existence. He is an original creation for the series, inspired by a separate comic book character of the same name as well as the character Immortus. Describing He Who Remains as a "very charismatic sociopath", Waldron did not show how evil the character can be since much of his role is trying to convince others that his variants are worse than him. Majors talked with Herron and Marvel Studios about finding the psychology of the character, since He Who Remains has been in isolation and running the TVA for so long. Herron added that they tried to find "that fine line between the extrovert and the introvert of that character and how does he show that he's been living on his own". Majors used his classical clown training for the part, and believed that he smiled more as He Who Remains than any of his other roles combined. Additionally, he was inspired by The Wizard of Oz (1939), Sunset Boulevard (1950), Citizen Kane (1941), and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) for his portrayal, believing He Who Remains was the "archetype of the wizard and what happens to him when he gets bored... [a]nd he becomes a trickster". Majors also voices the "mindless android" Time-Keepers, in a reference to The Wizard of Oz where they are the Wizard. Majors was shown the designs of each Time-Keeper and provided various options for each voice.
Neil Ellice recurs in the season as TVA Hunter D-90, while Jaimie Alexander and Chris Hemsworth have uncredited appearances as Sif and the voice of Throg, respectively.
Production
Development
In November 2018, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that a series centered on Loki was in development for Disney+ from Marvel Studios and that Tom Hiddleston was expected to reprise his role from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films. Michael Waldron was hired as head writer and executive producer of the series in February 2019, and was also set to write the first episode. Waldron felt the series was an opportunity for "chaos and fun", such as connecting Loki to the story of D. B. Cooper, and his pitch to Marvel was to create a "big, crazy, fun time adventure" that would explore a new corner of the MCU and do something unexpected in each episode that would "blow up" the audience's ideas of what the series is.Waldron had assumed the audience was expecting the show to be similar to Quantum Leap (1989–1993), with Loki influencing historical events. Kate Herron, a fan of Loki, prepared a 60-page document for her pitch to be the series' director, feeling that a display of passion for the character would differentiate her from more experienced directors who were being considered. After developing her pitch during several interviews over Zoom with Marvel Studios executives Kevin R. Wright and Stephen Broussard, the London-based Herron was flown to Burbank for a meeting with top executives including Feige, Victoria Alonso, and Louis D'Esposito. Wright believed Herron's pitch had a "complete vision" of how to take the ideas for the series and turn them into something "wholly unique" to the MCU. In August 2019, Feige met with Herron in London to offer her the job as director for the series. Within 48 hours, she flew to New York to meet Hiddleston and discuss the character with him, and then went on to Disney's D23 Expo event, where she was announced as director and executive producer. Part of Herron's agreement to join the series was ensuring there was gender parity amongst the crew, particularly with the department heads. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert had also been approached to direct the season, but opted to pursue their own film project, Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), which also dealt with multiversal concepts.