Loki
Director: Kate Herron
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha Raw, Wunmi Mosaku
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has had a decade’s worth of experience in making successful films. Come 2021, they conducted their biggest experiment yet. MCU launched two shows on a digital platform, starring some of their underrated characters, which went on to be massively popular. This experiment seemingly will not stop reaping results any time soon, as their new Phase 4 show, Loki, is probably their most unique venture till date.
Loki, starring Tom Hiddleston as the eponymous God of Mischief, is one of the smartest projects that MCU has ever offered. For a franchise that is so good at pleasing the masses, it is refreshing to have to do mental mathematics and pay attention.
Everything about Loki is complicated, and in a good way. We can say that the show takes place after the events of Avengers: Endgame, however, that wouldn’t be completely accurate. That is true for the audience. But we can also say that the show takes place after the events of The Avengers (2012), because that’s what happens to Loki.
In Endgame, the Avengers travel back in time to collect the Infinity Stones before Thanos could get them. Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and Ant-Man went back to 2012 to get the Space Stone from Loki’s Tesseract in New York. Loki, who was imprisoned due to his role in the Battle of New York, escaped with the Tesseract.
This is the starting point of the show. Loki takes an action that he was not supposed to, and hence is arrested by the Time Variance Authority. The TVA is an agency which protects the ‘sacred timeline,’ which saves the universe from descending into chaos. Loki becomes a variant for this move, and he has to be punished. However, a TVA agent Mobius M Mobius, has some other plans for the God of Mischief.
The show strips the character off of all the elements that we were so used to seeing him in. There is no Asgard and there is no Thor for him to back-stab. Inside the TVA, Loki cannot use his magic. The only thing that stays in the show is his mind, and a razor-sharp wit. Loki has all the elements of an out-and-out crime thriller, which sets it apart from most Marvel ventures.
In terms of performances, Hiddleston has been playing the character in the films for a decade now. However, in the show, he gets room to let his character flourish. This time around, he gets an apt match in Owen Wilson’s Mobius. It is interesting to see Loki and Mobius form a bond, because that was previously reserved for Thor.
Each Marvel venture comes with its own discovery. In Loki, that is Wunmi Mosaku, who plays Hunter B-15. From the beginning, she is up against Loki as the strong and stoic TVA soldier. Gugu Mbatha Raw has always charmed the audience with her performances, so we hope that her talent gets getter utilized in Loki.
In a nutshell, Loki seems to have checked all the boxes of a hit Marvel feature. However, there are five more episodes to go, and being a Marvel feature, it is sure to get crazier. It is wise to wait and see what course the show takes.
Loki streams from June 9 on Disney+ Hotstar Premium.
Rating: 4/5
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