Loki season 2 is fun but despite Tom Hiddleston's best efforts, the show is limited by MCU trying to use the show as a piece in its abnormally large jigsaw puzzle.
Creator: Michael Waldron
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino, Jonathan Majors, Ke Huy Quan, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wunmi Mosaku, and Tara Strong
Where to watch: Disney+ Hotstar
Rating: 3.5 stars
The first season of Marvel’s show Loki was a welcome change for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Along with WandaVision, the show brought a new dynamic to long-form storytelling to the franchise, dealing with complex issues like purpose, loss, and grief. The second season of Loki brings into mix the idea of free will as well, but never losing the light-hearted adventure tone of the show. Loki season 2 is a throwback to the best of Marvel but only in bits. Because by now the MCU has branched into such a complex situation that it has a mess that needs to untangled. And Loki gets caught in that mess no matter how hard it tries.
This review is based on the first four episodes of Loki. That is two-thirds of the second season. I have hopes that the remaining two episodes will tie the loose ends and rectify some errors but knowing Marvel’s recent track record, I am not so confident.
Loki season 2 sees our Trickster God (Tom Hiddleston) caught time-slipping as he tries to get back to the Time Varianca Authority (TVA) to his friends Morbius (Owen Wilson) and B-15. His variant and love interest Sylvie (Sophia di Martino) has finished after killing He Who Remains in the season 1 finale. And quite ominously, the variants of He Who Remains are now coming to rule over the TVA and destroy all of space time. Just the regular Marvel affair!
What works for Loki can be summarised in two words – Tom Hiddleston. The actor is clearly having fun portraying a more humane side to everyone’s favourite, lovable mass murdering demigod. How he managed to transform a negative character to vulnerable and human is applause-worthy. Owen Wilson is his perfect foil here and the duo’s chemistry is the show’s driving force.
Loki begins as a time-travelling adventure with our heroes back in the 19th century as they chase Kang’s variant Victor Timely (Jonathan Majors), someone far removed from the dangerous villain we were expecting. It does throw one off track given we were promised Kang but Loki makes up for it in the form of a more sinister Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). The introduction of Ke Huy Quan as Oroborous also works in the show’s favour as the extremely likable actor makes the show more endearing and fun. Plus, time/interdimensional travel is kind of Quan’s thing right now.
But the show has its fair share of issues. The reduction of Kang from villain to something else entirely does feel like a betrayal after we were teased about the villain for one season and an entire film (if you happen to remember the very unmemorable Ant-Man 3). But Loki suffers due to MCU’s inherent problem of dragging out the premise. While the show finds a smooth way to deal with complex issues like free will and loss in a sensitive yet entertaining fashion, it falters when it comes to the simple stuff.
The stakes should be universe-ending but they never seem to be. I think it’s a case of Marvel fatigue or the franchise becoming too big for its own good because every subsequent title has started to resemble a formula where nothing is at stake because nothing can ever go wrong. Infinity War had flipped that formula on its head but since then, MCU has been struggling to reclaim that high. Loki gets caught up in it too. Much of the show seems to be simply setting up things for future Marvel projects instead of telling the story in this one. And that is a shame because it is an interesting story.
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 "Loki season 2 stars Tom Hiddleston as the Marvel anti-hero")
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