Loki Season 1 Recap | Moviefone
Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in Marvel Studios’ Loki, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2020. All rights reserved.
Fans of Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino and the rest of the “Loki” gang (and multiverses in general) get ready to be happy. Because in a few days the Marvel Disney+ series about the character will be back.
But season 1 was already broadcast in 2021. So what if you forgot some important details and need a refresher? Don’t worry, we’re here to help. Like the Time Variance Agency, we’ll make sure you’re on the right track (and we won’t force you out of existence either).
‘Loki’ Season 1 Explained
(Left to right) Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Mobius (Owen Wilson) in Marvel Studios’ “Loki,” exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All rights reserved.
Created and directed by Michael Waldron (who would end up spending more time in parallel dimensions when he was hired to rewrite the Marvel film sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), Loki picks up the story of Tom Hiddleston’s title character on Back then, he was more of a villain than the hero figure he became in films like Avengers: Infinity War.
You’ll recall that at the end of The Avengers, Loki saw a chance to escape imprisonment, as heroes like Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) went back in time in search of the Tesseract travel. Then instead of them getting it, Loki grabs it and uses it to move around.
But he is picked up by agents of the Time Variance Authority, where he is seen as a dangerous “variant,” a chaotic version of himself who is disrupting the timeline the authority is – it claims – trying to protect. A bureaucratic, retro-futuristic organization that exists outside of time and space, it presents Loki with a choice: either he will be erased from existence because he is human, or he will help set the timeline and face a greater threat to stop.
Loki ends up in his own murder mystery and travels through time in pursuit of a female version of himself named Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino).
Who is Sylvie in “Loki”?
Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) in Marvel Studios’ Loki, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All rights reserved.
Sylvie, as already mentioned, is a female variant of Loki. She became the target of “circumcision” (aka removal from the timeline) and has fought across time and space to discover the truth behind the TVA.
She causes chaos, attracts the attention of the organization and ultimately crosses the path of our Loki.
The two actually begin to fall in love with each other and realize their innate connection. But after discovering that they could hide in apocalypses (like Sylvie did), their budding relationship is interrupted when they are brought before the Who Remains (but more on him later) and end up killing him and Loki bump into a portal.
She’ll be back for season 2, so we’ll find out what happens between the two Lokis. Let’s be honest: “It’s complicated” is hardly enough here.
What is behind the TVA?
Miss Minutes (voiced by Tara Strong) in Marvel Studios’ Loki, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All rights reserved.
One of the first faces every arriving prisoner sees is Miss Minutes, an animated clock who cheerfully greets people. Voiced by Tara Strong, this mascot provides information – but she also has a hidden agenda.
The Authority is overseen by the “Time Watchers,” mysterious creatures represented by statues in a hidden chamber that some in the TVA view as god-like. As it turns out, that’s a huge lie made up by He Who Abides (more on that later).
The Timekeepers are androids created to control the TVA and its employees, who, as it turns out, were not specifically created to work there, but were actually all variants themselves who had their memories erased.
What other characters are there in “Loki”?
(Left to right) Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) and Mobius (Owen Wilson) in Marvel Studios’ Loki, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All rights reserved.
Other memorable characters include…
Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson): A TVA agent who specializes in investigating particularly dangerous time criminals. He becomes friends with Loki and the two work on the Sylvie case. But when he learns of his deviant nature, he helps Loki and Sylvie in the fight against his former employers.
Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw): A former TVA fighter known as A-23 who rose from the ranks to become a respected judge; She oversees the investigation into the Loki variant. As an ambitious and ardent supporter of the TVA’s mission, she is forced to confront the harsh truth about the organization. And when they are revealed, she disappears into a portal in search of free will.
Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku): A high-ranking TVA fighter is determined to stop the variant that has been killing Minutemen troops. She is one of those who believe that the timekeepers are gods.
Hunter C-20 (Sasha Lane): A TVA hunter has been kidnapped and enchanted by Sylvie to reveal the Timekeepers’ whereabouts.
Judge Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) in Marvel Studios’ “Loki” exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All rights reserved.
Who are the other Loki variants?
(Left to right) Boastful Loki (DeObia Oparei), Kid Loki (Jack Veal), Alligator Loki and Classic Loki (Richard E. Grant) in Marvel Studios’ “Loki,” exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All rights reserved.
At some point, Loki is “trimmed” and exiled to an apocalyptic, ruined New York, where he meets a variety of other variants of himself, including the classic Loki (Richard E. Grant), who wears a comic-accurate costume and has more extensive illusionary powers than Hiddleston’s version.
There are many others including Kid Loki (Jack Veal), Boastful Loki (DeObia Oparei) and of course Alligator Loki (himself), who we all agree is the best Loki.
Related article: Tom Hiddleston’s Trickster God is unleashed in time for the Loki season 2 trailer
Who is the one who stays?
He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) in Marvel Studios’ Loki, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All rights reserved.
In the final episode we meet the true architect of the TVA and the chaotic state of the multiverse that Loki has fallen into.
He Who Remains (played by Jonathan Majors) is a variant of a comic book character named Kang the Conqueror.
He manipulates the timeline for his own purposes and fights with his “brothers”, the various other versions of Kang.
Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror in Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Photo by Jay Maidment. © 2022 Marvel.
Sylvie kills him and drives the multiverse of timelines into even more madness, but that isn’t the last we see of the character.
Kang, one of the other variants (also played by Majors), is the villain in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and versions of him will act as the big bad of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the next few phases.
Complicating matters for Marvel are the allegations surrounding Major’s personal life, but he’s back for Season 2, playing Victor Timely, another Kang variant. He’s been somewhat downplayed in the promos for the new season, but we’ll see how often he shows up in the show itself.
Is there a trailer for the second season of “Loki”?
(Left to right) Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Ke Huy Quan as OB and Owen Wilson as Mobius in Marvel Studios’ “Loki” Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth Gatrell. © 2023 MARVEL.
You can watch the Loki season 2 trailer below.
When does the second season of “Loki” come out?
(Left to right) Ke Huy Quan as OB, Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15, Tom Hiddleston as Loki and Owen Wilson as Mobius in Marvel Studios’ “Loki” Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth Gatrell. © 2023 MARVEL.
“Loki” will premiere with its first episode (of a planned six) on October 6th. Will the producers announce a third season at the end of the second season? Only time can tell…
Marvel Studios’ Loki Season 2.