It was a bit of a shame for me (and, I am sure, a lot of other people) to learn that actor Tom Hiddleston was not going to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond. True, Craig came back for one more movie, but Hiddleston’s effortless charisma would have made for a fine 007. However, he did come back to play his signature MCU character of Loki for a new Disney+ MCU show. That in and of itself is great at least because Hiddleston always seems to be having so much fun as the morally twisted character who is probably only ever on his own side but still (theoretically) loves his family. Sure, the character died in Avengers: Infinity War, but a time heist in Avengers: End Game seemed to allow him to live.
Then the Time Variance Authority stepped in for his solo show, and if Hiddleston couldn’t be James Bond, at least he could sort of be Doctor Who.
After escaping in an alternate time line from the path that would have eventually gotten him killed, Loki finds himself captured by the Time Variance Authority, an other-dimensional form of enforcement for the mysterious Time Keepers. They’re tasked to protect the sacred time line, and any time a Variant does something that could lead to massive chaos down the line, they step in to remove the Variant and reset the time line. Since Loki was supposed to go back to Asgard and later die at the hands of Thanos, he’s now a Variant and must be dealt with, possibly permanently. His only hope for survival is in the form of mid-level manager type Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson). Mobius is something of a fan, and it seems that Variants of Loki are somewhat popular out there. But there’s one that’s been exceptionally good at surviving, one with a mad on for the TVA, and one that has gotten very good at ambushing and killing TVA hunters. Loki might be able to get himself out of trouble if he helps bring in this Varient of himself. Loki, seeing he has lost access to his magic and even the Infinity Stone he brought with him is useless in the TVA city of Chronopolis, agrees.
Of course, this is Loki. He’s a master manipulator, a liar, and a consummate schemer always out for more power. He’ll say he’ll help out, but he’ll have other plans in mind to meet his self-described “glorious purpose”. Also of course, Mobius and the TVA are well-aware that he will do just that.
That’s a rough outline of the show’s premise, and this is one of those shows where the less you know, the better. Disney/Marvel clearly had a big budget to work with here, and Loki does a bit of traveling as he, Mobius, and the rest of the TVA look for this other Loki, and the people behind this show are clearly having fun. There are a lot of Easter eggs for longtime Marvel fans, and when the show states up front that Loki Variants are rather…popular, then there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing more than just Hiddleson playing the character. Wilson brings his own easygoing charm to the role, and I can’t say that any of the actors on the program turned in anything less than a fun performance. I just don’t think I can safely talk about them without ruining the fun for the uninitiated.
But at its core, a show like this is a showcase for Hiddleston’s talents as the character. If Loki the character became cuddly in recent years, much of that is due to how Hiddleston played a character that traditionally was nothing but villainous. Loki may be a god of lying and mischief, but perhaps his biggest thing is just surviving, but does that mean he can’t be more? The series explores the character in a manner similar to how WandaVision did for Wanda Maximoff, looking deeply into what makes him tick, asking both Loki and the viewer what it is that Loki really wants out of life. Is it power or something else? The final episode had a bit of an abrupt feel, but that was there to set up a promised season two…something I suspect they were planning all along, but we’ll see how that turns out. It looks like it may be up to a god known for scheming to somehow save all of time from something. If season two is as fun as season one, this will be a real treat for viewers.
Grade: A-
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