This article contains spoilers for the entireLokiseries.
Lokireally can’t catch a break, unlike the many Marvel heroes he faced for nearly a decade,Tom Hiddleston’s character usually got the short endof the stick, whether it’s getting thrown into prison, presumed dead, or actually dying, the god of mischief’s path in the MCU has not precisely been filled with glory.
In that sense, theLokiseries only continues that trend of putting Marvel’s favorite trickster into a pickle just as soon as he manages to make a run for it with the Tesseract and avoid the Avengers’ punishment. After all, forced labor under the TVA bureaucracy is definitely no summer picnic, yet it’s that precise moment that perfectly connectsLoki’sfirst season ending to the events inInfinity WarandEndgame, albeitmaking MCU time travel a lot more confusing.
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One of the most predictable tropes in the superhero film genre is that 99 times out of 100 the good guys always win, a normal if somewhat boring outcome that can greatly hinder these types of films because unless the rest of the plot is truly good, there’s very little that can save it towards the end when the audience knows exactly what’s going to happen. Perhaps that’s what makesInfinity WarandEndgamemore interesting in the first place since the former sees Loki bite the dust alongside half of the snapped Avengers, whileEndgameresults in a pyrrhic victory with huge emotional losses asIron ManandBlack Widowsacrifice themselves for the greater good.
ForLoki, it turns out that taking the path of the righteous man was anything but a blessed journey as no matter what he did in season one, how much he tried to redeem himself,his true feelings for Sylvie,his doubts over the TVA’s Orwellian rule, and overall desire not to send every universe out there into disarray by killing Kang the Conqueror, poor old Loki ended up in an even worse place than where he started.
WhenLokireturns for its second season, the trickster god will find himself in the same depressive state that Fat Thor and Iron Man were at the start ofEndgame, defeated, hopeless, and seemingly out of tricks. There’s a real charm to all of this because fans rarely get to see their beloved heroes be on the losing end of their adventures and Loki’s own redemption arc in his own series now puts him in the hero role, yet it appears he’s been burdened with all the responsibility while having very little power to show for it and a lot of consequences to deal with.
AsLokiofficially kickstarts the MCU’s Phase Four, Hiddleston’s claim for Loki to get a real chance to shine has been properly satisfied by screenwriters with his character probably getting a lot more than he bargained for. The thought of Loki finally opening up and showing his more vulnerable side to Sylvie only to be betrayed, losing his new friend Mobius to this new mysterious timeslip, and recognizing that he must find a way to try to fix all of this all alone are quite daunting circumstances for a character that might have just gotten rid of his “antihero” tag.
Considering time doesn’t really flow normally in the TVA’s headquarters, Loki’s suffering these past six weeks certainly amounts to at least the same level of pain and anguish other Marvel heroes endured during the Infinity Saga. So as the MCU’s newest hero is left off watching the statue of a victoriousKang the Conqueror rise in his villain form, whatever adventures the future holds for him are bound to be incredibly interesting.
Apocalyptic doom is usually a good plot, even more so when it has already unfolded and the hero has to fight from the bottom up to rescue the reality that once was. While Loki’s destiny seems to be making other people lives miserable so that they can rise up to the challenge, with Sylvie’s undoing of the sacred timeline blossomEndgame-like story that makes fans wonder just how the Avengers (plus Loki) can battle against this new unsurmountable challenge.
Not only that, but Should Lokiencounter his brother inThor: Love and Thunderor if he appearsinDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, this variant Loki’s experiences would make him an even more appealing character than he already was as one of Marvel’s best villains. Unfortunately, if the similarities betweenLokiandInfinity War-Endgameextend to that, there’s a high chance his Hiddlestone’s final MCU outing could be just as tragic as Tony Stark’s.
Lokiends with a nightmare scenario worthy of even scaringBatmanand in the future Marvel could do well to bring a little more chaos to the usual order of things ensured by the Avengers. CurrentlySpider-Man: No Way Homestands as another good opportunity of doing that considering Peter Parker’s identity ended up in peril inFar From Home, and while having a teenager bear all that responsibility, the MCU could always use some defeats to make its heroes’ triumphs feel even better. They’re already making Loki better.
