TheMarvel Cinematic Universehas been in a period of uncertainty for a sizable amount of time now, especially in the years sinceAvengers: Endgame. The new multiverse saga, as it has been dubbed, hasn’t gone quite as smoothly as the previous overarching storyline that featured Thanos as the main villain going up against Earth’s mightiest heroes.
In many ways, the arrival of Disney+ and the streaming series that have debuted on the platform has caused a host of problems. Disney CEO Bob Iger has admitted that the company released too many new shows in quick succession, posing a massive problem as audiences began to pick and choose which stories they wanted to watch rather than consuming everything, thus making the cinematic universe model falter slightly. They also made the mistake of choosing some classic comic book storylines, ones that are arguably too big for a show, to adapt into a series. The best example of this isSecret Invasion, which recently concluded and became the worst ratedMCUshow on Rotten Tomatoes. Next up on Disney+ isLokiseason two, which promises to be much better than Secret Invasion after an exciting first trailer that shows an eccentric new story, the ominous Kang the Conquerer, and more.
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Loki’s Season 2 trailer delivers on style
Throughout its six episode run,Secret Invasionlacked any sort of uniqueness, both in its visuals and in its story. It felt bland and flat, and the attempts to make the story a continuation of the style seen inCaptain America: The Winter Soldierfailed completely. It had virtually no intensity,and most notably lacked all style.
Some of the more successful MCU shows on Disney+ have thrived by leaning into their own unique, individual styles.WandaVision,for example, fully committed to the sitcom genre by embracing the classic style from each era, which gave the story a unique twist. The same can be said for the first season ofLoki,which felt like a season ofDoctor Whoin many ways, especially given the presence of the TVA and Loki hopping through the timeline to different places in history. Based on its trailer,Lokiseason two has the same sort of style and uniqueness, bringing a wacky twist to the MCU in a franchise that has desperately lacked novelty in recent years.
Loki Season 2 is leaning toward a wilder story
The ending of the first season ofLokipromised an even bigger, wilder story for the second outing, which the trailer vaguely hints at. The end of the first season saw Sylvie killing He Who Remains, aka a Kang variant that decided it was in the universe’s best interest to ensure there are no other versions of himself. From there, the TVA changed dramatically, with statues of another Kang everywhereas the multiverse broke open fully. While the season two trailer doesn’t directly address that, it does show Loki and Mobius on another investigation of some sort, and one that will tie in another Kang variant, alternate versions of Loki, and more. The trailer also shows the arrival of Zaniac, a unique new villain will make the second season even wilder as well.
Loki season 2 is helmed by two rising star directors
A new directing team are leading season 2, with Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead joining the team. The duo have previously worked together on a number of projects, includingV/H/S: Viral, The Endless, Synchronic(starring the MCU’s own Anthony Mackie), along with episodes ofThe Twilight Zonereboot andMoon Knight. Benson and Moorhead are known for their wild, wacky, and often unpredictable sci-fi stories. Their resumes certainly lends themselves to a time hopping story such asLoki,so it seems that this is the perfect project for them.Having two incredibly promising upcoming filmmakerslead a show such as this can only be good for the MCU, which is a franchise that would be wise to include more individuality austerity in their filmmaking rather than continuing to return to the same formula over and over again.
Loki, Mobius, Sylvie, and some new faces
Another exciting aspect of this new season are the returns of some familiar faces, along with some new characters for the story. One of the best aspects of the first season was that the show fully justified bringing Loki back after the events ofAvengers: Infinity War, where his character died at the hands of Thanos. What initially seemed like a lazy attempt to keep one of their most popular characters even after his character arc clearly concluded quickly turned into the creators and writers giving Loki a new lease of life as a hero. The addition of Mobius as Loki’s sidekick also allowed Tom Hiddleston to show his chemistry with Owen Wilson, one of the most famous comedians of the last few decades,and Loki interacting with his variants, particularly Sylvie, added a new dynamic to the MCU and keeps the multiverse storyline captivating enough to continue.
