Season 1 of Disney+’s Loki started strong. While the premise of reviving and following a time-displaced version of Loki plucked from the events of 2012’s The Avengers is still somewhat befuddling, the fan favourite’s solo ride enjoyed a strong start featuring a stronger cast.
And then it just kinda meandered its way to a verbose, exposition-filled finale in a desperate attempt to set up the next big bad with Jonathan Majors’ debut as a variant of Kang the Conqueror.
And then they pretty much had to do all of it again in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
So it’s not with a lot of optimism with which we return to Loki. And, from the season premiere, it’s still hard to say if much can be expected from the series.
It’s no secret that much of Loki’s development as a character has been reliant on Tom Hiddleston’s charisma. Despite the near tiresome shuttling with the character’s status, Hiddleston has kept Loki engaging and interesting or, at the very least, entertaining. With his own series, he’s managed to share some of that responsibility with Owen Wilson’s Mobius and Sophia Di Martino’s Sylvie/Loki.
Unfortunately, season 2’s premiere doesn’t do very much to rectify the issues of season 1, and goes of on its own tangent dealing with the fallout from the finale. With Loki’s slowburn nature, this is not only expect, but is largely fine. The plot also creates room for Ke Huy Quan’s character, Ouroboros (or O.B.), and offers some truly intriguing visuals.
But with only six episodes, and the current uninspiring, or inconsistent at best, track record the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Disney+ shows possess, it might be time to ditch the indulgent slow burn pacing, and actually get to the point of the series.
Or just make a damn movie instead.
Loki returns to Disney+, but can this second season justify the resurrected character’s misadventures, or are we in for more of the same?