Loki TV Series 2021

[Strange Brew]

Fun series but that finale was a dud. Pretty much all exposition and then a set up for something else.

When you have to do that much explaining it's never a good sign. Guess we''ll take him at his word that he was a benevolent dictator and that everything he said was gospel. That seemed very comic booky, would have been cool if they could have showed something of his history.

[#-3]

Ya that was a tough bite to swallow for a finale, definitely cut the story short leaving too much exposition for the ending and not leaving us in satisfying place.

Hopefully What If pretty directly picks up on it, or it will be a long wait.

Overall the 4 entries this year have been really great characters pieces, haven't done the best job on giving us closure on the stories they have started. It's getting harder and harder to take in Marvel content as discrete pieces, might be limiting to their audience base overtime, but for now I am going to continue keeping up with everything.

[Coach]

So pumped for Majors as the next big bad. His scene was incredible. I’ll admit I kinda liked the idea of Loki(s) running the TVA. But this is probably in my top 5 Marvel properties now. Great show. Excited to see what’s happened to the MCU. Theoretically, everything could be different, right?

[d_phaneuf]

I loved it, the second kang showed up was first audible gasp surprise I've had in awhile

I saw plenty of critics and others say after the wandavision finale didnt have dr strange or the x men show up say that marvel wont introduce any major movie characters or events through the tv shows.... well here we go

I'm assuming this is why the spiderman no way home trailer hasn't dropped yet, now that the multiverse is wide open and out in the open, I imagine it's coming in next few weeks

[Duruss]

I liked the episode a lot, but Kang is not a villain I have ever cared for. My main gripe is shallow, but Kang looks stupid! And they have never really updated his look in the 50-60 years he has existed.

[Itse]

I have a pretty serious "MCU just jumped the shark" moment in the finale.

First of all, Kang was just the worst. Silly, uncharismatic, boring, not threatening or interesting at all. The casting choice looks terrrrible, and he's supposed to be the big bad of the whole phase or two? Not looking forward to that at all.

Also, that whole episode didn't really make a lick of sense. How does killing Kang at the end of time when he's already done everything he's done to create and uphold the TVA somehow reset everything? Not even a bit of handwavium to explain any of it?

I feel like the MCU multiverse shenaginans are going to be just as terrible as all the multiverse stuff is in the comics, which is 99% garbage. Multiverses and dimension travelling just generally doesn't make for good stories.

I mean, multiple Loki's was a nice joke for like 30 seconds, and then it lead to absolutely no character or real plot development to the point that the extra Loki's could have been cut out completely without affecting the plot at all. But hey, at least they stuffed in a ton of comics references! That didn't matter at all, but they WERE references!

Also, yeah, the multiverse +time traveling thing means that literally nothing matters anymore. Anything and everything can be undone with the flimsiest deus ex asspull -explanation. Death doesn't matter, and character consistency doesn't exist, and at least in Loki they pretty much started going with the worst way of doing this stuff; the multiverses exist when they need to in the way they need to so the writers can do wild stuff, not so they can do interesting stuff.

This was already an issue in this series, as the Loki in this series was in his behavior a continuation of the Ragnarök-loki... expect this Loki was supposed to be the much more grandiose version from Avengers 1.

As a Marvel fanboy I'll probably be watching everything, but really my expectations are not very high.

Multiverses just suck, and the MCU has so far done nothing to convince me otherwise.

[Kybosh]

I'm very far from a Marvel fanboy (or comics in general) but I enjoyed the entire series and the finale. Also, isn't the entire superhero comic schtick that death has no meaning? I can't count how many times I've heard of characters dying and then coming back again for various silly reasons.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Itse

I have a pretty serious "MCU just jumped the shark" moment in the finale.

First of all, Kang was just the worst. Silly, uncharismatic, boring, not threatening or interesting at all. The casting choice looks terrrrible, and he's supposed to be the big bad of the whole phase or two? Not looking forward to that at all.

Also, that whole episode didn't really make a lick of sense. How does killing Kang at the end of time when he's already done everything he's done to create and uphold the TVA somehow reset everything? Not even a bit of handwavium to explain any of it?

I disagree with nearly all of your post. Thought this kang was well played (Tired, old, ready to die... but aware of infinite realities and possibilities.) You're thinking too literally about time in a unidirectional sense. IMO the place where they were with Kang (really Immortus at this point) is not really in the future but outside of time, looking upon it (this is why we see the ring of time expanding in the sky in a circle around it). Immortus was using the TVA and Alioth to ensure all the other timelines (containing the other Kangs he fought) never came into existence. Without him guiding the TVA to do this from outside of time, a timeline will emerge where a different timeline Kang will beat the others and take the position that Immortus is currently in. Ostensibly this is exactly what occurred in the final scene as Loki gazed upon the TVA statue of the much more authoritarian looking Kang.

the kang we saw was not really the kang that is going to be the big bad for the other movies. It's a variant of the one we saw. Just like classic Loki, or this current loki is a variant of the one we saw killed in the original MCU. So you don't have to worry, the Kang that will be the big bad in the coming MCU phase will likely act very differently than the one we saw.

[bdubbs]

I enjoyed the series and the finale. And I disagree with Itse about Kang's casting/charisma, as for me and several of my friends also thought Kang stole the show every minute he was on the screen. Different strokes, I suppose.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

I disagree with nearly all of your post. Thought this kang was well played (Tired, old, ready to die... but aware of infinite realities and possibilities.) You're thinking too literally about time in a unidirectional sense. IMO the place where they were with Kang (really Immortus at this point) is not really in the future but outside of time, looking upon it (this is why we see the ring of time expanding in the sky in a circle around it). Immortus was using the TVA and Alioth to ensure all the other timelines (containing the other Kangs he fought) never came into existence. Without him guiding the TVA to do this from outside of time, a timeline will emerge where a different timeline Kang will beat the others and take the position that Immortus is currently in. Ostensibly this is exactly what occurred in the final scene as Loki gazed upon the TVA statue of the much more authoritarian looking Kang.

the kang we saw was not really the kang that is going to be the big bad for the other movies. It's a variant of the one we saw. Just like classic Loki, or this current loki is a variant of the one we saw killed in the original MCU. So you don't have to worry, the Kang that will be the big bad in the coming MCU phase will likely act very differently than the one we saw.

I get that you can explain it away, but they didn't. I just found it impossible to care, and I get more annoyed by the whole thing the more I try to think about it. There's no tension to someone explaining some multiverse nonsense that doesn't actually mean anything outside of what the writers explicitly say "the choice" is, and that was so badly done because it was just so instantly obvious what's going to happen.

That last episode could have been completely replaced with Loki giving a deadpan explanation of the events after the fact. "Well there WAS someone less horrible in charge of TVA, but I killed him. I mean not me me, it was another me from another timeline who did the killing, and I did try to stop her. Yes it was a she me, or I guess a female me..? Look, I don't have time to go over the whole thing, but I assure you her decision did make sense at the time, she is no more evil than I am!" That's funnier than the whole episode, and also 100% of the events explained in about 15 seconds.

This, to me, was just pretty flat.

But as always I'm glad other people like it. (Genuinely.)

[J Diddy]

So Sylvie killing variant Kang is what makes the scene where Dr. Strange checks all the other timelines for how to kill Thanos possible?

[GGG]

Originally Posted by J Diddy

So Sylvie killing variant Kang is what makes the scene where Dr. Strange checks all the other timelines for how to kill Thanos possible?

I think the 14 million timelines with only one working is why a 14 to million to one shot ends up working. The 14 million multiverses where the outcome wasn’t the Avengers were pruned by the TVA.

In the Kang who remains timeline there was still a multi-verse. Otherwise a variant version of Aligator Loki or Classic Loki would never exist. What happens would be as these multiverses are created if they would result in Kang who remains not winning they are pruned by the TVA.

So the classic Loki timeline where Loki hides and the MCU timeline run along in parallel identically until Classic Loki steps off the planet creating a Nexus event and that Timeline where he leaves exile gets pruned while the timeline where he remains continues in parallel. If everything was pruned the instant a variance occurred then a female Loki would be pruned at birth and classic Loki would have been pruned when he ran.

Without Kang who remains it means you now have 14 million to 1 Ratio with Victorious Thanoses. However with Kang the Conqueror taking over the TVA we can assume that he now controls Alioth and chooses which realities get pruned and which do not. This means that he could leave the realities in which Thanos wins if as a result of that Kang the Conqueror wins or since Kangs ancestry might be disrupted by a halving of the Earth population it’s like that all Kang’s are in favour of Thanos losing.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by d_phaneuf

I loved it, the second kang showed up was first audible gasp surprise I've had in awhile

I saw plenty of critics and others say after the wandavision finale didnt have dr strange or the x men show up say that marvel wont introduce any major movie characters or events through the tv shows.... well here we go

I'm assuming this is why the spiderman no way home trailer hasn't dropped yet, now that the multiverse is wide open and out in the open, I imagine it's coming in next few weeks

Thinking about the ending the above ties into my main issue with the show. The resolution of Sylvie, Loki and the TVA is left has a cliff hanger to service the future. I preferred the previous method in movies and the shows of resolving the key plot items and then using the end credits to tease the future.

This became kind of a mess because we have to assume Sylvies actions from the instant Kang who remains dies to the new TVA led by Kang the Conqueror. And assume the actions of the Mobius that we know may exist somewhere.

I think having the show end on the success of the destruction of the TVA, explain what happens to Loki and Sylvie a bit, essentially a jilted Loki returning to somewhere, Then having Mobius choosing to go retire on his jet ski and then end credits. The goal would be to show the benefits of the choice for free will. Then in the end credit scene you could have the timelines branching, and the TVA being re-built in Kang the Conquerors image and the consequences of the indulgence of free will.

You could end at the same point but would have had resolution of the major items within the show. It’s similar to Scarlet Witch where she lets her kids die providing the sad ending and then teasing their continued existence somewhere. But we didn’t kid the emotional good bye for the kids.

[blankall]

Overall, I thought the series was pretty entertaining. My biggest gripe was how much time Loki spent running around in a cool 70s suit and doing karate. He's supposed to be an outworldly being with all sorts of magic powers....but I guess he really likes 70s fashion...and karate.

I would have liked more focus on Loki as a cosmic being. I get that there are budgetary restraints though.

I liked the introduction of Kang and also the casting choice. We are going to see a very different style of villain. One thing to keep in mind is that the Kang we saw was the end version (Immortus). The villain will have a younger more conquest orientated personality.

[belsarius]

I'm not totally sure that this was supposed to be Immortus. He Who Remains might be a separate Kang entirely. I think Immortus would have more gravitas to his character based on the comics, and the portrayal of He Who Remains didn't really match what I thought of Immortus.

I wouldn't be surprised if we get to watch the transition of this character over the next 6 or 7 years. From crazy old hermit, to a conqueror, to finally the supreme keeper of time. I think this would be a fantastic opportunity for Majors to explore whole new personalities of the character over the next couple phases, and probably even have a few death scenes.. only to have a more powerful Kang show up again later.

It'll be like defeating Dr Doom over and over just for him to turn out to be Doombots and the real threat to still be out there.. but we'll save that for another phase.

[Locke]

All this talk about Kang....wheres the love for Kodos?

[Coach]

Originally Posted by blankall

Overall, I thought the series was pretty entertaining. My biggest gripe was how much time Loki spent running around in a cool 70s suit and doing karate. He's supposed to be an outworldly being with all sorts of magic powers....but I guess he really likes 70s fashion...and karate.

I thought about this during Episode 5 when he was standing with Sylvie and Classic Loki and wondered about his wardrobe. And I think they did it on purpose to ground him as a more relatable protagonist. I feel like it worked honestly.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by belsarius

I'm not totally sure that this was supposed to be Immortus. He Who Remains might be a separate Kang entirely. I think Immortus would have more gravitas to his character based on the comics, and the portrayal of He Who Remains didn't really match what I thought of Immortus.

I wouldn't be surprised if we get to watch the transition of this character over the next 6 or 7 years. From crazy old hermit, to a conqueror, to finally the supreme keeper of time. I think this would be a fantastic opportunity for Majors to explore whole new personalities of the character over the next couple phases, and probably even have a few death scenes.. only to have a more powerful Kang show up again later.

It'll be like defeating Dr Doom over and over just for him to turn out to be Doombots and the real threat to still be out there.. but we'll save that for another phase.

Fair enough.

You can't really believe anything Kang says either. The whole thing could have been a manipulation to help him conquer, and he could have even been a young Kang (relatively speaking anyways).

Immortus, however, could just as easily be cynical about the whole thing too, which is what we got in Loki.

[photon]

My biggest gripe with the series as a whole was the action.. I mean I've watched enough Corridor Crew videos I felt like I could have been a better fight coordinator. Either do it well or don't do it at all.

And I agree that that much exposition was too much, don't tell, show. It would have been nicer to have a bunch of scenes with voiceover rather than a little toy on his desk, but that costs a lot of $$, and maybe would have spoiled the Kang that will show up in the movies. They have to keep it so people who don't watch the shows won't be totally lost.

[Wastedyouth]

None of that episode made sense to me.


That is all I have to say.