After a two-year wait, Marvel welcomed fans back to the small screen on October 5th with Season Two of Loki.
Loki, following the escapades of everyone’s favorite namesake Norse God of Mischief, follows our titular character as he ventures through time, unraveling its secrets and discovering the truth of a time-policing organization known as the TVA.
Tom Hiddleston returns once again this season to the character of Loki, which he first portrayed in 2011’s Thor and 2012’s The Avengers. Along for the ride is Owen Wilson’s Mobius; a timid, yet capable agent for the TVA. The Wedding Crashers star once again brings a healthy dose of comedy to the role this season, and the chemistry with Hiddelston’s sarcastic and witty portrayal of Loki is flawless.
After a slew of divisive shows such as Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Loki is a return to form for Marvel and harkens back to the original tone and style of the early Avengers films. It’s funny, serious, and consistent with what came before. Not to mention, its storytelling is rife with out-of-this-world comic tropes that fit right into Marvel’s “realistic” approach to superheroes. The characters take themselves seriously – but still act human and laugh with the viewer. The story also takes itself seriously, so the audience can too.
With Tom Hiddleston executive producing the show as well as starring in it, perhaps it’s no surprise his character is being handled so well.
Visually, the show once again features spectacular special effects equal to Marvel’s films, and the time-slip effect shown in the trailers is particularly impressive. Straddling the line between extraordinary yet still human enough to make viewers wince, the special effects communicate the pain and danger of time slipping almost better than any acting or dialogue could.
The most impressive feat Loki accomplishes is blending silly humor while keeping the stakes real. Introducing OB, played by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Everything Everywhere All at Once star Ke Huy Quan, brings a level of childishly simplistic comedy that doesn’t feel out of place and actually adds more emotional stakes to certain scenes.
While it’s still early days for Loki Season Two, and if Hiddleston and crew can keep up their storytelling and comedy chops, Loki could easily become Marvel’s most defining show.
