Loki: 10 MCU Tropes Redditors Are Glad It Avoided | Screen Rant
Loki: 10 MCU Tropes Redditors Are Glad It Avoided | Screen Rant
One of the best Marvel TV shows to come out in 2021 was Loki. It picks up where Avengers: Endgame had left Tom Hiddleston’s God of Mischief: fleeing from the Avengers directly into the arms of the Time Variance Authority.
The show, which has already been renewed for a second season, has been praised for its nonchalant introduction of the TVA, the Time Keepers, as well as one of the most influential comic book villains, Kang. MCU fans have loved it, and many took to Reddit to discuss how Loki differs from the classic MCU style.
Up until recently, audiences had only seen heroes facing the consequences of their actions and their foes in quite direct ways. Phases 3 and 4, however, have created a wider range of possibilities for characters who now find themselves in a small corner of a broader multiverse.
This is true for Loki as well. As Silly-Weakness notices, “Lokis are all born of the universe’s inclination towards chaos”. Their mere existence creates new branches in the timeline, countering the TVA’s attempts to maintain a singular timeline. In this sense, Loki has an essential role not just as “the God of Mischief, but the God of Free Will”. The TV show juggles quite a bit with the concept of free will, and these interpretations provide the main character with a “glorious purpose” that has not been discussed in previous installments.
The show’s soundtrack is sharp and fresh and has thus quickly become one of the fan’s personal favorites.
Such is the case of Psychological-Use932, who described it as “one of the […] most iconic, influential, and epic scores of any MCU project so far”. Authored by composer Natalie Holt, it reverses the usual “too epic” tones of other best MCU highest-grossing movies. Holt re-used the main theme, with different variations, throughout the episodes to create a powerful vibe around Loki, which relishes on his backstory to provide the darker but funny spirit that any superhero or villain deserves.
Kang The Conqueror was introduced in the final episode, after a long wait for the comics readers.
Like many other fans, BeerRunner2049 took to Reddit to discuss theories. They defended that his character journey will perhaps be portrayed as “an inversion of a typical villain arc”. It has been quite common in MCU for villains to be shown while trying to accomplish their goals, but Kang was presented in the final act of his plan, with Loki right where he wanted him to be. After breaking the “Loki cycle”, Kang’s future is now uncertain, contrary to others like Thanos or Ultron.
One of the biggest points of discussion brought on by Loki was in regards to Tom Hiddleston’s character’s quick development.
However, many Redditors disagree, comparing MCU Loki who was killed by Thanos in Infinity War with the variant that ran away during the Avengers’ Time Heist. It was indeed one of Loki’s best schemes, but it backfired, as he was ripped from his timeline by a strange power he didn’t even know existed. As 7evenh3lls points out, Loki went through a lot, from having his entire reality shattered to learning that “those weird people that exist outside of time know everything about him, including how his whole life would have played out up until his death”.
MCU Phase 3 was characterized by the search and discovery of the power of the six Infinity Stones, a classic deus ex machina plot device. They were essential in Thanos’ plan to snap half of the universe and in the Avengers’ final battle against him. In Endgame, the Ancient One warns Hulk about the dangers of withdrawing an Infinity Stone from a timeline that will provoke a branch reality.
In Loki, at the Time Variance Authority headquarters, they seem to have so many of them that they use them as paperweights. kazmeyer23 was among those fans who enjoyed this disempowerment of the Stones because they “are all from timelines that don’t exist anymore”, and are no longer a central point for the next few MCU stories.
An artificial intelligence devised by He Who Remains to observe and provide aid to the Time Variance Authority, Miss Minutes is also the local mascot.
Audiences began drawing theories inspired by Miss Minutes right away. PhilofHouseStark, for instance, wrote about how she is more than a “propaganda video about the sacred timeline, and as a training program for Loki”. She is a sentient entity, much like Ultron, which could potentially mean that she has goals of her own. And perhaps after being more of a guide into the inner workings of the TVA, Miss Minutes will get more space to grow as a character in the second season.
The TVA was a so-far unexplored organization imposing its will on the multiverse and now introduced in the TV series.
It does not work like heroes’ organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Avengers, but deals with time itself. And, for CaptainBananaFish, one of the best parts of the show was that it allowed some space to breathe from the Avengers. Of course, if “they had beef with the time heist, they would have had to fight the Avengers”, but here there are no Avengers. Instead, the focus is entirely on Loki – specifically on “a mashup of Loki variants, each with their own take on the colorful personality and personal goals”.
Owen Wilson’s Morbius certainly made quite an impact on his MCU debut, with many fans now shipping his bromance with Loki against Loki’s relationship with Sylvie.
For LottieTalkie, however, the question should not be which of the two is better, since “both relationships are absolutely essential to the story”. Instead of “pitting these relationships against one another”, this Redditor argues, they should be seen as complementary and essential to Loki’s character development. Ferg2801 agrees, adding that “from what we know of 2012 Loki, he LOVES himself in an egotistical way, so of course he’ll fall in love with a female variant [of himself]”.
Despite the high stakes for the future of his titular character, Redditors agree that Loki is one of the best multiverse TV shows streaming right now.
Good writing decisions alongside a concise aesthetic meant that Loki is aware of its backstory and does not take itself too seriously. This made for one of the most pleasing moments in MCU history, according to Equal_Landscape_1639: “Boastful Loki betraying Kid Loki and then Lokis betraying Vote Loki and then all Lokis betraying each other and the ensuing Loki civil war is one of the funniest things I’ve watched in all MCU.”
In a Reddit thread dedicated to the discussion of the finale, Redditors called it the “best finale of all the Marvel Disney+ shows so far, & the best show overall”.
In the last moments, Sylvie and Loki kiss while facing the choice of letting He Who Remains live and substitute him in the TVA, or risking a multiversal war. In true “Loki fashion,” Sylvie ignores Loki’s pleas, sends him back to the TVA headquarters, and kills Kang, triggering multiple timelines that the TVA is unable to prune. This all happens in the last possible second, as it is common with Loki – whose death at the hands of Thanos was as painful as it was surprising.
The God of Mischief has once again proved to be one of the best MCU headliners. And it is especially due to how the show twisted expectations.
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