Each new TV variant of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe becomes a little less extraordinary than the last and more overt in its role as a Bifrost between past films and future ones.
Still, it’s strange for “Loki,” a series about a god, to feel smaller and, though it pains me to say so, like an average-to-good TV story.
He’s also very much being an “Owen Wilson” guy to Hiddleston’s snippy, arrogant Loki which is what people want, yes? Entertainment is all about giving the people what they want.
Nevertheless, “Loki” sparks markedly less of the level of curiosity and fascination that marks the start of “WandaVision,” and little of the essential excitement woven throughout the premiere of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” It’s less of an experiment or a classic adventure than .
Sam Wilson and Wanda Maximoff are the focus of their own respective comic book series, but in the Avengers movies both occupied support roles.
In “Endgame” Marvel tosses him a life preserver when Steve Rogers, Tony Stark and Scott Lang went back in time and accidently allowed one the Infinity Stones, the Tesseract, to get back into Loki’s hands.
Before the Norse trickster can do too much damage he’s captured by the Time Variance Authority, the highly bureaucratic keepers of our sacred timeline.
From what “Loki” reveals in those segments, it’s enjoyable enough and aesthetically potent, borrowing design influences from the late ’60s and ’70s – which may remind some people of another Marvel-rrelated TV property, “Legion.” The similar visuals add breeziness to this show’s tone as well, aided by Hiddleston and Wilson’s combined appeal.
Waldron is also tasked with explaining, in some fashion, how the Marvel multiverse works while establishing rules for time travel, a framework Stark and Bruce Banner could only begin to translate.
That’s the part about “Loki” that bothers me a little, as if I had bitten into a supposedly premium sweet treat that tastes very much like an equally enjoyable and cheaper bodega snack.
Still, to keep this metaphor going, if I wanted an Oreo, I would’ve bought a box of Oreos.
“Loki” leads to “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which also links to “WandaVision.” That show first presented itself as a careful and pleasing homage to the TV sitcom, bewitching and bewildering viewers in doing so.
This Loki never contended with his mother’s murder or was force to ally with the brother he hated for the common goal of saving their home.
The Time Variance Authority is obsessively by the book, assuming a level of authority over this reality for the sake of ensuring order.
This gives Waldron and the writers an opportunity to sink into deeper themes about free will and the necessity of chaos, which may happen.
That led to stunning TV, but at six episodes “Loki” doesn’t have adequate time to shoot for such complexity.
That’s beside the point with “Loki,” which exists almost expressly as fan service, offering its elbow to safely walk us across this bridge in the franchise.
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