Loki Season 2 Part 1 review

Loki Season 2 arrives as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is at a crossroads.

There were high hopes for the Disney+ sector of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. More time to focus on MCU standouts like Loki, Scarlet Witch & Vision, The Falcon & Winter Soldier. And newcomers like Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk and Moon Knight? Sign me up.

Somewhere along the way the execution started getting shaky. Long revered characters were being curiously portrayed, the Disney+ shows felt like movies being stretched out artificially with diminishing returns and the excitement was long gone by the time Secret Invasion concluded.

Ironically, it’s fallen on Loki – the MCU villain through Phase 1 and recurring nuisance throughout The Infinity Saga – to once again save the day. Through its first four episodes, Loki Season 2 feels like the best the MCU’s TV format has to offer.

It’s got a mix of genuinely laugh out loud moments, dark/horrific moments, legit surprises and excellent performances. The first season was a standout in the post Avengers: Endgame initial setup to The Multiverse Saga. Season 2 feels like the best possible reset to what’s been a vastly underwhelming MCU epic.

Maybe not surprisingly, Loki Season 2 actually feels focused on the overall theme of the Multiverse Saga – the Multiverse. It’s odd how so few of Phase 4 movies and shows contended with the alternate worlds theme (Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania). Loki Season 2 refocuses back to the multiverse that shows why this new playground should be used far more often throughout this saga.

Without going into spoilers beyond what’s already been shown in the trailers, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is having various out of time experiences. He’s being pulled — dramatically — through different eras. Understandably this is problematic as Loki is trying to tell his allies in the TVA about the pending threat following the murder of He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors). It’s tricky for Loki as the killer was his alternate reality love-interest Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino).

Eventually, Loki reconnects with Morbius (a still superbly cast Owen Wilson), Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku), Casey (Eugene Cordero) and meets TVA genius Ouroboros (Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan). Mosaku and Cordero get beefed up roles this season and Huy Quan is a delightful new addition to the cast.  Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Renslayer is back as well in an enjoyable team-up with the AI interface Miss Minutes (Tara Strong).

One of the aspects that makes Loki Season 2 work so well is the cast gets to play to their strengths. This is the only setting in the MCU where Wilson pontificating about key lime pie and Cracker Jacks works. Or Huy Quan basically answering the question of what would The Goonies’ Data be like when he grew up. No one feels out of place even as Majors works in a quirky alternative to He Who Remains.

Of course, the series struck gold putting Hiddleston front and center. Loki might not as insidious as he was in his early MCU days, but every so often that dastardly side creeps out. Hiddleston navigates all of the fun possibilities he can take with Loki with ease making for one of the still consistently enjoyable MCU characters.

The special effects are impressive. Marvel Studios might have needed to prioritize which projects get the most time and resources for the CGI work and it’s clear that corners weren’t cut on Loki. There are no janky, questionable effects as time continuum, explosions and different time periods get the same quality attention to detail.

A number of MCU Disney+ shows have had a couple of episodes available for critics. For Loki Season 2, Marvel Studios was rightfully confident that they could preview half the season and critics would find their enjoyment of the MCU rekindled. That old school magic is back with Loki’s return and this could be the series that marks a necessary turning point in raising excitement and enthusiasm for the Multiverse Saga.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Photo Credit: Disney

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