by Conan Simmons – July 14, 2021 – 5:13 am
Cosmic mumbo-jumbo opens the season finale of ‘Loki’, which is no surprise given the plot revolves around keeping the sacred timeline from fracturing, and it serves the purpose of bringing us to the void beyond time where Loki and Sylvie are literally at the door of who they seek.
If you’re a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe ‘Loki’ is an absolute must see series. It contains the best setup in the whole interconnected franchise and is a vitally important piece to understanding everything going forward into Phase 4.
For anyone not familiar with how the Marvel films work as a whole, they are interconnected in phases. Phase one brought the Avengers together by introducing characters from 2008’s ‘Iron Man’ to 2012’s ‘The Avengers’. Phase 2 was mostly world building and introducing the concept of the Infinity Stones starting with 2013’s ‘Iron Man 3’ up to 2015’s ‘Ant-Man’. Phase 3 was the grand finale of all of that when Thanos arrived and changed everything beginning with 2016’s ‘Captain America: Civil War’ and concluding with 2019’s ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’.
Phase 4 was supposed to begin with ‘Black Widow’ last year but, as that film was delayed, really started off with the (now Emmy nominated) television series ‘WandaVision’ followed by ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’. Now ‘Loki’ tees up the concept and launches it into exciting new territory by introducing the villain Marvel fans have been waiting for: He Who Remains.
A show built around the highly charismatic Tom Hiddleston playing his iconic role of Loki needed a formidable villain with a certain degree of charm. He Who Remains is that villain. Like any good villain carrying out a world ending plot He Who Remains explains what is happening and why it needs to be done. As complicated as the plot can be at times this is actually helpful to the audience and for Marvel fans who salivate at theorizing what’s going to happen next He Who Remains presents a field day.
DO YOU WANT A SPOILER?
An unexpected character shows up in the void beyond time to negotiate a deal with Loki and Sylvie. The negotiation sets up the entrance for He Who Remains and also affects what’s happening back at the Time Variance Authority where events are wrapping up just enough to leave room for a second season of ‘Loki’.
‘Loki’ features one of the best casts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe from Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer, Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius, Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie and Tara Strong as the voice of Miss Minutes. Not to mention guest star Richard E. Grant as Classic Loki, the star of the show Tom Hiddleston and instant fan favorite, Alligator Loki.
Keeping with the quality of that cast is the actor portraying He Who Remains. An actor capable of matching Tom Hiddleston’s charisma as the MCU’s most charming villain. When we meet He Who Remains he’s not, as he explains, a villain. At least not yet, or, not this version of him anyway.
SPOILER TIME!
That’s right! He Who Remains has been called by many names, among them, Kang the Conqueror. Jonathan Majors (nominated for an Emmy just yesterday for his work in ‘Lovecraft Country’) makes his Marvel debut in the highly anticipated role of Kang. The scenes with Majors, Hiddleston and Di Martino are captivating as Kang outmatches the two Lokis. Kang, who controls time, already knows everything the Lokis will do and is therefore not worried about their plot to kill him.
If you’re thinking Jonathan Majors isn’t playing Kang menacingly enough keep in mind that he’s essentially a hermit losing his mind at the end of time. That doesn’t mean the next time we see him he’ll be acting the same. When will we see Kang again? Initially it was announced Jonathan Majors would play the character as the main villain in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ which isn’t due for release until February 17, 2023. That’s a long time to wait. Good thing the post credit scene of this episode confirms ‘Loki’ is coming back for season 2.
In the comics, Kang comes from Earth in the 31st century, as he does in ‘Loki’. He is also heavily speculated to be a descendant of evil Egyptian pharaoh Rama-Tut who in turn is speculated to be an ancestor of ultimate Marvel villain, Dr. Doom. Will Jonathan Majors take on those roles as variations of Kang? Marvel has announced a ‘Fantastic Four’ movie to be directed by Jon Watts who currently helms the Marvel/Sony Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland.
‘Loki’ is Marvel’s best series. Outdoing ‘WandaVision’ and ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ combined. For sci-fi fantasy ‘Loki’ is highly enjoyable and may be the best of the year for the genre. For Marvel fans, as stated above, ‘Loki’ is an absolute must. Even if you’re not a big fan of comic book adaptations ‘Loki’ is still worth a watch as it subverts the usual by not having any superheroes, only supervillains, many of whom are on the road to redemption.
