It’s been two years since we last saw everyone’s favorite green-clad god of mischief discover beige-uniformed bureaucracy, hop about the Sacred Timeline and accidentally contribute to the creation of the multiverse within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now the time has come for fans to experience the second season of Loki and whatever temporal shenanigans he and the TVA will get into next.
Since his first live-action appearance in 2011, Tom Hiddleston’s portrayal of the titular Asgardian has won over the hearts and minds of fans without even having to use mind control, fulfilling his glorious purpose and claiming his rightful place among multiple best character lists. According to series co-executive producer Kevin R. Wright, much of that popularity can be directly attributed to Hiddleston.
Check out the full interview with Kevin R. Wright below:
“It’s hard to imagine anyone else in that role, but I think what [Hiddleston] is bringing to it is a real universality to that character.” Wright said. “I couldn’t tell you what it’s like to invade New York and try to take it over with an alien army. But what you sense is a character who doesn’t have a place. He doesn’t know his place in the universe and the world that he’s from, he doesn’t know who he is. Those are universal feelings that people can feel at various stages of their life that he’s putting on screen in a really beautiful way. I think there’s just something that we can all connect with, in a strange way.”
Not everyone might be as receptive to the universality of Loki’s story or be as enamored with the character. In a recent interview with GQ, celebrated director Martin Scorsese once again dredged up his vendetta with comic book entertainment, calling it a “danger” to our culture and asking what benefit such stories have for their audience.
Wright disagrees with this criticism and believes that there is just as much artistic merit to a Marvel production as there is in what Scorsese considers “grassroots” filmmaking.
“[Loki] is being built with a lot of love and care, and an eye for the cinematic,” he said. “Any of these shows, any of these movies, anything in this world is about making a character focused story that audiences can connect with. I would challenge anyone watching to say that [this show] is not cinematic, and it’s not built with the highest craftsmanship and care.
“Frankly, people just want to see good stories,” Wright continued. “If you build something beautiful, [the audience is] going to enjoy it, whether it’s a show like this, or an indie film.”
In the years since season one of Loki first introduced the general public to the idea, multiverses have become a popular narrative device, from Marvel’s own Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness to DC’s The Flash to indie Oscar-winner Everything Everywhere All At Once. Though Wright is surprised by how the public has taken to that type of story, he believes that the success of a multiverse project boils down to good storytelling.
“If you asked me five years ago when we started even developing Loki that audiences would go along with multiverse and this kind of storytelling, I don’t know if I would have been so certain but I think there’s got to be something in the ones that have succeeded,” Wright said. “When it’s good, it’s focused on character. It’s focused on possibility and yearning about how things could have been, and it gives a lot of deep character reflection.
“In a weird universal way, there was something that caught on with people thinking, ‘What if there are other versions of me out there? What would that look like? Would it look like this life? Did I take the right path?’” he continued. “When they see it kind of filtered through a character driven story, it can really drive home emotions in a weird way. So I don’t necessarily think it’s multiverse specifically, but the multiverse as a tool has just unlocked something really interesting with us as filmmakers and audiences and how they respond.”
So, now for the important question. Given the awesome power of the TVA and a TemPad, where in the Multiverse or the sacred timeline would Wright send our favorite Asgardian trickster?
“1970s New York City. I think Loki would have a lot of fun there,” Wright said. “There’s a lot of crazier places he could go but I just think prime Loki back in that era would be getting into all sorts of trouble.”
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