Superhero fatigue might officially be a thing on the big screen, and with a new streaming service launching with the regularity of a peak Tony Stark one-liner, there’s a seemingly neverending stream of heroes and villains getting the headline treatment on TV too.
But Marvel naysayers be damned! In the bleak times of the pandemic, the first season of Loki – along with predecessor WandaVision – brought fresh life to the genre with a weekly episodic feel that kept viewers hooked. It remains one of the critical hits in Marvel’s TV universe.
Critics and fans alike praised the show’s use of real sets over a reliance on CGI and the performances from its starry cast, with Tom Hiddleston turning Loki from malevolent villain to underdog antihero.
That first season ended on one heck of a cliffhanger, causing multiversal mayhem. I’s no surprise that the God of Mischief is back for more time-bending chaos, but what to expect? Here’s what we know.
When is Loki season two on Disney+?
The second season of Loki lands on the streamer at 6pm Pacific Time on October 5, 2023.
Each episode will arrive at 6pm Pacific Time on Thursdays in the US, which works out as 2am for those watching in the UK. Just like the first season, there will be six new episodes to look forward to.
Is there a trailer for Loki season two?
Yes, there sure is! Feast your eyes on the teaser below.
Who is returning to the cast for Loki season two?
With the show revolving around time travel and alternate realities, there’s no limit to who could make an appearance. Hopefully there’s some surprises in store to rival the first season’s surprise Richard E Grant stint as Classic Loki.
Obviously, Tom Hiddleston is back as the titular God of Mischief, a role he’s held down since the first Thor movie in 2011, although even the actor has probably lost track of which version of Loki we’re currently up to.
Sylvie, a female variant of Loki, is again portrayed by British actress, with Owen Wilson returning as Time Variance Authority (TVA) agent Mobius M Mobius (not a typo).
Jonathan Majors returns as Kang – or at least several variants of the supervillain – as was teased in the post-credits scenes of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. It comes despite online speculation that Marvel would cut his appearance, due to ongoing domestic legal troubles with the actor.
Wunmi Mosaku is back as TVA agent Hunter B-15, with Gugu Mbatha-Raw back as Judge Ravonna Renslayer, and Tara Strong as TVA’s own A.I. know-it-all, Miss Minutes.
Trivia fans, here’s one for you: Mosaku, Hiddleston and Mbatha-Raw all attended London drama school RADA around the same time. Hope that comes up at your next pub quiz.
Who is joining the cast of Loki season two?
While much is being kept under wraps about their character’s identities, we do know that Liz Carr (The Witcher), Kate Dickie (Game of Thrones), and Rafael Casal (Blindspotting) are joining the cast of Loki for the second season.
Ke Huy Quan, best known for his starring roles in Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Goonies, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, is also joining the cast. His character Ouroboros, or OB, took the spotlight in the most recent trailer when Mobius asks him to help with Loki’s involuntary ‘time-slipping’.
But here’s where it gets deep: in ancient mythology, the Ouroboros is a symbol depicting a snake in a loop, slowly consuming itself, often interpreted as the concept of eternity and endless return. It is also featured in Norse mythology, in the form of the serpent Jörmungandr, who just happens to be the child of… Loki! Now, it remains to be seen if Marvel chooses to explore this or keep the character’s name as nothing more than a small nod to Loki’s origins in Norse mythology.
Where was Loki season two filmed?
Loki is a bit of an outlier compared to recent MCU entries – looking at you, Ant-Man 3 – in that it predominantly uses real physical sets as opposed to relying on CGI.
Production began in June 2022 at Pinewood Studios with location shoots taking place across London and Kent’s Historic Dockyard Chatham in July 2022. Using the codename ‘Architect’, the series wrapped filming in October 2022.
Images surfaced online of a shoot in London’s Covent Garden district, outside the Nöel Coward Theatre on St. Martin’s Lane. Actors dressing in period clothing suggested a 1970s setting, with one cast member seemingly dressed as Queen Elizabeth II.
i think they’re shooting loki by the noël theatre in london rn pic.twitter.com/dId6JUdKpx
— sasha 💌 (@LOVE1SNOTENOUGH) July 3, 2022
Eagle-eyed fans also spotted posters alongside the theatre that featured Eternals character Kingo, played by Kumail Nanjiani. It was explained in Eternals that Kingo became enamoured with fame and blended in with humanity as a Bollywood actor when the group of immortal superheroes disbanded.
Other posters spotted on the film set referenced D-list Marvel characters like Zaniac and Phone Ranger.
i think they’re shooting loki by the noël theatre in london rn pic.twitter.com/dId6JUdKpx
— sasha 💌 (@LOVE1SNOTENOUGH) July 3, 2022
What happened at the end of Loki season one?
The series finale saw Loki and Sylvie finally confront He Who Remains, a variant of Kang the Conqueror, who was the hidden figure controlling the TVA.
He Who Remains gave the Loki variants a choice: carry out their plan to kill him but risk causing another multiversal war, or take his place and create a singular timeline.
Loki and Sylvie disagree over a course of action, but ultimately Sylvie gets her way and brings an end to He Who Remains’ long life, but his death results in the multiverse timeline being blown wide open, with chaos following in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The splintered timelines became apparent in the episode’s closing moments as Loki warned Mobius and Hunter B-15 about the incoming threat of He Who Remains, but soon discovers that they have no memory of ever meeting the God of Mischief and that the statues in the TVA now feature the face of the time-travelling conqueror.
What Marvel shows or films come next after Loki?
You’d be forgiven for thinking you need to be able to travel across time and reality in order to keep up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe lately.
With six episodes in season two, the series should conclude on November 10, which just happens to be the same date as The Marvels hits cinemas. Although there’s nothing yet to connect Loki with the Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau and Ms. Marvel team-up, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility.
In terms of TV, Marvel fans won’t have long to wait to get their next fix of superhero action on the small screen. Hawkeye spin-off Echo will buck the trend of Disney+ productions by releasing its entire series on day one, à la Netflix, on November 29.
Will there be a third season of Loki?
Nothing is confirmed yet, but it seems likely. With the series revolving around the TVA and Loki hunting down Kang, and the supervillain headlining Avengers: The Kang Dynasty in 2026, expect more action to bridge the three-year gap.
Even if we don’t get another season, it’s likely we haven’t seen the last of Hiddleston’s God of Mischief, given his track record of defying death.
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