Loki - Season 2 Episode 1

Loki is a very interesting character. He is, and remains, one of the oldest faces in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, after first being introduced in Thor back in 2011. Since then, he has served primarily as an antagonist for Chris Hemsworth's righteous Avenger, or at least he did until showing slight changes of heart as we neared the end of the Infinity Saga. To this end, today, Loki is an anti-hero through and through. He doesn't primarily fight for justice and what is right, but merely serves his own purpose, which as in the case of the TV show dedicated to the character, happens to mean saving the world.

The first season of Loki was one of the better MCU TV shows we have ever got. It featured a important story, great characters portrayed in a compelling way, and a well-paced narrative, and needless to say, a lot rides on this second season continuing that trend, especially considering a lot of the more recent MCU shows have been rather flat. The first episode of this season does at least give me a little faith that it will.

Season 2 of Loki picks up right where Season 1 left off, which means that there's no time wasted with character development or intricately weaving a new plot. It's fast-paced and the first episode never lets up. That's leads to a very thrilling first episode, but one where the characters and performances don't really get too much time to breathe.

Tom Hiddleston is still fantastic as Loki however, and Ke Huy Quan brings plenty of energy and charm as the new character of Ouroboros, but the rest of the cast are simply fine. Even Owen Wilson's Mobius doesn't particularly stand out in this episode, although granted, he doesn't get much time to do anything except react to the rapidly unfolding events that occur every since Loki returns from his encounter with Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror.

What Loki, and most of the MCU TV shows for that matter, does once again excel in is the set and costume design. The locations, bar the instances where heavy use of CGI takes hold, feel superbly detailed and intriguing, and the costumes are brilliant to boot. This first episode also uses some really creative filming methods that provide heavy foreshadowing and at times make you feel like you're watching a thriller instead of a Marvel action show. The best instances of this always revolve around how the series incorporates Kang again, as even though he doesn't actually appear in the episode, his presence is felt so significantly at all times that it's often suffocating. The Loki series, alongside Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, are perhaps the only two Marvel projects that really make you fearful of what Kang is shaping up to be.

This first episode of Loki's second season didn't blow me away, but it did entertain. The question with these shows is of course how it will manage to maintain a decent pace and then proceed to lead the story and the MCU in a compelling direction. Whether Loki can or cannot do that for the five remaining episodes remains to be seen, but judging by this first outing, we can look forward to decent performance, great set design, and creative shooting methods.