WHEN the 2012 version of the God of Mischief aka Loki takes the tesseract because of a time-travel blunder in ‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019), fans of the cinematic superhero series knew all too well what it means – a possibility of a story being developed outside of the timeline concurrent to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) we know.
Fast forward two years later, audiences worldwide can now enjoy watching Loki stripped of his self-proclaimed majesty, but with his ego still intact, facing consequences he never thought could happen to such a supreme being as himself.
Audiences are in for a lot of humour and action as the MCU’s beloved villain is taken down a few pegs and struggles to find his footing in the unforgiving bureaucracy of the Time Variance Authority (TVA).
Showrunners of the series recently joined in on a global press conference together with the cast to talk more about the making of the much-anticipated show.
MCU’s favourite villain solving crimes
“I had to scratch my head a bit because that scene in Infinity War had felt so final. It felt so conclusive to end Loki's story,” said actor Tom Hiddleston who plays the lead character.
“Then came 'Endgame', and in that scene where Loki picks up the Tesseract and disappears in a puff of smoke, there were a lot of questions: Where does he go? When does he go? How does he get there?
“A combination of delight and surprise is probably the accurate way of describing what went through my mind in the beginning, when they were discussing doing a show on Loki. But the endless possibilities are really exciting. I'm happy to be doing it,” he shared.
“We equally did not know it [having to work on ‘Loki’] until we shot the last Avengers movie,” responds Marvel Studios president and Marvel chief creative officer Kevin Feige on whether showrunners already knew about developing a show focused on a fan-favourite character.
“One of my favourite things coming out of 'Endgame' was people saying that we forgot to tie up the loose ends of this character. Loki just disappears, and we forgot to mention what happens to him at the end of that movie.
“I was so excited about the opportunity that there was going to be a series about Loki. It was already my favourite character in the MCU,” said head writer and executive producer, Michael Waldron.
“It was going to have a time-travel element, so the chaos and fun that can come out from it was something that seemed like it would be a great time to be part of as a writer.
“We were really inspired by a lot of film noir pictures. You can see it in our lighting and how we approached the styling of the show,” shared director and executive producer, Kate Herron.
“There is a heavy influence from the movie ‘Se7en’ where a little reference is made to it in episode two of a little needle drop, which I'm sure fans of that film will recognise instantly.
“Yes, and films such as ‘Zodiac’ and ‘Silence of the Lambs’ were two specific ones that we were looking at a lot in the writers' room,” added Waldron.
“Together with the producers, Stephen Broussard and Kevin Wright, we were always fans of this Time Variance Authority organisation from the comics for years and years,” said Feige.
“We loved the idea but didn't know exactly what to do with it, and this was of course before having to include it as a major part of this show.
“Kate's meetings with us and her pitch was what brought in all the references and allowed us to look at this [project] in a slightly different genre than we were anticipating”.
“We had some concept art of him (Tom playing Loki) on a horse. But thankfully Michael and Kate made the show infinitely more interesting than that. The concept of time periods are almost secondary to the story,” he added.
Loki gets a partner
Tom Hiddleston, who has portrayed Loki in six Marvel Cinematic Universe films, returns as everyone’s favourite villain.
“I just love playing Loki. I always have, and feel so fortunate that I am still here,” said Hiddleston.
“Because of Loki's complexities every time he is in a new dynamic, new stuff emerges. There are still new aspects to the character every time that I learn about”.
“What I love about the series is Loki is stripped of everything familiar to him. He is stripped of his status and his power. Thor is not close by. Asgard seems some distance away. The Avengers, for the time being, are not in sight,” he said.
“If you take all those things that Loki has used to identify himself over the last six movies – what remains of him? Who is he, within or outside, all those things? I think those questions became, for all of us, really fascinating to ask: what makes Loki?”
Joining him in the cast line-up are Owen Wilson as Agent Mobius, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Judge Ravonna Renslayer, and Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15, among others.
“Well, you definitely are kind of like walking on eggshells at first. Not being quite sure if something happens in episode three/four or have audiences already seen it,” said actor Owen Wilson on being part of the MCU universe for the first time.
“I didn’t quite understand the sort of the secrecy surrounding this production until I saw that the fan base is so revved-up and passionate.
“I just tend to sort of fall back when shocking things are going to happen. Marvel's already so committed at trying to surprise the people that (eventually) you then you kind of get into it,” said Wilson.
“Before we started filming, Tom was generously and patiently kind of taking me through the whole sort of MCU mythology and on Loki specifically.
“We were calling them the Loki lectures, which let me ask questions that were really helpful to our dynamic,” he added. – The Vibes, June 10, 2021
*Episode 1 of Marvel Studios 'Loki is now available for Malaysian audiences via Disney+ Hotstar. Watch the official trailer below...
