Well, we have our first MCU show to reach a second season – Loki. Other than WandaVision, Loki was a favorite among many, but not much for me. See, for me, Loki season one started off interesting by putting him in this new place and the TVA, and it gave me the feelings of The Hitchhiker’s Guide of the Galaxy; then it turned into Castle, and then we just got too much focus on Loki being in love with a woman version of himself that I found intolerable. I hated Sylvie in season one, and they kept focusing on her more and more. With the cliffhanger ending of things being changed is where we start this new season. Out somehow lovable hero Loki is trying to get those at the TVA to remember him again while some new affliction hurts and has him jumping through time. So, the fine folks at Disney let me see four episodes of this season, and so far, this season is more in my wheelhouse of liking. This season, everyone, more than just Tom Hiddleston, is more comfortable as their characters. Both Owen Wilson as Mobius and Wunmi Mosaku as B-15 have the time to build their characters even further than they did in the first season, thanks to them getting more time to be themselves instead of chasing the two Lokis around all the time.
The shift of this show from what was a chase show into what I feel is a science fiction procedural mixed with classic Doctor Who. The show keeps its humor and playfulness while making a new problem to solve and adding some interesting new characters. Ke Huy Quan is being his usual delightful self as Ouroboros, aka O.B., a person who works in the basement who is essentially the I.T. guy for the timeline. Another high point for me is Rafael Casal as Hunter X-5. He brings all the charisma he’s shown in both versions of Blindspotting and does well as a great secondary antagonist throughout the season. He works great here as a likable henchman guy, something really lacking in the MCU as a whole. His performance works well with all the previous regulars and makes me wish he had always been on the show. Gugu Mbatha-Raw returns as Ravonna Renslayer, and I do wish she could’ve done a bit more in the episodes I’ve watched, but I can’t make a final judgment on her character yet. She’s great and is wholly an antagonist in here, with no real waffling, and has some great scenes with Miss Minutes, who is voiced by Tara Strong, who does get to do a lot more with this character.
Now, I guess the last person I should talk about is Jonathan Majors, who plays Victor Timely, a variation of Kang the Conquerer. We last saw a piece of the show as a post-credit scene in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and I can only confirm he’s not just a quick cameo. Majors is a cast member of the season, and he is doing something as this character that is entirely different than the one in Ant-Man 3. While his performance and character doesn’t quite work for me, I do think he’s doing something interesting and fits well with the tone of this series. I like Loki season two, what I saw, but the superhero reader and explainer in me has more questions about the choices the showrunners are making with this and just how much this actually fits in with the whole Multiversal Sage the MCU is currently going through. I feel this might cause more confusion (so far) than help. The thing is, Loki season two is probably the best season of T.V. the MCU has made to date. Oh, and I still don’t like Sylvie.
Score: B+
