Review of 'Loki' Season 2: TV Analysis
Owen Wilson stars as Mobius and Tom Hiddleston stars as Loki in Season 2 of Marvel Studios’ Loki, which will be streamed exclusively on Disney+. Photo: Gareth Gatrell © 2023 Marvel. Launching on Disney+ on October 5th (with one episode), the second season of Marvel’s ‘Loki’ is a welcome return for one of the better shows to be produced by the company and maintains a lot of what worked the first time around. And new additions to the story, such as Ke Huy Quan (who knows a thing two about acting in a multiversal story after ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once), add to the entertainment value.
What’s the story of ‘Loki’ Season 2?
The new season picks up right after the shocking season finale, with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) embroiled in a battle for the soul of the Time Variance Authority. Along with Mobius (Owen Wilson), Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) and a team of new and returning characters, Loki navigates an ever-expanding and increasingly dangerous multiverse in search of Sylvie (Sophie Di Martino), Judge Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) and the truth of what it means to possess free will and glorious purpose.
Who else is in ‘Loki’ Season 2?
In addition to Ke Huy Quan (as already mentioned), the new season’s ensemble also includes other newcomers Rafael Casal, Kate Dickie, and Liz Carr. Returning from Season 1 is Eugene Codero as Casey, a low-ranking TVA worker who was shown as a Hunter in a parallel timeline at the end of that first season but will be back in his original role to help Loki and co. Jonathan Majors, meanwhile, is once more playing another Kang variant, this time a 19th century professor named Victor Timely (first glimpsed in an end credits scene of ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’) who has a strong connection to the organization.
What works about ‘Loki’ Season 2?
It’s good to hear that “Loki” is still a terrifically enjoyable program to watch, even without show creator Michael Waldron (who is still somewhat engaged as an executive producer) and director Kate Heron, who set a lot of the tone and style for the first season. ‘Loki’s second run happily maintains the quality and pulp fiction of the first, with Eric Martin, a key member of the team for the first season, taking over as showrunner and directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (who directed ‘The Endless’ and ‘Synchronic’ in theaters and are already part of the MCU thanks to their work on ‘Moon Knight’). Carrying the bulk of the narrative after that cliffhanger involving the universe switching, the new
What doesn’t work in ‘Loki’ Season 2?
Although we have only seen the first four episodes of the second season, the issues are not as severe as they may seem. It will be interesting to see if the show decides to persist with the second season or end on yet another frustrating cliffhanger. The first episode, with all of its time branching, time-slipping, and strange technology, has the relatively heavy weight of reintroducing the intricate fundamental idea. Some people may find themselves checking their watches during this episode. Though there is occasionally a hint of familiarity because many of the narratives include a mission to discover [insert name of object or person here] in order to avert [crisis X], later episodes thankfully ramp up the pace and the story really gets going.