Title: Loki.
Season: 1.
Rated: TV-14.
Number of episodes: 6.
Release Date: 2021.
Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Fantasy.
Series Direction By: Kate Herron.
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Gugu Mbnatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino, Owen Wilson, Wunmi Mosaku, Lauren Rebard, Tara Strong, and many more!
Original Network: Disney+.
My Overall Rating:
Also within the Disney+ Marvel Extended Cinematic Universe:
WandaVision (2021).
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021).
Can you really ever trust someone whose very nature is to deceive? Despite being able to build trust at any instant through concrete action, there is never an instant where a lie could not make the tower toppler-over. For the God of Mischief, it has always been difficult to put his trust in anyone around him or to not concoct a lie every chance he gets. But sometimes when you’re face to face with yourself, you come to realize that maybe something can be done about who you are and it all begins with the man in the mirror. With the 3rd Disney+ Marvel TV series, Loki is given an opportunity to redeem himself as he ventures off into uncharted territory looking for an answer that he did not know he needed to hear, an answer with terrifying repercussions that only he can do something about.
What is Loki Season 1 (2021) about? Set after the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019) when an alternate version of Loki gets his hands on the Tesseract, the story follows his journey to discovering the mysterious Time Variance Authority (TVA). This organization outside of time and space dictates the timeline and assures that no anomaly that could cause havoc is left unpruned. As he finds himself arrested by the TVA for being a time variant, he’s offered an opportunity to redeem himself by helping them catch another variant who is deemed much more dangerous, and if he’s to refuse, he shall be erased from existence. What follows is a journey of self-discovery, giving him the chance to understand his purpose in life and to uncover a terrifying plot of deception that could change the face of the universe forever.
It was only a matter of time before Tom Hiddleston’s Loki would get the spotlight amidst the fury of Disney+ TV series and this first season does a formidable job in delving into the character’s core values and raison d’être as the god of mischief. Inclined towards lies and deception, Loki is this time stripped of his usual powers to proceed on an introspective journey that will allow him to further understand his existence and his role in the universe. His pseudo-partner Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson) also serves as his voice of reason, offering a quippy banter that further challenges Loki into seeing through his own smoke and mirrors. It’s only once Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) comes into the picture that his character is on track to becoming the antihero the universe requires, twisting his arm and heart towards breaking free from his own characterization to embrace an unselfish desire.
On top of nailing the character development of these individuals, the first season also brilliantly introduces the larger cosmic world-building elements that will inevitably be built upon in the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel. While a lot of it is done through lengthy dialogue sequences, fans who are ready to see what the Marvel Cinematic Universe has in store for them next will be sitting on the end of their seats trying to elucidate the mystery at hand. The pacing does in fact take a heavy hit but this sacrifice is necessary and still cautiously and tactfully handled throughout each episode (except maybe for episode 3 that felt a lot more like a filler than anything else; we see you, Episode 3). However, the first season still does a decent job in balancing out each episode with action, humour, and drama.
There’s no hiding that this season required a lot of CGI to capture the sci-fi universe in which it mostly takes place. Gorgeous and grandiose, there are instances throughout the season where the amount of detail put into the digital environment is applaudable. On top of the countless comic book Easter Eggs hidden within each episode, it is difficult not to appreciate the directorial vision of this series. The score also magically tethers to the narrative and often augments the tension of various critical scenes too. The visual and narrative facets of this series truly goes hand in hand in delivering a fantastic season where every action has a consequence. The season also brilliantly ends on a high note, fully delivering the next big bad threat for the MCU while also establishing Loki as a quintessential antihero for what’s to come.
Loki Season 1 (2021) is a consequential event simultaneously tackling a villain’s journey to antiheroism and the cryptic multiversal foundation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
All six episodes of season 1 are now available for you to binge on Disney+!
Have you read any comic book stories featuring Loki?
Have you seen Loki Season 1 (2021)? Will you?
Share your thoughts with me!
Roars and Echoes 
This sounds amazing with well balanced episodes. Sadly I don’t have Disney+ subscription. I hope we get it soon as I want to watch many movies and series that are only released on Disney+. Great review!
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I hope you get the chance to check out these Marvel shows or all the other movies they got on Disney+ someday then! Thanks for reading, Yesha! 😀
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It feels like Disney is pushing the tv shows and making their storylines as important as the movies. Thus forcing customers to watch the tv shows to fully understand the upcoming movie. If that’s the case, that is not cool, at all.
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I can confirm that it is pretty much the case. A lot of the extra details of what’s going on is explored in these shows, and I feel like the things explained and shown in Loki S1 are pretty crucial to understanding what comes next but we won’t know how much of a “recap” we’ll get in the movies till we see the next Doctor Strange movie, for example. I can confirm that the post-credit scene of the recently released Black Widow movie has a character that was introduced in the Falcon and the Winter Soldier show though. So yes… Clearly, people will get more out of future MCU movies by following these Disney+ series hahaha I don’t know if they plan on releasing these on Bluray or something but I do hope so for fans who aren’t subscribed to the service.
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Well poop. Figures though.
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Fab review Lashaan I’m glad you enjoyed it!
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Thank you so much for your kind words, Nicki! 😀
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great review man. We enjoyed it too. A bit confusing near the end of the last episode, but thanks to google and a few know it alls on the Web, we now know who the next big villain will be in the upcomming phase of Marvel.
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Thanks, man! Really glad to hear that you both enjoyed it too. I do look forward to seeing what Shang-Chi will have to offer next though. And yes, the Internet has all the answers (and theories)! 😛
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I have to say … you rated Loki much higher than I thought you would? Maybe it’s because I’ve been bombarded with opinions on this one left and right, but most people did not enjoy a certain romantic storyline and felt that the show didn’t capture the joy that Loki can bring, but was rather a downer. Anyway, I loved the visuals, can’t wait to see more of the characters and am so very curious about the repercussions of the finale. I wish it hadn’t ended on such a huge cliffhanger, but, oh well, you can’t have it all.
As for comics, I read Vote Loki! (which made me sad that President Loki didn’t have a bigger role on the show) and one volume of Ms Marvel, where he crashed her High School Valentine’s Dance. I think I preferred the latter, just because the art style in Vote Loki wasn’t really my thing.
Great review, Lashaan!
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Hahah I usually stay clear of all those kinds of talks as each episode comes out. It helps me better gauge how much I enjoyed it without being subconsciously steered towards one side or the other of the love-hate spectrum. At first I found that romance ‘meh’, as in, “of course there was going to be that side plot but then I appreciated what it actually meant towards Loki’s character, especially as someone who had to face who he truly was deep down and what he wanted to be going forward. It’s odd that people found this to be a downer though but maybe it’s also because I’m not much of a fan of Thor or Waititi’s comedy signature in that franchise. So to see Loki outside of that realm helped me enjoy the series much more! I do look forward to what they plan on accomplishing with season 2 though. The only Disney+ series so far to not be a limited mini series. It’ll actually be in between a couple of Marvel movies too. I really wonder how it’ll all work timeline-wise.
Ohhhh so cool that you actually read President Loki! I found it fun that they integrated him, even if it’s a small cameo. I doubt they could’ve given him more screentime without feeling like a filler but who knows, maybe we’ll get more of him in the future! 😀
Thank you so much for reading, Kat!
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Since I reviewed the episodes weekly, it was hard to stay away from the chatter to be honest. But I get your approach and I can see how it might affect your views less that way.
They integrated such great versions of Loki. I was a little disappointed that the King Loki from the trailer apparently was only a ruse, but oh well, can’t have it all, I suppose haha
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I didn’t even know this existed. And it’s a shame I don’t have access to it (and don’t want to pay to get access to it), as I suspect I’d enjoy it. But I completely agree with Bookstooge, I don’t like the idea of too tightly integrating movies and shows such that you can’t fully understand or enjoy the movies without the shows. I don’t like the idea of that kind of push to subscribe, and I also just don’t want to be burdened with the need to watch everything. That’s one of the reasons I stopped actively buying comic books. Marvel started tying everything together and I grew tired of it. I’m sure I’m mentioned all that before, but it still aggravates me. Oh well. All that aside, though, I’m very glad to see you enjoyed this, and I hope you enjoy what’s to come! I would like to see the Doctor Strange sequel. That’s a character I only got into later in comics but really enjoyed when I did. As for Loki, I can’t claim I ever got into the character in the comics but I think they’ve done a fantastic job writing and casting for the character in the movies, and now series.
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I find it pretty interesting that they’re going down that line, even if hardcore fans are probably all extremely excited by the amount of content they’ll have access to. Tying it all together as they are inevitably makes it harder for a certain portion to not even know where to begin or in what order to do it too. And your analogy with comic books is exactly what will end up happening. Too many loops to go through to properly enjoy ONE movie. I’m just going to hope that the upcoming Phase 4 Marvel movies will do a decent enough job to make the movies work without the need for the shows.
Well, you’re in for a pretty insane time with the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness). It’s apparently going to be the “darkest” (as in horror) Marvel movie yet and will probably explore in-depth the whole multiverse concept in the MCU. I’m definitely curious to see what they got in store for us.
As for Loki, I find that they did a brilliant job in getting Tom Hiddleston for the role. A talented guy who has the face of Loki too. As someone who has a tough time with Waititi’s Thor movies, I definitely am glad to see Loki outside his grasp (less comedy, even if there’s still some of that, more drama/character depth). Hopefully, someday you’ll have some way to get to watch these series on Disney+. Thank you for reading, Todd!
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I do have Disney+ because of my grandchildren, so I do plan on watching this series. I wanted to wait until all the episodes were released, so I am ready now. Wonderful post Lashaan, you have explained it all so that I am going in with eyes wide open. I watched the Thor movies that Loki was in, but not the one you mentioned. Should I watch it first??
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That’s pretty much what I usually do too but then spoilers were starting to appear everyone on social media so I had to play catch up earlier than expected hahah Thanks, Carla! By “the one you mentioned”, if you’re referring to the Avengers movie, then I’d tell you that it’s not compleeeeetely necessary but you’ll get to enjoy the series more by having seen all the Avengers movies since there are spoilers for it in the show. I hope you end up enjoying this series when you get around to it!
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Okay, I will have to figure out which ones I still have to watch, I have seen a lot of them but not all. I guess I will have lots to watch when it rains.
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Great review, Lashaan!
It started slow, but I liked the middle part of this very much – however, the ending was a total meh for me. MCU lost me within the first minute of it, with all the noble voices played in the background.
Most of all, though, the villain. I feel like Marvel is getting deeper and deeper into the past to dig out even some half-decent villain. Just like with Ultron, and to a lesser extent, Apocalypse, this one simply doesn’t seem to stand the test of time. Also, the romance was just… ick. Sorry, but that must be some new record in incestuous relationships 🤣🤣🤣🤣
And yet, the middle part (with the exception of episode 03 ;)) was very strong. Altogether, definitely better than Falcon & Winter Soldier, but as with Wanda Vision, MCU really needs to up their game when it comes to endings.
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Thanks, Ola. I agree, it started off slow and then picked up the pace, except for episode 3 that made the whole show take a looooong unnecessary detour. I had less issue for the finale, seeing it more like a huge info dump done simultaneously with Loki’s own moment of realization regarding what he wants to become (and his love story). I just saw Kang like The Monitor was in the Flash or the whole Crisis on Infinite Earths event. It’s going to be interesting when Conqueror Kang shows up in the Ant-Man sequel but for now, I won’t judge till I see how they structure that story. Apocalypse was a whole other mess though… I’m still trying to forget that movie even existed. Thanks, Ola! 😛
As for the “incestuous” relationship hahahahah I sort of saw it completely normal regarding Loki, especially when we know how weird Norse Gods are in general. I think they’d done worse. In this case, I found that it just captures his own personality. He could only care for someone who can reflect a somewhat similar life experience, burdened to be alone, to survive, to not be able to trust.
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He had a wife, you know, and two sons. And he also had a giantess lover, Angrboda, who gave him three monstrous children: Hel, Fenrir, and the snake Jormungundr, all destined to kill the gods in Ragnarok. Sleipnir the eight-legged horse was also his. Marvel castrated Loki, and still does. So while I can appreciate the emotional, guilt-ridden Hiddleston’s Loki, Norse myths have one glorious purpose for the sower of Chaos: the end of the world. 😜 Loki is the change itself, good and bad – so seeing Kang as the villain was a rather sizeable letdown for me. There’s a lesson, though – don’t expect cultural awareness for dead mythologies 😉
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And that’s why you’re the mythology wizz hahahah Good thing I didn’t know half of that! 😛 Then again, there’s no way Disney would go down such a twisted route hahaha
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True 😉 but what a story would that be! 😁
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This sounds awesome. I really need to get around to trying Disney+ one of these days!
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Well worth it if you’re a fan! Hope you get around to it someday soon. 😀 Thanks for reading!
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I skimmed your review in case there were spoilers. This is so good, I need to get caught up.
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Hope you enjoy the finale! 😀
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Thanks for the review! I’m sadly behind on the Marvel series, I plan to start WandaVision some time soon, but now I’m definitely adding Loki to my IMDB wishlist 🙂
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Glad to share. 🙂 Hope you find time for these shows, especially before hitting the theaters for Black Widow, Shang-Chi, Eternals, etc. 😀
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I’ve been avoiding this because I’m just anti-Marvel or DC due to all the hype. Superheros are fun but when everything you watch is filled with them, it just gets boring. Yes, I know that’s an unpopular opinion. However, your review made me consider it because of… Owen Wilson. LOL It gives me hope for some good comedy. Would you say that part is worth it or is it only a very small part of it all? Also, please tell me that the two of them don’t hook up.
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There is comedy but not in a wild amount. He’s not like in some of his beloved roles though. He has a more “dramatic” role to play, still a good sense of humour though. He’s definitely a key character throughout the whole season though. And no. Rest assured. Nothing like that. Although anyone else who lives and breathes LGBT+ will probably fantasize those kinds of things with this season.
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Loki is my favourite Marvel series besides The falcon and the winter soldier. Tom Hiddleston is so hot and funny! ❤
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Glad to hear from another fan of Loki! I’m sure you must be super excited for Season 2 then. 😀
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🥳I am super excited! I’ve been waiting so long😜
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Reblogged this on The Biblioanthropologist.
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Great review!
I loved this series! Loki is a favourite character due to my affinity for the actual Norse deity.
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Thank you so much! I’m glad to hear how much you love Loki, Aislynn! 😀
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Thank you so much! I’m glad to hear how much you loved it too, Aislynn. Thank you for reblogging my review as well! 😀
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