Loki
Created by Michael Waldron
Based on Marvel Comics
Starring Tom Hiddleston, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wunmi Mosaku, Eugene Cordero, Tara Strong, Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino, Sasha Lane, Jack Veal, DeObia Oparei, Richard E. Grant, Jonathan Majors
Music by Natalie Holt
Loki is a pleasant surprise. I’ve only watched a few of the Marvel Comic Universe films, enough to know that they are portentously self-important, self-referential to the greater body of work, a ploy to force people to buy tickets and/or comic books to figure out what is going on. Humor is pasted on like plaster over a brick wall in a (generally vain) effort to appear warmer and more entertaining.
I read that the TV series was pretty much stand-alone away from the convoluted universe that is Disney’s ultimate revenue-generating mouse trap, and that, freed of the encumbrance of being a bit player on a superhero team, Tom Hiddleston’s title character was much closer to the god of mischief from the Nordic tales.
That’s not entirely true. Loki was duplicitous, manipulative, and if he was a D&D character, he would probably be termed “chaotic neutral.” He isn’t evil per se, but he is capable of considerable petty malice.
Hiddleston’s Loki reminds me more of the Doctor. In particular, the David Tennant version. Where the Doctor strives for endless benignity and often fails, this Loki strives for respect and trust and frequently fails. There’s a similar frenetic and chaotic asymmetry to their characters and actions that constantly remind the viewer that as affable and casual as they may act, they are not human and don’t quite have the knack for being convincingly human. Although they share enough traits and values to make them approachable to humans.
If you like Doctor Who, you’ll like Loki. They both appear in many different incarnations, partly from messing with the time stream and partly because Loki is a shapeshifter to begin with.
Loki has found a device to manipulate time, and not unexpectedly, made a hash of things. He has brought himself to the attention of a large group of temporal bureaucrats (the TVA) which are a kind of a militarized insurance agency. They exist, supposedly, to maintain a status quo and protect their investment. Loki has been creating all sorts of fractures and ripples on the time line, including making many versions of himself (people who interrupt the time flow create Variants (imperfect duplicates of themselves), which is a big no-no with the TVA, who erase Variants for a living). Loki himself has become a Variant, and is the progenitor of many other Variants, including one rather small crocodile. Don’t ask.
The series is a bit heavy on exposition, which happens with time alteration tales, but it makes up for it with engaging and effortlessly amusing characters, witty dialog, and a surprisingly lighthearted approach to the miserable situations of Variants, who can only conceal themselves from the TVA by hiding in apocalyptic settings where there is no future to alter. Some of the apocalyptic special effects are truly mind-bending.
It’s a serious and often grim tale, leavened by the sort of goofy and goodnatured approach taken by most of the Doctors. An exceptionally strong supporting cast makes this truly an ensemble piece.
Now on Disney.