Loki – Ouroboros Review

After two years and change away, the Norse god of mischief is back for more timeline jumping and pruning with season two of Loki. And considering the state of the MCU in the time that he’s been off our screens, well, his return couldn’t have come soon enough. With the series adding Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan (who won for Everything Everywhere All At Once, the timeline jumping film that managed to handle multiple timelines with a deftness the MCU wishes it could), I have high hope for this outing (and that’s even in light of the legal turmoil surrounding He Who Remains actor Jonathon Majors – who only appears in the season premiere in voice over). However, that premiere has me a bit worried that this season might be a bit too tied up in the Kang of it all at the expense of our central characters (who remain in fine form).

The best parts of Loki’s first season came from the interactions between Tom Hiddleston (the titular Loki, who has the perfect blend of poise and charisma to pull off pretty much anything the story throws at him) and Owen Wilson (Mobius, continuing to lean on Wilson’s uncanny ability to take even the most stressful set-up and chill it out), as well and the manic energy every time Hiddleston’s Loki and Sophia Di Martino’s Sylvie were in the same scene. We didn’t get a true interaction between Loki and Sylvie this time out (although that mid-credit scene of Sylvie at McDonalds – I didn’t know Marvel and Disney needed to snag the product placement endorsements whilst having the most profitable cinematic universe in the world – was a strange re-introduction to the character, who is now once again running through time), but we were granted plenty of time with Mobius and Loki in their own buddy comedy. The addition of Quan’s Ouroboros* – who I really hope continues to be a key element of the story this season – made those sequences the absolute highlight of the episode.

*This character appears to be wholly original to the series – even though there is a team named Ouroboros in Marvel. The choice of naming this character after the image of a snake eating its own tail –a symbol of infinity – is an interesting choice for the series. Just how OB will relate to infinity – be it infinite ideas, timelines, or chances to set things right – we’ll have to wait and see.

We all know Wilson is a gifted comedian, but Hiddleston and Quan are just as funny throughout the episode, helping to ease us all back into this world with its strange rules and complex time travel elements. The additional visual of the Time Loom was super helpful in understanding just what was happening with the decision to allow all the divergent timelines to grow. Sure, the idea that killing variants means killing people with lives, hopes, and dreams helped put the stakes a bit into focus. But the visual of a single device trying to tie all the possible timelines together made it clear that all the divergent timelines are stretching the fabric of time and space as we know it. What was less clear to me was just how the various Kang variants will factor into the story. Now, I have taken a bit of a break from the greater MCU as it has stumbled along over the last couple of years. I haven’t caught every film (sorry, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania), so it’s possible that I’m missing some key pieces of Kang knowledge. But I’m going to try and see if I can follow all the Kang-ness to come without really knowing just what Kang was up to with Scott Lang and Co.

Outside of the delightful chemistry from the show’s leads, this was an intriguing enough set-up for the season to make me interested to see just what’s going to unfold. General Dox (Kate Dickie, best known as Lysa Arryn on Game of Thrones) is absolutely up to more than trying to hunt down Sylvie. Perhaps she’s working for He Who Remains or another Kang variant? Maybe she’s linked to the still missing – although we now know she’s been in league with He Who Remains in the past – Ravonna Renslayer? Either way, that’s way too much firepower, even for a trickster god. My big question, however, is why is Sylvie the problem? Just because she’s the one who offed He Who Remains? Is there more to her than we know? Sure, pruning her would potentially snuff all this out – but again, we don’t know enough about what she wants now that she’s opted to take He Who Remains off the game board. Apparently, it’s to try a Big Mac and a Quarter Pounder with and without cheese, but there has to be something else. After all, a Loki never makes a move without having a plan for how to use that decision to thrive and survive. So, I guess we’ll see just what she’s up to – and who manages to reach her first – as the season continues.