Loki - Disney+ (***Spoilers***)

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121235407#Comment_121235407

Eating scenes are weird, it's possible they weren't even real cakes and just the cream was real to give the actors something to spoon. Actually eating food does happen but can be costly and time consuming - while eating a burger take after take might make your cast barf, lol. IIRC The Gilmore Girls had a spit bucket so when the scene ended, the actors just gobbed the food they were chewing straight in.

As to the episode, yeah the stakes felt off - but I think that's the problem when suddenly the scope becomes everything (everywhere all at once). That's a near impossible idea to get across to any audience, and you just end up with this idea where everyone says how big the stakes are, without ever feeling it. Though the Loom being fúcked was a more quantifiable problem I suspect / hope they'll pivot over to instead.

gmisk

Season 2 picked up for me a bit with episode 3, it had a bit of pace to it, even though the story for this season is very slight so far.

Spoiler Warning

No coincidence it has picked up with people returning from season 1, Gugu Mbatha-Raw really is very engaging when on screen, so great to see her back, Majors is also pretty excellent.

expectationlost

IF the TVA went away would that mean the end of the multiverse or just mean the end of interference?

pixelburp

Episode 3 definitely had a bit more pace, alongside a more screwball energy at various points in that World's Fair section. Victor Timely's stammering got a little annoying in being obviously affected by the actor, but I liked how he seemed innocent enough - except for little flashes here and there of someone more malevolent.

pixelburp

One other thing I was thinking on about that Episode 3, and the show in general, was how physical and tangible it all felt against the latter-day MCU that's kinda addicted to shoddy green screen and a total absence of any sense of "place".

Turns out, the director of Episode 3 was a graduation for the show's Production Designer; and also turns out they've had to fight Marvel to let them build sets, which given this is supposed to be a Hollywood Studio, is an insane thing to think about. And there's no doubt in my mind, the end result have been episodes of a show with a much better identity.

As far as the show’s bold and indelible production design, Farahani credits Wright, as well as season one’s line producer Trish Stanard, for going to bat for more immersive sets than Marvel Studios would typically build. And now, because of Loki’s acclaimed sets, Farahani seems fairly confident that this approach will become more common on other Marvel projects moving forward.

“Specifically, we were building more intact, fully 360 sets, including ceilings with integrated lighting, and that was just something that the studio was unsure about because they hadn’t done a lot of that,” Farahani tells The Hollywood Reporter. “And so it took a lot of convincing. I dare say, I hope, that it’s even going to change things beyond our show in terms of how things are photographed.”

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/loki-miss-minutes-episode-3-1235625338/

Bacchus

Not sure how to feel about episode 3. It was a bit gimmicky with the time setting and the Kang variant. Again i think it suffered from a lack of purpose or urgency in what's going on. I just don't get where Sylvie fits in to this any more. She just seems like a character to drop in to a scene when they need a bit of conflict. The Loom hook was the only part (again) that felt like a tangible "right we need to fix it" plot point. I liked the time loop showing this variants origins. Hopefully this will all pay off in the long run and this will, in hindsight, be a neat origin story. Ms Minutes was a welcome addition. She's crazy. Her little mannerisms are really well done. I really hope it starts to come together now that Kang is in the TVA and Renslayer and Ms Minutes are at the end of time.

gmisk

Well that fairly moved things along this week, lots of fun! Cracking ending.

Some things not making much sense to me though...maybe I am missing something...

Spoiler Warning

Why did they just leave that weird torture/killing machine laying around with the prisoners...why were they not being monitored? Renslayer and Ms Minutes just walked in.

Apothic_Red

Really liked that episode, serious death rate.

The Loki & Silvie scene in the Pie Room was class.

But . . .[no spoilers] do they replace the old antagonists ?

EoinMcLovin

https://youtu.be/vwSKatRviQo?si=ejxrh1OF-8XtcHSW

_____

Agent Coulson

The season finale is on the 10th of November and The Marvels opens on November 10th.

I wonder will the season finale link to The Marvels.

EoinMcLovin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121308252#Comment_121308252

Ms Marvel seems to be leading into The Marvels, not sure with Loki. Remember The Marvels was supposed to come out last year

Bacchus

I've a feeling the events of Loki will be kept sufficiently adjacent to the movies so that it adds more context but isn't required viewing. There's so much scope with variant Kangs to just either go with the one from Ant Man or create a new "main Kang" in the movies. I doubt the Kang in Loki will become the big bad for this Saga. He could become "he who remains", coming back in later in the Saga where his origin and the TVA could be quickly recapped without all the baggage of the series. There's already enough multiverse baggage as there is (especially for casual followers of the MCU). e.g. as far as movie only viewers are concerned, the multiverse has always been there but Strange opened the door.

As for the episode, it was a step up this week. I still find the motivations of different characters to be a bit flaky but at least this week there was a bit more direction to things. Nice to close the loop on the Sylvie elevator scene. Good ending to it too to set up the last few episodes. The spaghetti moment was real shock twist.

Penn

I actually really enjoyed that episode. It had the right balance of fun, suspense, and character moments. Some of the shots like Sylvie in the record store were great too; the kind of thing we don't see enough of in the MCU.

Apothic_Red

That was great TV, kept you guessing

Bacchus

Really good episode that. The time collapsing effect is very well done. I quite enjoyed that OB, of all the people Loki was searching for, was still pretty much TVA OB. I also liked that he leaned away from the "science" to help Loki time slip, instead getting him to focus on the "why" and ultimately "who". Just 1 episode to go though yeah? The season so far hasn't been a patch on season 1 but it's going out on a strong note.

pixelburp

Only on Episode 4 but damn, that was a grisly way to kill people where the show went out of its way to downplay its implications. Even ramping up the soundtrack so you couldn't possibly hear any .... uh, crunching.

Also lol at the dramatic, heroic music, punctuated by sudden spaghettification - itself also grisly in its own way.

Busi_Girl08

I'm curious if

Spoiler Warning

Loki's ability to move through time will continue into the MCU, and does this make him a Nexus being?

ixoy

I really hope there's positive feedback to the penny pinchers at Marvel studios: Allowing 'Loki' to use proper sets, away from green screen, makes this show look so much better (and that includes comparing it against the weak SFX of some of the recent films). The production values for the TVA are among the strongest across the entire franchise.

fitz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121343103#Comment_121343103

100% this. It looks more cinematic than any Marvel output in a long time.

AMKC

Watched episode 6 this morning and by was that good kinda predictable yes but good too.

This could have been in a Cinema it looked and sounded that good.

So is that it for this season?

Be interesting to see where they go from that ending.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121343103#Comment_121343103

Loki has looked fabulous throughout, no question. Such a marked difference in the MCU with as you say, an actual tangible sense of itself. The TVA sets always look so great

Penn

Thought that was a great finale. Awkward start to the season in the first few episodes, but everything came together really well in the second half. I can't see them doing a third season, most likely the events here will just lead into either Kang Dynasty or Secret Wars.

Really enjoyed it in the end though. Nailed the landing in both seasons of the show, whereas most of the Disney shows haven't been able to nail the landing at all.

Varik

Really like how image of the timeline at the end

Spoiler Warning

forming the Norse world tree. Nice touch.

The White Wolf

I thought that was Marvel at its best again; kept simple, strong performances, and an emotional depth to the story.

gmisk

Wowser that was a brilliant final episode. Lot to take in!

I thought Hiddleston was good throughout but took things to a totally different level in the finale.

MisterAnarchy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121343103#Comment_121343103

The sets in Andor are superb too, you cant beat real physical sets.

Brief_Lives

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFRl9sacyEQ

xyz

expectationlost

so is loki like a battery?

Bacchus

Great final episode. The last 2 episodes really saved the season for me, though looking back so much in the first 4 episodes sort of went nowhere... can't even remember now what the point of X-5 was in the story, Ms Minutes brilliantly went full psycho and then got killed off, Renslayer was a bystander, Sylvie was wasted, Timely was grating more than anything and was ultimately a red herring. As a whole it all got tied up nicely but the final payoff didn't quite put the first 4 episodes under a fresh light for me. I did however enjoy the explanation for the Loom. It was a fail safe "doomsday" device which makes a lot of sense.

Anyway, the finale itself was great. Loki's journey was just the icing on the cake for his journey since the first Thor. The initial time loop trying to move things along quickly was fun. That he spent centuries in a loop to then try and fix the Loom... that was desperation and then it failed. Tom Hiddleston was fantastic in that whole sequence. And then revisiting the End of Time. The conversation with HWR was fascinating and put a new slant on HWR from what we knew in Season 1. Loki's final fate then is bittersweet. Epic moment, cool visuals, slightly heartbreaking eternal fate for Loki.

I wonder will this be the last of Loki (the character). They neatly included the line at the TVA about the Kang variants not knowing about the TVA (yet). My feeling is that they never will. I think the MCU movies will stay away from the events of Loki. Instead, it will focus on the multiverse war without getting into why there is a multiverse (aside from maybe a couple of easter eggs for those who watched Loki). It'd be too much to reintroduce Loki as he now is in the movies.

Brock Turnpike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121362242#Comment_121362242

Yes I expect Loki to be gone from MCU at this point. No doubt he will make a reappearance a few years down the line as a surprise cameo, but for now they have essentially closed out his story.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121362166#Comment_121362166

He's more like the loom that was there, except he's using his godly abilities to manage an infinite number of branches rather than the loom being a failsafe to protect the sacred timeline above all others.

So Loki is using his new powers over time as well as his normal god powers to let all branches live, hence why it's now represented by a tree (akin to the tree of life from Norse mythology which I won't even try to spell or google) rather than a loom.

Brief_Lives

timey wimey... never works

McDermotX

Awful stuff overall.

Very much a series that didn't really know what to do with the main character for me personally. Can look at the last couple episodes as just a way of centering, and more or less signing off, a figure they had more or less relegated in his own show in any case.

Real shame, as Hiddleston is a talented actor, and probably the only reason I'd bothered with the show (more or less gave Marvel the heave-ho since Doctor Strange 2...though Endgame in reality like a lot of people). Last couple episodes at least showed why the fans had taken to him over the last 14-15 years, but probably time to give it a rest now.

Full_Circle_81

Really hard to believe that this was a show that was planned out start to finish. There was just so much faffing about, particularly in season 2.

It bothered me that they spent so much time and energy trying to fix the loom (which hadn't even been referenced in season 1 I don't think?) only to find out that it was doing the exact opposite of what they were trying to achieve. You have to wonder, what was the point of the TVA at all if Kang had a device that protected the sacred timeline without their intervention?

And Sylvie was such an aggrevating character. Even though it was explained to her multiple times that if she didn't help, that all the other branches (including the McDonald's one she was on) would end up destroyed. Still, she continued to work against them and cause havoc whenever she showed up. What was so great about the McDonald's timeline anyway? What I assumed would be a one-off joke when she first arrived there ended up being a recurring location throughout. McDonald's must have paid Disney a pretty penny for so much exposure! Apart from her providing Loki with moral conflict at the end, she seemed to have no point at all in this season.

Apart from Loki, I felt most of the characters were given precious little to do and no depth beyond surface level. Ms. Minutes probably had the most consistent and interesting character of them all. Renslayer was dealt with so quickly I kept expecting her to come back again and all we got was a brief scene of her in the pruned nothing-land.

And I'm not sure if Kangs grand schemes/intentions actually made sense. Him offering the Lokis a "choice", him giving Loki the time powers and admitting to him that the loom was a fail-safe. What was Kangs endgame there? Surely he could have easily predicted Lokis eventual course of action.

And is the TVA now just a team that goes round nullifying the various Kang variants?

And why, in an earlier episode was it revealed that Loki pruned himself? Straight after he said it would make sense, but did it?!

While I enjoyed the grand visuals at the end where Loki ended up taking the throne among the timelines, it all felt a bit hollow for some reason. Was it really necessary for him to sacrifice himself? When he destroyed the loom, why didn't the other timelines simply continue growing on on their own?

I will say that the show was fantastic from a production point of view. The direction, the editing, the sets, the music, the effects; these were all streets above the typical Marvel fare (even the movies in some cases!).

jface187

OK maybe a stupid question

In endgame Loki gets the stone and time travel? Then comes back in a second.

Loki tv show starts with this and we follow what happens to loki in the time before he returns? Doesn't this mean that loki has to end up back to the point?

TheValeyard

Yeah I really enjoyed that. Very good show overall. Good ending too.

Far better than some of the other marvel stuff lately.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121386569#Comment_121386569

In Endgame, Loki gets the space stone (the Tesseract) and teleports away. Then the TVA capture him. However, this is now a Loki from a branched timeline, and he's therefore a Variant (which is why the TVA captured him) and doesn't return. He doesn't need to return to the same point because when the Avengers gathered the Infinity stones they then returned to their own timeline.

Slydice

Just finish season two. Liked it. Built really well one season one. Really good interwoven story and performances.

Think there's definitely a season three or follow-on somewhere in the MCU planned. I'd like season three anyway.

Guessing at the end then that

Spoiler Warning

Renslayer and that purple colour is either one of the winning Victor Timelys or .. like.. unlikely.. but maybe Apocalypse. Probably a Timely though.

Agent Coulson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121388363#Comment_121388363

On the spoiler...

Spoiler Warning

My first thought was Apocalypse and then I started to think maybe it was filmed later and added in and it's there as a get out of jail angle for Marvel if Jonathan Majors ends up going to jail they could turn Renslayer into a female variant Kang.

Midnight_EG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121388363#Comment_121388363

The purple is Alioth, the clowd protector in the Void

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121388642#Comment_121388642

Yes. They mentioned Renslayer was Kang's general, and led his army to help him win the war against the other Kangs. The pyramid in the back is most likely a reference to Rama-Tut, one of the Kang Variants in the post-credits of Quantumania.

kerplun k

Brilliant final episode. This season probably didn’t hit the heights of season 1, but overall, still an excellent show. Most successful TV shows hit the sweet spot at season 3, it would be great if they could get at least 1 more season.

jface187

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121387124#Comment_121387124

Thank you

Full_Circle_81

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121388642#Comment_121388642

I just assumed that as well......

AlmightyCushion

The thing I don't get about the ending is why does the loom being destroyed mean all timelines get destroyed? Why does Loki need to act as a new loom? Surely, before Kang built the loom, there were multiple timelines and everything was fine. So, why does destroying it cause all timelines to be destroyed as well?

Midnight_EG

Before Kang, there was no Multiversal travel so the alternate time lines could never 'find each other'. Every Kang realised this, so HWR ended up making the Loom to make sure he always has a point in time to get to (the Sacred Timeline)... I think

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121394050#Comment_121394050

People assume that time is just one big line of cause and effect when actually it's one big ball of Wibbley Wobbley Timey Wimey stuff.

Bacchus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121394050#Comment_121394050

TBH, it's a little be sketchy on how exactly that works... like, it appears to explode as you say... so how is it erasing timelines. Also what's the point of the TVA if the Loom is there.

The Loom was Kang's solution to keep the one and only sacred timeline. Loki didn't want to follow that path. He wanted to let the timelines coexist which is why he did his tree of life solution. Again, what exactly his magic is doing is unclear... is he keeping the timelines from learning of each other? Do uncontrolled infinite timelines result in them collapsing on themselves?

expectationlost

How is it the the writers of the show needed Hiddleston to come up with reusing the "For you, For all of us" line?

wtf are the writers paid for

B.A._Baracus

Read something interesting online about the timestone being green and loki colour scheme being green too and that ending... A well thought out plan or one that fell together?