Loki season 2: everything we know so far
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Loki season 2: Key information
– Arriving mid-2023 on Disney Plus
– Story will pick up right after the first season
– Ties into Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
– Multiple cast members set to return
– New cast announcements made in December
– Helmed by Moon Knight directors
– Acts as narrative thread throughout the Multiverse Saga
Well well well, Loki season 2 is shaping up to be a hugely important Marvel TV show, isn’t it?
Marvel‘s most popular TV series returns on Disney Plus later this year – and, based on what went down in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Loki’s next outing is going to be an even bigger and multiverse-threatening TV show. You’ll have to read on to find out why, though.
In this Marvel Phase 5 TV series guide, you’ll find everything worth knowing about the second season of Loki. That includes its possible launch date, cast details, story beats, how it’ll impact the MCU, and more.
Full spoilers follow for Loki season 1 and Ant-Man 3. Potential spoilers for Loki’s second season are also discussed.
Loki season 2 release date
Loki season 2 doesn’t have an official release date, but Marvel says it’ll arrive in mid-2023 (opens in new tab).
Eric Martin – a staff writer on half of Loki season 1’s episodes – serves as showrunner, while Moon Knight directing duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead helm the show. Season 1’s head writer Michael Waldron has returned as an executive producer. Composer Natalie Holt is also back to create another hauntingly beautiful score.
Loki season 2 trailer
There’s no trailer yet, but Loki season 2’s first footage debuted during Marvel’s D23 Expo 2022 panel.
The sizzle reel begins with Hiddleston’s Loki greeting someone but he begins to glitch out in the same way that characters in Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse do.
Next, Loki chisels away at a TVA wall to unearth a massive, bronze face of Kang the Conqueror (or one of his variants) before we cut to Loki meeting Ke Huy Quan’s unnamed TVA employee. A quick shot of Sylvie listening to music is then shown, before Loki and Mobius – dressed in tuxedos – are seen attending a black tie event alongside numerous Loki variants. Before we get an explanation about why so many have *ahem* assembled, the teaser ends with Loki falling through a TVA building.
Loki season 2 cast
Major spoilers follow for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Here’s Loki season 2’s cast list so far:
- Tom Hiddleston as Loki
- Owen Wilson as Agent Mobius
- Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer
- Jonathan Majors as Victor Timely
- Eugene Cordero as Casey
- Tara Strong as Miss Minutes
- Ke Quy Huan as TBC
- Rafael Casal as TBC
- Kate Dickie as TBC
Tom Hiddleston, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Owen Wilson, and Sophia di Martino are all back. Ke Huy Quan (Indiana Jones, Everything Everywhere All at Once) and Kate Dickie (Game of Thrones) have been announced as new cast members, but their roles are a mystery.
Eugene Cordero’s scene-stealing TVA employee Casey returns and has been bumped to a series regular. Tara Strong, who voiced Miss Minutes in season 1, has also confirmed she’ll be back (via PopVerse (opens in new tab)). Based on season 1’s ending, Wunmi Mosaku should also return as Hunter B-15, with Loki running into an alternate reality version of her character (along with Mobius) at a different Time Variance Authority (TVA).
Potential spoilers for Loki season 2’s cast follow.
Glorious! Fans at #D23Expo dove further into the Multiverse with a first look at Marvel Studios’ #Loki Season 2: https://t.co/9mv7RUo2nU pic.twitter.com/ytOZ4zY0mYSeptember 11, 2022
Per Deadline (opens in new tab), Rafael Casel’s unnamed character will have a major role to play. MCU insider DanielRPK (via MCU News (opens in new tab)) suggests Casal is portraying a rogue TVA agent, who escapes into the 1970s and becomes a movie star. Online speculation also points at Dickie being Loki season 2’s primary antagonist, who could have something to do with Casel’s villainous TVA employee.
Jonathan Majors, who played Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man 3, will also appear – but, somewhat surprisingly, not as the time-traveling warlord.
In Quantumania, Kang was seemingly killed by Ant-Man and the Wasp, with the villain being sucked into the multiversal power core of his Time Chair. Unless Kang pulls a Darren Cross/Yellowjacket move and returns (either as himself or another villain, like Cross’ MODOK), we shouldn’t expect to see him again.
So, who will Majors play in Loki season 2? One of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s post-credits scenes confirms he’ll play another Kang variant. This time, Majors will portray Victor Timely, an early 20th century inventor and industrialist. In the comics, Victor Timely travels to 1901 to found the town of Timely in Wisconsin and turns it into a technology-rich city. We suspect this will form the basis of Loki’s second season, with Victor acting as an antagonist (major or secondary) to Loki and Mobius, who time portal to the town to track this variant down.
Why do we say Victor Timely might not be the show’s next major villain? Based on Quantumania’s other post-credits scene – the Council of Kangs one – we could see multiple iterations from this Kang gang turn up, including Immortus, Rama-Tut, and Scarlet Centurion, who appear in the first post-credits stinger. Maybe season 2 will feature multiple Kangs, then, which will give Loki and company some serious headaches.
Loki season 2 plot
Unsurprisingly, plot details are scarce. However, the cast has teased some elements of Loki season 2’s plot and themes.
Per Entertainment Weekly (opens in new tab) (EW), Tom Hiddleston says it’ll focus on “the battle for the soul of the TVA”, adding that it’ll pose the questions “Who am I?” and “Where am I?”. That “soul of the TVA” aspect takes on greater significance now, what with the Council of Kangs being introduced and the potentially ensuing battle between them and Loki’s TVA rebel crew.
We might also find out more about the inner workings of the TVA; Hiddleston telling Marvel.com (opens in new tab) that the “moral complexity” of the TVA is a fascinating subject. It was only touched upon in Loki season 1, so we could get a better look at how it functions, its values, and the moral compass of its work force.
In a chat with Entertainment Tonight (opens in new tab), Mbatha-Raw also said: “[In season 2] selfishly, Renslayer makes it out of the TVA, which I’m really excited about. Fans are in for a real treat because the show is bolder and more surreal. And, in many ways, goes to some bigger, bolder places than season 1.”
📸NEW: Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson on the set of season 2 of Loki. pic.twitter.com/TSrYUTPoYMJuly 13, 2022
It seems Loki season 2 will examine the character’s emotional side in greater detail, with executive producer Michael Waldron telling Deadline’s Hero Nation podcast (opens in new tab): “It felt like we had new emotional ground to cover with Loki. That’s the only way into season 2. We absolutely found that. It’s a great continuation of that story that feels different from season one and hopefully will subvert expectations.”
Don’t expect any plot leaks from Owen Wilson this time around, though. Speaking to Variety (opens in new tab), Wilson confirmed he’d had his knuckles rapped by Marvel for revealing his character had a moustache (before season 1 arrived), leading fans to deduce he was playing Agent Mobius.
Potential spoilers for Loki season 2 follow.
It appears one episode will be set in the 1970s, with Loki and Agent Mobius dressed in tuxedos in a period setting in the Disney Plus “Feels Like Home” 2023 release schedule teaser. Elsewhere, leaked photographs show a McDonald’s restaurant will be a key location (per TikTok user Joel Sutton (opens in new tab)).
Plot wise, one of Loki season 2’s early storylines should deal with Loki turning up at a different TVA.
In the season 1 finale, Loki found himself in a TVA that he recognizes, alongside people that he knows, but none of them are aware of who he is. Clearly, He Who Remains’ death – at Sylvie’s hands – causes the Marvel multiverse’s various timelines to start intersecting – events known as Incursions, as explained further in Doctor Strange 2 – which are already causing havoc across the MCU.
It seems, then, that Loki will tell them Mobius and company about Kang (and his variants) and call on them to help him stop them. We don’t expect them to be completely successful, however, with the Council of Kangs installed as the main antagonist of the Multiverse Saga (i.e. MCU Phases 4, 5, and 6).
Elsewhere, industry insider DanielRPK (via the Marvel CineVerse Twitter account (opens in new tab)) suggests a new temporal concept called the Time Loom will play an integral role in explaining the TVA’s formation and how it exists outside of time and space. Could this tie into Victor Timely’s role in the show?
As for He Who Remains, will he reappear? Seeing as he was killed by Sylvie in season 1’s finale, no – but we’ll definitely see other Kangs, including Victor Timely. Based on the Council of Kangs post-credits scene in Ant-Man 3, a few other big Kang variants might show up in Loki season 2, such as Mr Gryphon (owner of Qeng Enterprises, whose headquarters showed up as an Easter egg in Loki episode 5).
Speaking of Kang, Renslayer has a close relationship with the time-traveling evil genius in Marvel comics. But, chatting to Digital Spy (opens in new tab), Mbatha-Raw admitted she wasn’t sure about the direction of Renslayer’s character arc, saying: “Honestly, I genuinely don’t know where it’s going. I feel like there’s so much potential, especially when you’re dealing with time, as Renslayer does, you know?”
As for Sylvie, what role will she play in the show’s next outing? We’re unsure, but leaked images suggest she’ll be working at the McDonald’s restaurant we mentioned earlier, which is where Loki and Mobius track her down to. Are they trying to recruit her or are they simply looking for some vital information on how to find Victor Timely? We’ll find out soon.
Finally, could Mobius’ wish about owning a jet-ski come true in Loki season 2? A leaked image (per Reddit (opens in new tab)) shows filming taking place at an undisclosed location adorned with jet-ski advertising. Here’s hoping Mobius gets to ‘jet’ off into the sunset this time. You know, if season 2 is the show’s final installment.
Loki season 2: how will it impact the MCU?
Marvel fans already know how important Loki season 1 has been for The Multiverse Saga. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige doubled down on that in September 2022, saying Loki’s second season connects all three phases together (per Marvel.com (opens in new tab)), so it’s possible a third season could be greenlit for Phase 6.
Regardless of whether that’s in the offing, the impact of Loki and Sylvie’s actions is already being felt. Spider-Man: No Way Home was affected by multiversal events, while Doctor Strange 2 examined the multiverse in greater detail. The first season of What If…? was also loosely connected to Loki’s first season, based on its exploration of alternate versions of MCU characters and the dimensions they inhabit. Lastly, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania finally introduced us to Kang the Conqueror and set up the events of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which is slated to arrive in 2025.
As for upcoming MCU projects, Loki season 2 could tie into the Fantastic Four’s MCU debut. Comic fans will know that Kang is linked to Doctor Doom, the infamous Fantastic Four villain. So it’s plausible that they could battle Doctor Doom and a Kang variant in their first MCU adventure, which launches in November 2024.
Armor Wars, which will star Don Cheadle as War Machine/James Rhodes, might link to Kang if Marvel decides to bring Iron Lad (another Kang variant) into the equation. In the comics, Iron Lad is the pseudonym of Nathaniel Richards, the descendant of Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards, who winds up becoming Kang Prime, aka the first iteration of Kang the Conqueror and his many variants.
Additionally, Armor Wars will follow on from Secret Invasion, another Marvel TV show launching in 2023, so Loki season 2 could also affect the Nick Fury-led series. Multiple Marvel leakers claim Loki season 2 could even impact Deadpool 3, with the multiverse offering a potential route into the MCU for the Merc With a Mouth and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine.
X-Men 97, a long overdue sequel to the beloved 1990s-era animated series, could have ties to the MCU’s multiverse as well. If Deadpool 3 isn’t a route into the MCU for everyone’s favorite mutants, maybe this show will usher them in through a multiveral portal like those seen in Loki’s TV show. It seems, then, that Loki season 2 (and its predecessor) have a lot to answer for when it comes to the multiverse’s arrival and its wider impact on the MCU.
For more MCU-based content, find out how to watch the Marvel movies in order. Alternatively, read up on where Loki season 1 was placed in our Marvel Phase 4 ranked article.
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