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

Agent Coulson

Ok opening episode and there is a mid credit stinger.

youngblood

So it's not the Marvel comeback they thought it would be? To fix all the Marvel problems of fatigue, disjointed story arcs etc?

I'm not sure I'm even bothered with these TV things any more!

ixoy

The first five minutes were better than anything in any episode of 'Secret Invasion'. A low bar sure, but I enjoyed this a lot more.

kerplun k

Loki is class. I’m loving the way they’ve just ran with the concept of last season. Loki as a character in the MCU is dead, this isn’t bogged down by the MCU, and it’s all the better for it. It’s not the same character, and it’s fully embraced the world they created in the first season. Definitely it’s own thing now.

I think this may annoy some fans, but for me it feels liberated and fresh.

The god of mischief is dead. Long live Loki.

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121203917#Comment_121203917

Haven't watched the first episode yet but wasn't it established in the first season this is not the Loki from the MCU???

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121199988#Comment_121199988

Mid credit stinger.

Can't say I'm lovin it. 😎

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121204030#Comment_121204030

Correct. Of sorts: its the Loki that escaped during a time travel set piece to the end of the first Avengers film. The heroes of EndGame accidentally let Loki escape after he was captured.. so this was Loki prior to his character development when he was just a bitter brother of Thor. Then he watched a montage of "our" Loki's various revelations and had a change of heart.

hkjohn

Thing that puts me off trying shows like WandaV and Loki is that you seem to have seen loads of other MCU guff to understand it

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121204174#Comment_121204174

You see, I'm fine when it goes that way. What I don't like is how you need to know a TV show plot to understand the movie plot. Case in point Multiverse of Madness.

expectationlost

what happened at the end? i thought loki was looking for a timestick to purge himself, couldn't find one, followed the ringing found, sheila appeared and suddenly he was purging

ixoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121204196#Comment_121204196

They had contended that the TV shows would embellish the films but weren't necessary. I don't see how they could say that this is true with "Multiverse of Madness". Or indeed with the upcoming "The Marvels" (surely watching Ms. Marvel makes a big difference) or the next Captain America (if you hadn't seen "Falcon and the Winter Soldier".

hkjohn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121207693#Comment_121207693

Life really is too short.

pixelburp

First episode was an absolute tonic after the total po-faced tedium of Secret Invasion: fun, witty, well-paced with a proper sense of momentum. Looked great too in continuing its retro-influenced production design. It remains the standout MCU show for me,

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121207532#Comment_121207532

I think it's a Mystery: if you watch again, you can see the glowing end of a Time Stick behind Loki as he fizzled away - but it couldn't have been Sylvie, so I guess we'll see.

pjohnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121207693#Comment_121207693

That kinda bull is why Marvel is starting to tail off. I dont think its the cliche "superhero fatigue" but rather Marvel started taking huge liberties and lies causing people to check out.

expectationlost

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121210996#Comment_121210996

another Sylvie?

Brief_Lives

Episode 2 was a struggle.

No end credit scenes

Agent Coulson

Yeah that wasn’t good.

Penn

The trouble is we're being told that this is all of great urgency, and that the destruction of all these branched timelines means monumental amounts of death, but none of that is coming across in the show.

The directing was just awful throughout. It's really not selling the action, emotion or urgency.

And I have no idea why they acted like those key lime pies were so amazing and delicious when all Tom Hiddleston did was occasionally lick the smallest bit of cream possible off his spoon. I know actors don't actually eat the food or that much of it, but the way it was filmed was just so awkward and weird.

Full_Circle_81

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

I was thinking the same thing when he was eating/not eating that pie😅

Bacchus

This season hasn't found its feet yet. I'm just not connecting with the peril of the situation. Like Penn said, the whole purging of the branches felt a bit meh. They were literally doing this routinely 2 days ago. Just because they now know they are variants, those branched lives suddenly matter. And why didn't the branches just start reforming immediately? TBH, the whole relationship between Kang and the TVA is a bit vague. Was Kang keeping the branches in check or the TVA, or a combination of both. What exactly is the Loom doing if the whole purpose of the TVA was to ensure there are no branches. Another thing I don't get is why Kang isn't already here since time... past, present, future is happening all at once as far as the branches and TVA are concerned. Hopefully it'll be explained.

Was there some background to X-5 that we were supposed to know about? He seemed like a non-character thrust into the spotlight who had some sort of history with Loki and Mobius. The interrogation scenes were pretty poor. That was supposed to be Loki's mischievous best... it was good cop, bad cop.

OB is probably the only fun aspect so far this season, and the action with the Loom is a tangible ticking time bomb.

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.