It’s exciting times ahead for Loki fans indeed. For the first time, Loki is not a second fiddle or a side character in a film dedicated to the Avengers or his brother Thor the god of thunder. Finally, he has a show dedicated to him where he is the one and all! Or is he?
Well, Loki Episode 2 brought some super exciting surprises for the fans. MCU’s latest series had already created enough hype after the release of episode 1, but things just got more interesting with Episode 2’s big reveal.
It goes without saying, spoilers ahead.
Episode 2 introduces Lady Loki, the evil variant of Loki who the TVA is in a hunt for. The TVA has recruited the god of mischief to track down this evil variant aka Lady Loki, played by Sophia Di Martino.
Wondering how many variants of Loki that makes it? Let’s see. As of Loki Episode 2, we have met two variants of Loki i.e. the protagonist, who we know escaped with the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame and Lady Loki, an evil variant who the TVA is in hunt for. In the comics, Loki appears as several variants throughout his lifespan.
So brace yourselves for some incredible Loki variants who might step in to make things more fun. For if there’s one thing we associate with the god of mischief, it’s fun, isn’t it?
1. What Is The Loki Variant?
Anyone who interferes with the original timeline, and ends up being separated from that timeline is a “variant”. By Loki Variants, we basically mean various versions of Loki who have split off from the original timeline.
Remember when Loki escaped with the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame? So, that is one variant or one version of Loki who split off from the timeline.
Similarly, there are other versions of the god of mischief who have time and again created trouble for the Time Variance Authority by interfering with their beloved Sacred Timeline.
As you must have remembered, in episode 1, we meet Loki who is captured by the TVA in the middle of the Gobi desert. This is the 2012 version of Loki, still evil and manipulative who escaped with the Tesseract in Endgame.
In the Marvel comics, there are other variants of Loki whom the readers come across. But episode 2 of Loki takes an interesting turn when it is revealed that the evil variant of Loki who the TVA is in hunt for is actually Lady Loki.
FYI, the name has not been mentioned in the episode, but for convenience fans have been referring to the character as Lady Loki because it makes the most sense (at least as of now) to consider this variant as a female Loki.
Seems like our villain has got a wakeup call – he is not even the most evil variant of Loki out there.
2. How Many Loki Variants Are There?
In the comics, there are several variants of Loki who appear multiple times in different ways throughout his long lifespan. But we are not sure whether all of them will be introduced in the show. So, let us try to answer this question with reference to the show.
There was the original Loki, whom we last meet in Avengers: Infinity War. This Loki is the one who played a part in Odin and Frigga’s deaths. Though he did finally improve his relationship with Thor, it’s short lived as Thanos chokes him to death in Infinity War.
In the show, during a conversation with Mobius (Owen Wilson), Loki the variant is even brought up to speed up the stuff Loki from the main timeline experienced.
In the show, as of now, two variants of Loki has been introduced – the protagonist Loki, straight out of Endgame and Lady Loki, who the TVA is in the lookout for and has hired protagonist Loki to help them.
But Mobius mentions the other “many Lokis” i.e. the variants who have already tried their best to mess up stuff for the TVA and the Time-Keeper’s sacred timeline. In other words, variants of Loki the TVA has already encountered over the years.
In a brief holo-flash, we see these different versions of Loki. There is a hulked out Loki, a satyr Loki, a Loki in a yellow jersey holding a champion’s cup and a Loki in his helmet and armour. Now that does not mean those are all of the variants that exist.
There is the Kid Loki and the President Loki whom we encounter in the trailer. In the comics, there are several other Lokis like the one who switches personalities with his brother Thor, the one who conquers Asgard and more.
So, it is hard to pinpoint on a number. For all you know, there can be a number of Lokis we do not know about yet.
So in short, there are several variants of Loki throughout various timelines. In the series Loki, as of Episode 2 there are two Lokis- the protagonist manipulative Loki and Lady Loki. Mobius mentions at least five other variants of Loki the TVA has already encountered. Besides, there are more they’re yet to face.
3. Why Is Loki A Variant?
In Avengers: Endgame, the evil Loki aka our protagonist split off and separated himself from the timeline after taking the Tesseract with him.
Loki’s splitting-off led to a nexus (branching of an alternate timeline). Since Loki interfered with the sacred timeline of the Time Keepers, Loki is a variant who has been captured by the TVA to help in getting hold of a more evil variant of himself.
So, the whole interference with the sacred timeline makes Loki a variant. As we see in Episode 2, Mobius and Loki are in the hunt for another version of Loki who is causing trouble and interfering with the timeline yet again.
Also, is it weird that all of this variant stuff reminds me of Rick and Morty and all those different versions of Rick and Morty? Or maybe it is just a weird reference that came to my mind.
4. How Many Times Did TVA Capture Loki?
In the beginning of episode 2, there’s a scene where TVA members and Loki discusses the several variants of Loki that they’re already dealt with. It is not exactly clear whether they managed to capture all the “cosmic mistakes” aka Loki variations.
Mobius does say “the TVA has pruned a lot of these guys.” So, I guess they did manage to capture at least some of the variants along with codes that we see such as L6792 or L1247.
Mobius also mentions that neither of two variants are alike. There are either ‘’slight differences in appearances’’ or different powers such as ‘’shape-shifting or illusion projection’’. But he does not explicitly mention how many of them the TVA actually managed to capture.
I would guess they did manage to capture a few because Mobius mentions that they are having to bring in an “expert” which is Loki for this particular variant. So that probably means that before this they caught some variants without his help.
At least the capture of our protagonist Loki can also be counted as a capture of a Loki variant by the TVA because he too is a variant. We can expect that by the end of the series Lady Loki will also be on the captured variants list. Or not. Let’s see.
5. About Loki
Loki is an American TV series created by Michael Waldron for Disney+ and Marvel. It is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name and is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with events of the series taking place after Avengers: Endgame.
Tom Hiddleston reprises his role as Loki along side new faces like Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha Raw, Wunmi Mosaku, Sophia Di Martino, Richard E. Grant, Sasha Lane, Eugene Cordero and Erika Coleman.
After stealing the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame, Loki is apprehended by the mysterious Time Variance Authority (TVA) and their Time-Keepers. Loki is given a choice between fixing all the timelines he broke with the Tesseract and death at the hands of the TVA.
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