What the hell just happened? The latest episode of Marvel’s newest series Loki had us asking several questions, but mainly – What?
Episode 4, titled “The Nexus Event”, the best episode till now in my opinion, took things to a completely different direction.
For the first time in the series, a post-credits scene is introduced where we see Loki waking up to find himself in a new world. He mistakes it as hel. The scene is brilliantly created with a grey landscape, ruins of buildings and even a destroyed Avengers tower.
But is it really hell? Not yet. The first one to greet protagonist Loki in this new world is in fact, he himself, or a variant of him. Slowly, we meet more of Loki’s variants whom we have not encountered earlier in the MCU.
If you’re familiar with the show, you already know what exactly I mean by a variant. But just for your information, they’re Lokis from different universes who have drifted apart from the sacred timeline. The protagonist of the show itself is a variant of Loki.
So let us meet these new variants who were introduced in the post-credits scene in Episode 4.
1. Who Are Loki Variants In Episode 4?
In Episode 4 “The Nexus Event”, four new variants of Loki are introduced. The Loki variants were Classic Loki (Richard E. Grant Loki), Kid Loki (Jack Veal Loki), Boastful Loki (Deobai Oparei Loki) and Alligator Loki.
1.1 Classic Loki (Richard E. Grant)
Classic Loki is the one dressed in yellow and green spandex. He is the first one to speak to protagonist Loki when he lands in the strange place in the post-credits scene. For Marvel Comics fans, he isn’t new.
For those of you who need an introduction, he is the God of Evil who made life difficult for Thor, the God of Thunder and Loki’s brother. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1962, he is evil to the extent that he didn’t even leave Dr Strange and the other Avengers alone.
This is the version of Loki that aided in the bringing of Ragnarok or the destruction of the world as per Norse mythology. I guess it is more apt to call him evil than mischievious.
In the post-credits scene, he seems to be standing brave and tall and seems to be the leader of the group, considering he is the first to welcome Loki into this world.
1.2 Kid Loki (Jack Veal Loki)
Kid Loki is the one we see in the middle in the post-credits scene. I quite liked the casting of Kid Loki. It does seem pretty apt as per the comics. As per what the comics goes, after the fall of Asgard, Loki is reborn on Earth once again as a young boy.
This young Loki is apparently far more kind and compassionate than his earlier version. This rebirth is also the God of Mischief’s first step towards the path of mischief and chaos rather than pure evilness.
But one thing seems strange. Kid Loki actually dies in the hands of Classic Loki in the original story, so it is weird that both of them are standing together in this new world. I guess we will get more clarity in the next episode.
1.3 Boastful Loki (Deobai Oparei Loki)
The one in the extreme left in the post-credits scene is Boastful Loki. This is definitely a displaced variant and seems to be an interesting combination of both Thor and Loki.
If you notice, he holds a hammer of his own like Thor and yet is sporting the familiar Loki costume. This is the Loki who seems to be a new addition, though we can trace some of his background from the comics.
He seems to be inspired by Mjolnir. In the credits he is called “Boastful Loki”, so that’s all we have as of now.
1.4 Alligator Loki
Yes, he was there too. Remember the alligator-like reptile in Kid Loki’s lap in the middle? He was even wearing a familiar crown! He was none other than Alligator Loki, the fourth variant.
Alligator Loki seems to be an original character, because he does not appear in the Marvel comics. But I can bet you one thing, Marvel fans are getting a new soft toy pretty soon! Dibs on one right now!
There’s actually this fun story about how Loki once turned Thor into a frog. Yes, have your laugh. But my point is maybe Alligator Loki also has a similar kind of concept. It could be that Loki took another form.
2. Where Is The Mysterious Place Loki Is In?
Apart from the variants, fans are pretty excited to know where exactly is this ravaged place which we see in the post-credits scene. After being “pruned” by Ravonna, Loki (Tom Hiddleson) lands in this strange world which he mistakes to be Hel.
This means that Loki did not die. So, the TVA actually sends the variants somewhere else instead of killing them. Classic Loki, Kid Loki or Boastful Loki were probably pruned here before the protagonist Loki.
The place where Loki lands is full of ruins of buildings. There is a destroyed Avengers tower which can be spotted, which means the place could be a destroyed New York City. Maybe this is in a different timeline altogether.
It may also be a different universe where the different variants of Loki exist. As of what we see, it does seem like a ravaged city with broken buildings. Whether it is New York City or not is not clear.
3. 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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