In Disney+'s Loki, the God of Mischief has found himself in an unusual predicament. When Avengers: Endgame sent him into his own branching timeline, he was recruited to the Time Variance Authority (TVA), where he learned of a power higher than Mad Titans and Infinity Stones: the Time Keepers. But as revealed in "The Nexus Event," not everything was as it seemed. After another Loki variant called Sylvie beheaded one of them, they turned out to be nothing more than robot puppets for another mysterious villain. Now, it's up to Loki, Sylvie and a cadre of other variants to get to the bottom of this -- or die trying.
Speaking to CBR, Loki showrunner Michael Waldron broke down some of the biggest events on the series so far and offered a glimpse at what's to come in the final two episodes. He discussed how each of the new Loki variants honors the comics and teased his excitement for viewers to get to know alligator Loki. He explained how a conversation with Loki star Tom Hiddleston helped him understand the "foundational pillar" of the character, as well as why the God of Mischief was always destined to fall for Sylvie. He also revealed why Sif was the perfect fit for Loki's time loop memory, his favorite memory from set and much more.
CBR: How did you narrow down which Loki variants you wanted to use?
Michael Waldron: I don't want to go into too much detail. The next episode, obviously, we might be seeing more of those guys. You know, I think it was drawing inspiration from the comics, certainly. You can see a young whippersnapper Loki there that folks will recognize from the comics. I loved the idea of seeing him. Richard E. Grant in the slime green outfit, that's an ode to the original Loki costume. So it was just trying to pick some of the iconic versions, as well as an alligator.
I'd like to also get some clarity on whether that was a Crokidile or a Lokigator.
Let me give you the breaking news scoop: it is an alligator. Heard it here first!
I was delighted to see Richard Grant as Classic Loki in that scene as well. Tell me a little about that costume, from nailing that comics-accurate look to convincing him to wear it.
I mean, again, that's a testament to our director Kate Herron, who managed to convince a lot of incredible actors to do crazy things in this show. Christine Wada, our costume designer, made this amazing, comics-accurate suit for him to wear. Richard E. Grant -- he's a rascal. He was game to do it. So what a delight! What a treat for us.
Thanks to the TVA, you have the ability to pit Loki against himself. What has this allowed you to do with the character, that perhaps you couldn't on another such series?
I think that it's a character who, I would posit, has resisted self-reflection, self-examination up to this point. The great thing about our show, with these variants and everything, is we can force that, that the TVA forces you to confront your reflection and confront different versions of yourself.
So, Sylvie is a reflection of Loki and he sees himself in her and can see things about himself that he finds irritating, that perhaps he never would have been able to identify without that, but he can also find things to empathize with. So in getting to know these other versions of himself, perhaps that gives him a better understanding of who he is.
As has become rather infamous, Tom Hiddleston gave something of a lecture about the character to the crew. What was something he shared with you about Loki that you knew you needed to include in the series?
We talked a lot about the first Thor movie and the work that he did with Kenneth Branagh, building that character and everything. Something that struck me was Tom identified Loki's loneliness as a foundational pillar of the character. That was really rich, I thought.
I've felt that's been an interesting thing to excavate in the show and particularly in Episode 4 in that interaction with Lady Sif and the time loop and everything. That loneliness, the fact that he's alone, that's part of what makes his life so difficult. That was a thing that came straight out of Tom and I's conversations together.
Director Kate Herron recently commented that Sylvie is a "completely original character" for the series. Were there any comic book influences at all as you were crafting her personality?
I would say the biggest inspiration for Sylvie was Loki. You know, she is ultimately a Loki variant, but one who is her own person and has been shaped into even more of her own person separate from the Loki we know, played by Tom, of course, by the fact that she was born a woman and just the life that she's lived on the run from the TVA. So, we wanted to always make sure there was that inherent Lokiness to her.
Then, you look at inspiration stuff like Enchantress and everything -- Sylvie Lushton, another comics character version of the Enchantress that we drew from. We needed just to figure out you know, "Okay, what are the parts of this that we can kind of collapse into this character to make her really interesting." That's the great thing about these jobs, is there's so many amazing ideas in the comics; you've just got to figure out which one we want to rip off.
The decision to have Loki and Sylvie fall in love was pretty bold but oh so apropos for someone who is essentially the ultimate narcissist. At what point did you realize this was the way to go?
That was a cornerstone of my pitch from the very beginning. I knew that was a place that I wanted to go, and our whole writers room and creative team was really excited about that. We knew it was a bold, interesting decision and we're excited about it. Everything about it just felt sort of dangerous, and it felt like, "Well, that's why we should do it."
I think, as I've said in other interviews, ultimately, this is a guy who's got to learn to love himself, first and foremost. It came up in the first episode, saying to Mobius, "I'm a villain." That is his honest self-assessment. It's interesting, through his relationship with Sylvie, that he comes to see himself in a new light.
How worried should we be about Mobius? After all, that purging didn't kill Loki, and I don't want to make any assumptions about the fate of our favorite TVA agent.
I mean, you see what happens when you get pruned and it looks terrible! We saw Loki there, at the end, but we didn't see Mobius. I do think, if that was their final moment together with Loki and Mobius, it was a good powerful moment between them and I'm glad that they had that.
On the flipside, there's still a lot about Ravonna we don't know. How much more will we learn about her backstory before it's all said and done?
Well, I guess you saw how Episode 4 ended, [with] Sylvie saying, "You're gonna tell me everything." So we'll see! [laughs] We'll see how much of that comes to pass.
From Episode 1, I've found Miss Minutes to be extremely suspect. What is she hiding, Michael?
She's so sweet! She's a sweet, Southern clock. What on earth could be sinister about that?
Since Sylvie dispatched the Time Keepers, the true villain of the series remains a mystery. While I realize you can't say much about who that is, what is one thing you'd want fans to know so they can prepare themselves?
I mean, I guess fans are wondering the same thing that Loki and Sylvie are wondering! If they're fake, who built the TVA? That's the question on everybody's mind heading into the next two weeks, so we'll see if we can figure that out.
Following Sif's surprise appearance in this week's episode, what are the odds there will be another big cameo in the remaining two episodes?
Oh, another big cameo! I love cameos. Cameos are fun. I don't know! Stay tuned! Maybe that was it. I was pretty excited!
Why was it important to you to bring Lady Sif back into the fold, as opposed to perhaps another Asgardian character?
I think it was cool to just do a nod to actual Norse mythology and the story of Loki cutting Sif's hair, which is a real thing from the comic books and the mythology. Anytime we get to do that, that's really cool.
And Lady Sif is awesome! She's a badass, fan-favorite character... She wasn't dispatched by Hela in Ragnarok. She felt like somebody uniquely suited to really kneeing Loki in the nuts and punching him in the face a couple of times. So we were excited to get her in there, and she did a fantastic job.
What is one of your favorite memories from working on this series?
It was all amazing. Certainly, working with Tom, the fun we had just our first few meetings together, really talking about the character and everything and going through dialogue. That was a dream come true.
When I think about the show, I just think so fondly of our writers room, of all of us drawing timelines on the whiteboards, trying to figure this stuff out, arguing over time travel and make believe and the most insane concepts you ever could. I'm just really proud to be part of that team. So honestly, it was just a pleasure the whole way through.
Obviously, Loki is part of the wider tapestry of the MCU. Was there any point at which Marvel told you, "No, you can't use this because we're saving it for somewhere else," or was it more no holds barred?
Batman. Couldn't put Batman in it. Really, I just kept writing Batman into episodes and then we had to throw him out because he just can't be in it. So he was off-limits.
What is one moment or scene from an upcoming episode you just can't wait for fans to see?
Everything featuring alligator Loki.
Created by Michael Waldron and directed by Kate Herron, Loki stars Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer, Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15, Tara Strong as Miss Minutes, Eugene Cordero as Casey, Sasha Lane as Hunter C-20 and Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie, with Richard E. Grant and Jack Veal. New episodes premiere Wednesdays on Disney+.