LOKI

Glorious! Dedicated fans of a certain God of Mischief received a special surprise this holiday season when Disney+ dropped the first official trailer for their upcoming limited series, LOKI.

The show, which is slated for release in 2021, is set to take place after the events of Marvel's Avengers: Endgame, and is said to follow Loki (played by decorated British actor Tom Hiddleston) as the titular villain traverses time and space, wreaking his own unique brand of havoc upon the Marvel multiverse.

Loki, who was killed in the first few minutes of Avengers: Infinity War, is actually still alive, due in part to the Avengers’ Time Heist in Avengers: Endgame, as well as the mystical powers of the Space Stone (also known as the Tesseract). While travelling back in time to 2012 New York, the Avengers unwittingly create an opportunity for Loki to recover the Tesseract and make his getaway, granting him the ability to escape the events leading to his own death by absconding to another timeline entirely.

But apparently Loki was jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire, as the trailer depicts the beloved villain subsequently cuffed, collared, and in the custody of the Time Variance Authority, a bureaucratic organization that watches over a myriad of timelines. Presumably, the TVA has captured Loki in order to make him answer for the crimes he commits during his escapades through the multiverse. But rather than simply imprisoning Loki, it appears the TVA might be interested in recruiting the trickster into the organization as a potential ally.

“I’m taking you someplace to talk,” Owen Wilson’s character, unnamed in the trailer but identified on IMDB as Mobius M. Mobius, says to Loki as he and the trickster descend in an elevator to the depths of the TVA’s labyrinth-like headquarters. “We both know you love to talk.”

Despite being just under three minutes in length, the trailer manages to drop several teasing hints about what is to come in the series. Some of these Easter eggs might be easily recognizable to fans who are more well-versed in the Marvel comics, such as the shot of a well-dressed Loki at the end of the trailer, wearing a red, white, and blue “Loki” pin–a pin that bears a striking resemblance to the one Loki wears in the four-part Vote Loki comic series published in late 2016.

Marvel comic timelines might not be the only thing that the trickster messes with in the show, however. Keen-eyed fans are quick to point out that Loki could very well be making waves in key moments of human history, as well. One particular instance fans are pointing to is when Loki (boasting a gentleman’s cut and a suit that makes him look more like Hiddleston than the God of Mischief) boards a plane, likely undercover. In the next shot he jumps from the plane with a briefcase in hand, calling for Heimdall to whisk him to safety before he falls to his death. Fans point out that in this scene, Loki’s disguise bears a striking resemblance to that of D.B. Cooper–an unidentified man who hijacked an aircraft in 1971, took its passengers money, and jumped off the plane to meet an uncertain fate.

Though the actual details of the show remain a subject of speculation, it is clear that LOKI has a lot of talent behind it. The show itself was created by Michael Waldron, who is a producer on Rick and Morty and is also credited as a writer for the upcoming film Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. All six episodes are directed by Kate Herron, whose previous credits include Daybreak and season one of Sex Education. And in addition to Hiddleston and Wilson, the cast includes Sophia Di Martino, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Sasha Lane.

The series is set to hit Disney+ in May of 2021. Until then, be sure to check out the trailer HERE!