Loki - Series Premiere Review

 Starring: Tom Hiddleston,

Owen Wilson

and Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Produced by: Tom Hiddleston,

Mike Waldron

and more

Rating: 5 of 8

Loki

Series Premiere

Even the most popular characters have to step out of the spotlight sometime. It's a fact most artists - and fans - struggle to accept. When a character really resonates with you, it's understandable that you'd want to see more of them. When that happens, it only makes sense that any artist would want to keep that spark alive.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what Marvel tried to do here, even if, creatively, there was no good reason to. Three years ago, Loki died trying to kill a genocidal maniac - and before that, he'd already found some kind of redemption. He was at his brother's side and, for once, he was happy to be there.

He'd reached the end of his arc, so there was nothing more to explore. Unfortunately, instead of realizing that and leaving it there, they chose to tell a time travel tale with the God of Mischief when another character/characters - like Dr. Strange or the Exiles - would've probably fit better.

Though that's one of the main problems with Loki, it isn't the only one, as there are a lot of unfamiliar elements - the Time Keepers, the Time Variance Authority - introduced and, for a long time, you're left just as confused as Loki. Even by episode's end, I left with a number of unanswered questions.

Hopefully later episodes go some way to answering them, though I'm not sure if I'll be satisfied with the answers. On top of that, Loki gets pretty easily overpowered and outsmarted at times, which makes it harder to look on him as a legitimate threat. After a number of films where that's already happened, he could do without any more.

Overall, this is a pretty disappointing premiere that, aside from some emotional moments and a very good performance from Hiddleston, I definitely recommend against giving it a go.