Loki (TV series)

Loki is an upcoming American streaming television miniseries created for Disney+ by Michael Waldron, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. The series takes place after the events of the film Avengers: Endgame (2019), in which an alternate version of Loki created a new timeline. Loki is produced by Marvel Studios, with Waldron serving as head writer and Kate Herron directing.

Tom Hiddleston reprises his role as Loki from the film series. Sophia Di Martino, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Sasha Lane also star. With Marvel Studios developing a number of limited series for Disney+ centered on supporting characters from the MCU films, the series was officially confirmed in November 2018, along with Hiddleston's involvement. Waldron was hired in February 2019, and Herron had joined by that August. Filming of the series began in January 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia and was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production resumed in September 2020 and is expected to conclude by that December.

Loki is expected to be released in early 2021, and will consist of six episodes. It will be part of Phase Four of the MCU.

Premise
After stealing the Tesseract during the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), Loki uses it to travel through time and alter human history.

Main
Thor's adoptive brother and god of mischief based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name. This version of Loki created a new timeline in Avengers: Endgame (2019) beginning in 2012, so he has not gone through the events of Thor: The Dark World (2013) or Thor: Ragnarok (2017) which "reformed" the previously villainous character.
 * Tom Hiddleston as Loki:

Additionally, Sophia Di Martino, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Sasha Lane have been cast in undisclosed roles.

Guest

 * Richard E. Grant

Development
By September 2018, Marvel Studios was developing several limited series for its parent company Disney's streaming service, Disney+, to be centered on supporting characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe films who had not starred in their own films, such as Loki; the actors who portrayed the characters in the films were expected to reprise their roles for the limited series. The series were expected to be six to eight episodes each and have a "hefty [budget] rivaling those of a major studio production". The series would be produced by Marvel Studios, rather than Marvel Television who produced previous television series in the MCU. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was believed to be taking a "hands-on role" in each series' development, focusing on "continuity of story" with the films and "handling" the actors who would be reprising their roles from the films. Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed in November that a series centered on Loki was in development and that Tom Hiddleston was expected to reprise his role from the film series.

Michael Waldron was hired as head writer and executive producer of the series in February 2019. He was also set to write the pilot episode. The series was expected to follow Loki as he "pops up throughout human history as an unlikely influencer on historical events". A month later, Feige stated that Loki is over a thousand years old in the MCU films, so the series would be exploring what he has done throughout his long life. He added that the interest for Marvel Studios in making the series was to work with Hiddleston more and explore the character of Loki beyond him being a supporting character in the films. Hiddleston explained in August 2019 that he had known about his cameo role in Avengers: Endgame (2019) when he filmed Loki's death for Avengers: Infinity War (2018), but he considered the latter to be the emotional end of his character arc. He then learned about the plans for a Loki series around six weeks before Infinity War was released, and kept the series a secret until its official announcement later that year. He expressed excitement about being able to change Loki in different ways by taking an earlier version of the character and "seeing him come up against more formidable opponents, the like of which he has never seen". Also that month, Kate Herron was revealed to be directing and executive producing the miniseries, which was confirmed to run for six episodes. By November 2020, a second season was planned.

Writing
The series takes place after Avengers: Endgame, which saw Loki steal the Tesseract during the 2012 events of The Avengers (2012), which created an alternate timeline from the main MCU films. In the series, Loki uses the Tesseract to travel through time and alter human history. In August 2019, Herron stated that the series would be "taking Loki to an entirely new part of the MCU" while Waldron said it would "explore the questions we all have: where did Loki go after he picked up the Tesseract? Could Loki ever make a friend? And will the sun ever shine on him again?" Executive producer Stephen Broussard stated that in addition to the time travel element, the series would have a "man-on-the-run quality to it". Waldron also felt the series would explore the character's "struggle with identity", adding "over the first 10 years of movies, he's out of control at pivotal parts of his life, he was adopted and everything and that manifest itself through anger and spite towards his family." Waldron added there would be an "unexpected" science fiction quality to the series. According to Feige, the series will tie-into the Phase Four film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).

Casting
With the November 2018 announcement of the series, Hiddleston was expected to reprise his role as Loki, with his involvement confirmed in February 2019 by Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan F. Horn. In November 2019, Sophia Di Martino was cast in a "highly contested" unspecified role, reported to be a female incarnation of Loki. In January 2020, Owen Wilson joined the cast as "a prominent character", followed the next month with the casting of Gugu Mbatha-Raw as the female lead, also said to be "a prominent character".

In March 2020, Richard E. Grant was cast in an undisclosed role for a single episode of the series. That September, Sasha Lane was revealed to have also been cast in an undisclosed role.

Filming
Filming began in January 2020, with Herron directing, and Autumn Durald serving as cinematographer. The series is filmed under the working title River Cruise. with Location shooting took place in the Atlanta metropolitan area throughout the month of February. On March 14, filming for the series was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production resumed at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in September. By mid-November, approximately one more month of shooting remained. A potential second season is scheduled to begin filming in January 2022, under the working title Architect.

Marketing
A commercial for the series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and WandaVision was shown during Super Bowl LIV. Julia Alexander of The Verge said the footage "wasn't much" but offered "enough glimpses to tease fans". Haleigh Foutch at Collider felt of all the Super Bowl commercials, Marvel's teasers "stole the whole show" and had "a lot to get excited about".

Release
Loki is expected to debut on Disney+ in early 2021, and will consist of six episodes. It will be part of Phase Four of the MCU.