Since Loki season 1, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (or should we say Marvel Cinematic Multiverse) has exploded in size, thanks in part to the machinations of the God of Mischief, his variant Sylvie, and the man behind it all — He Who Remains.
Since then, Marvel Cinematic Universe has used the multiverse to play hell with the timeline (seriously annoying the TDF team who keep our Marvel movies in order guide maintained) as well as bring in fan-favorite Marvel characters. Still, if we’re honest, we’ve missed Loki and his mates at the TVA.
But we’re in luck! Loki season 2 has finally arrived, and it’s our favorite Marvel series in a long time (read our Loki season 2 review if you don’t believe us). So, as we’re such big fans of Thor’s troublesome little brother, we were delighted when Marvel invited us to go and have a chat with Loki’s executive producer, Kevin R. Wright, so we could learn a little more about the new season, working at Marvel, and how he stays on top of the multiverse.
The Digital Fix: Is it difficult to reign in your ambition when you’re conceiving a show about the multiverse? You can tell almost any story, so how do you keep it contained?
Kevin R. Wright: I mean, it’s true! I think the fun part is to be able to think about all the things you can do, and in our writers’ room, everything’s always on the table. You always have the cards on the walls, and there are always those things that you kind of have off to the side, where you think, ‘That would be really cool to do that.’ But you can never figure it out, or sometimes they find a way to slot back in later.
But we always talk about it in the sense of intrigue. If it’s intriguing and simple. We’re winning. Once it becomes confusing and homework, it’s not going to work, or you’ve got to refine it. So, a lot of times, with the world building any of the multiverse stuff, it’s just about simplification.
We will usually write out really detailed versions of how we all think this works so all the writers, the filmmakers, everybody are kind of on the same page. Then it’s a matter of condensing it into as few lines as possible or a visual. Usually, through that process, we find the sweet spot, but it’s constantly happening. It’s always evolving. But it’s always with that in mind of simple and intriguing. We think that’s the sweet spot for us.
TDF: You mentioned that you have this idea of how the multiverse and time travel work. Is that something that’s shared internally within Marvel, like a series bible or a guide to the multiverse?
KW: Yeah, around the time of season one, there was a position created at Marvel Studios, which is currently filled by this great guy, Drew River, where the job is specifically maintaining Marvel continuity. And so you send him a lot of phone calls, a lot of emails, it’s a lot of keeping him in the loop as he reads all the scripts and he flags up for us sometimes ‘this movie is going to do this’ or ‘they’re saying that should I tell them to call it a variant?’
So he’s got a tough job, but it’s a lot about trying to keep all of us filmmakers connected so that we can start building a shared language. The cool thing is, I think a lot of that has been driven through Loki and what we did in that first season. I think a lot of people are starting to look at that as the groundwork of how to discuss the multiverse.
TDF: I just want to go back earlier. Have there ever been any big ideas that you really wanted to do in Loki season two, and Marvel has said no?
KW: We’ve had a tremendous amount of freedom, and it has kind of been since season one that, more often than not, we’ve been coming up with crazy ideas like alligator Loki and Kevin Feige always pushed us to go further or go, ‘Yeah, that’s awesome, more like this’.
So, going into this season, we’ve really felt like we could do just about anything; the focus always would shift back to character and how to get to those crazy things, but even the idea of going to Victor Timely at the Chicago World’s Fair or some of the stuff that we do with Miss Minutes this season. I think it is a testament to the freedom that we’ve been able to have to go in a crazy direction.
TDF: So, might we see more crazy Loki variants as the season goes on?
KW: I wouldn’t want to give people false hope. But I would say keep watching. There are certainly crazy things that will happen in the back half of the series, but I think [Loki variants] may be stories told elsewhere at another time.
TDF: I felt like season one was Loki and Sylvie’s story, and from what I’ve seen so far, this is a lot more of a bromance between Loki And Mobius. Was that a deliberate decision when you were starting when you started writing season two?
KW: No, I think this full season plays as a really true ensemble. We’ve got so much of a great cast, but in season one, I think the police work, and this was something that Tom and I talked a lot about, was always fun, but Loki and Mobius were always butting heads. So what made it fun going into this season was to make them a little bit more on the same page.
The Sylvie thing the season really came from at the end of season one, obviously with what happens, the two of them still have a lot of tension there and a lot of odds, and she desperately wants to go off and carve her own path. And that it is Loki in our ensemble, pulling her back into it when she doesn’t necessarily want to be there. She wants to live a life.
TDF: I don’t know if there have been decisions made about Loki season three, but I love the TVA, and I love the characters we see working there. Does the TVA have a future at Marvel beyond Loki’s story?
KW: Yes, definitely. I mean, I think we’ve it was something we realized straight away. In season one, we started realizing the things that we could do with an organization like this within our universe.
I always joke. I feel like they’re kind of like our multiversal version of S.H.I.E.L.D. That’s the kind of role that they could play in this bigger universe. We’ve only really seen a couple of departments within this place that is vast and infinite.
It just feels like something that a lot of filmmakers could pick up and go, ‘I want to pull them in,’ and [the TVA] could pop up anywhere. After all, they can time travel and move along timelines.
TDF: I know you can’t comment on the rumors surrounding Deadpool 3, but could the TVA show up again in future movies and TV series?
KW: There are certainly plans for them to play a bigger role in our universe. 100%.
TDF: The big question before we finish. I love Loki’s brown suit, but are we going to see those classic Loki horns again?
KW: Well, I would say this: so much of this season is about Loki trying to become the best version of himself and whatever that is. And we feel like we’ve been going on 12 years with this guy, and we’ve still not seen a Loki that’s been at his full potential.
Something that Tom [Hiddleston] said to me as we were developing this season was for anyone to become the best version of themselves, they have to embrace all parts, good, bad, everything. So I would say if we’re gonna see the best version of Loki, he’s probably got to reimburse some of that dark side.
If you love Loki’s adventures as much as we do, then you’ll want to read our exhaustive guide to the TVA right now. We’ve also broken down some of the show’s more complicated ideas, like the Temporal Looms and Time Slipping.
If you want to know more about all the upcoming Marvel movies well, you’re in the right place! We’ve got articles breaking down everything we know about The Marvels release date and the Avengers 5 release date.
Or, if you’re bored of superheroes and villains, why not check out our list of the best TV series and all the new movies coming in 2023?