WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Loki Episode 1, "Glorious Purpose," now streaming on Disney+.
The premiere of Disney+'s Loki was, true to its timeless nature, full of looks back and forward when it came to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The latter came in the form of the Time Variance Authority and everything around it. And the backstory of the clandestine organization may just be the thing to finally send the MCU into the highly-anticipated multiverse.
Loki provides background on the origins of the TVA and the "Sacred Timeline" via a helpful expository video from chipper, animated mascot Miss Minutes. She explains that a long time ago, a multiversal war broke out between occupants of multiple timelines. It was a cataclysmic conflict that brought the universe to its knees and nearly caused mass extinction.
Enter the Time-Keepers. Represented by three enigmatic giants, they brokered peace between the warring parties. To prevent another conflict, they reorganized everything into one single timeline. Known as the Sacred Timeline, it's the beat that everyone in the universe sets their watch to. Everything that has happened or will happen -- even the Avengers' infamous time heist -- is part of the Sacred Timeline.
But every family has a black sheep. And in the case of the Sacred Timeline, those sheep exist in the form of "variants." These characters, like the titular Loki, are able to veer outside of the singular timeline, sending things off onto a branching path. If that variant goes unregulated, they can cause immeasurable fractures, sending reality past the point of no return. Things could eventually meet a point of critical mass where a "nexus event" could make things break apart, causing a new multiversal war.
Mention the word "multiverse" and every MCU fan's ears perk up. The idea of multiple universes and hopping between them is part of the skeleton of the Marvel Universe, but it has yet to fully make its way into the film and TV adaptations. There were certainly moments in Spider-Man: Far From Home and WandaVision that outright dangled the idea in front of fans' faces. But in both instances, they turned out not to be the real deal.
The multiverse is definitely making its MCU debut soon, in 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Though little is known about the upcoming Sam Raimi film, the title and revealed horror aspect outright says the multiverse will play a role, something the Sorcerer Supreme will most likely have to negotiate. It's clear that the mention of multiversal shenanigans in Loki is planting a seed that will grow in the Doctor Strange sequel.
But how will the MCU get from a "Sacred Timeline" now to a scattered multiverse then? The answer most likely lies with both Loki and the TVA. The show's premiere focuses on the Trickster God being brought in and recruited to help capture a variant who is killing Minutemen across the timeline: himself. It's clear that this version of Loki is causing a lot of trouble for the TVA, edging things closer and closer to that breaking point for the Sacred Timeline.
To paraphrase another version of Mobius M. Mobius, what this theory presupposes is that the timeline will reach that nexus event in Loki. The TVA will officially lose control of things thanks to the Loki variants, coming up defeated in their ultimate mission. As a result, the Sacred Timeline will be no more, and the multiverse will be reborn. This could also serve as fodder for Season 2 of Loki, where the Asgardian could be hopping not just across time, but universes.
Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness set up a start and end point for the genesis of the multiverse at this point. Considering the timeline is still whole at the start of the Disney+ series, something has got to give to get the MCU to the Doctor Strange sequel. And that thing is most likely going to be the Time Variance Authority and the mischievous scamp it is not only chasing, but just let through its doors.
Loki stars Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wunmi Mosaku, Sophia Di Martino, Richard E. Grant, Sasha Lane and Eugene Cordero. New episodes air Wednesdays on Disney+.
0 Comments