So, Will the Loki TV Show Actually Involve Steve Rogers?
Time travel is so weird.
Now that Avengers: Endgame is finally out, we can speculate more about will go down in the Disney+ TV shows. Loki, who didn’t get a surprise return to life in Endgame, dropped a possible hint for where his show would be going when he stole the Space Stone and zoomed out of custody.
The Russo brothers appear to have offered their idea on where the show might go, and who might be involved in it besides Tom Hiddleston’s trickster god. Could Captain America be a guest star? Or are the Russos once again just filling in more information on Endgame‘s loose threads?
“Loki, when he teleports away with the Space Stone, would create his own timeline. It gets very complicated, but it would be impossible for [Cap] to rectify the timeline unless he found Loki,” Joe Russo said to Business Insider, as reported by Entertainment Weekly. “The minute that Loki does something as dramatic as take the Space Stone, he creates a branched reality.”
Don’t get your hopes up too much: that’s far from an official confirmation that Steve, as played by Chris Evans, will be appearing in the miniseries; it’s also worth noting that the Russos have nothing to do with the show. While it does make sense that Loki would have to bring the Space Stone back to the moment in time from which it was taken to smooth over that reality, initial reports of the plot focus more on Loki hopping through time than painting him out to be engaging in a cat and mouse with Steve. I think it’s far more possible that the Russos were just speaking generally about how Steve would have had to correct the timeline by pursuing Loki than suggesting the show would go in that direction.
Previously, I’d written about my desire to see Loki jumping into an adventure with Cap and the Howling Commandos in hopes of getting a brief Steve cameo. I could be very wrong, but I can’t see Chris Evans necessarily wanting an expanded role in Disney+ productions. Evans has hung up his shield, and it will probably be a long while before he returns in any major capacity barring voice work for the Marvel What If? show. They could work it out where Steve only appears in the final episode to tell Loki he needs to bring the Space Stone back, but I doubt we’ll be getting any Tom and Jerry-esque shenanigans.
It might be more interesting if Loki came to the realization he had to return the stone (and himself) to the proper time. That would be impetus to keep him moving and motivated. I’ve written about how the show needs to give Loki a juicy redemption arc, and it might be more meaningful if Loki’s last action is to return himself to a timeline where he knows he’s condemned as the villain (and ultimately doomed). That might put a damper on any plans to have him in Thor 4 (though the plot could involve a resurrection), but it might be the tidiest way to wrap things up.
If Loki does create a branched reality, then the question becomes how does it impact the main timeline? Will Loki jump realities back to the main timeline? Time travel already makes no sense in the MCU, so it might be up to Disney+ to unwrap it all. Regardless, Disney probably won’t drop any sort of information on the show until D23 or closer to the release, to keep it mysterious for fans. After all, Marvel loves spoilers like Loki loves faking his own death and drama.
(via Entertainment Weekly, image: Marvel)
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