Loki Writers, Stop Telling Me About All the Cool Stuff You DIDN’T Do

The writers on Marvel and Disney+’s Loki are no doubt talented. There were lots of in-jokes, Easter Eggs, and big concepts they were working with. While I’m still figuring out my feelings on the shows’ first season, one thing I am feeling bittersweet about is all of the stuff they keep revealing didn’t happen, but could have.

In the weeks following the season one finale, we have been getting a lot of information about ideas the writers have had that either didn’t pan out, or got chopped by the powers that be—from the Sylvie episode which would have given us a lot more backstory for the second lead character of the series to all the chaotic sex that Loki was supposed to be having.

All of those things sound fun and interesting, and most importantly, they are Loki-centric things—more of that D.B. Cooper-type stuff that the trailer focused on, making us think that would be part of the story.

I know this is something that writers do a lot online, but a lot of the time, it just makes things more divisive. It is fine for fans to not have answers or insights into every single aspect of the process. All that was accomplished by letting us know that, in earlier drafts of Avengers: Endgame, Hawkeye was the one who died instead of Black Widow, for example, was making us angrier.

That’s not to say there’s never anything to gain from these conversations. The fourth wall has been down for a long time, since we no longer lack total access to writers and creators, and in may ways, that has allowed us to have insight from LGBTQ creators about the fights they have had to get better representation. It is important to know that Kate Herron fought for that little bit of bisexual representation on Loki because, while it certainly may not be hitting the mark entirely, it gives insight to that fact that even that much is something that is a battle. Those are stories worth sharing and giving context into the mindset of Disney.

As for knowing that we could have had a bunch of Loki sexy-time fun and that we could have had an entire Sylvie backstory episode—right now, with a muddled season one that didn’t actually seem to do enough Loki things—it just hurts my confidence in whoever is above the writers helping guide things. I think this kind of story and information works best after the series is done. The whims of the audience getting so deeply pushed onto writers during the creative process is not always a good thing, especially with harassment often mixed in. At least when a series ends or the writers don’t talk as much, we can just be told Easter eggs or get confirmation for certain things—not hints at better storylines they weren’t allowed to do.

What do you guys think? Do you enjoy knowing how the sausage gets made, or would you prefer we discuss these things after the series is done?

(image: Marvel Entertainment)

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