What Is X-5’s Deal on ‘Loki’?
X-5 (Rafael Casal) appears in season 2 of Loki and brings a new group of hunters to the TVA for us to learn about! While we were in the midst of learning all about Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) and Casey (Eugene Cordero), there were other characters in the TVA we hadn’t met yet. That’s where X-5 comes in. Played by Rafael Casal, X-5 works with Dox and in the first episode of the season is very much against what Loki and Mobius are telling him about the Time Keepers and the TVA as a whole.
At the end of season 1, Loki and Sylvie were trying to show the rest of the TVA the truth about themselves, that they were all variants who had their memories wiped. Hunter B-15 saw the truth and got others on their side and slowly some of the TVA joined forces with Mobius. When it comes to X-5 and his side of the equation, he doesn’t want to hear it. With how the TVA’s ranking system works, X-5 seems to hold a higher spot, and he is right at Dox’s side when it matters.
Loki is still time slipping and Mobius, Hunter B-15, and Hunter D-90 are all trying to convince the rest of the hunters to stop pruning and listen to them. Meanwhile, X-5 and Dox just want to find and blame Sylvie for everything. So what we know about X-5 is limited to his drive to prune and his trust in the TVA, but he does seem like someone who is willing to do whatever it is that Dox tells him to do. Especially since they have an interesting relationship.
A man with a mission
At the start of the first episode, we see him making fun of Mobius’ jet ski magazine (so we already know that he is not an ally of the people). From there, X-5 is on Dox’s side throughout the entire hearing, and even when Loki and Mobius appeal to the rest of the board—along with B-15 and D-90—those two seem to be in their own world (they even touch heads at the end). They’re determined to find Sylvie, which Loki can relate to, and it will be interesting to see how X-5 plays out as the season progresses.
Casal is a fascinating performer, and someone that fans of Blindspotting know and love. Seeing him in the Marvel world is exciting, and he’s already amazing as X-5! I’m just not sure how much we can trust anything happening within the TVA given the frantic nature of this first episode between the time slipping, Loki running, and everyone running around trying to fix the mess from before. There are still a lot of unanswered questions in Loki, and X-5 is one of them.
(featured image: Disney+)
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