Loki's first season concluded in July, but discussions about the Tom Hiddleston-led series are still ongoing thanks to the intriguing concepts that it introduced.
One of those concepts is chaos. After first being referenced during "The Nexus Event," the concept of chaos was further pushed to the forefront during the Season 1 finale.
Jonathan Majors made his MCU debut as He Who Remains (the true leader of the Time Variance Authority) in the final episode. He Who Remains welcomes Loki and Sylvie into his castle before giving them a drawn-out speech revolving around countless timelines and free will.
The Kang Variant believed that pruning timelines that do not adhere to The Sacred Timeline is necessary to prevent further chaos that would erupt due to Variant versions of himself. However, the Variant pair of Loki and Sylvie believed otherwise, pointing out that free will is a necessity to bring out the best in life.
While it was established that Loki and Sylvie's actions (and the rest of the Infinity Saga) are pre-determined by He Who Remains, the Goddess of Mischief's choice to kill Kang's Variant ended the so-called Sacred Timeline, an act born out of free will.
As a result, the multiverse has been set loose alongside more dangerous Variants of He Who Remains (specifically Kang the Conqueror). This universe-changing ending is set to affect the rest of the MCU in many ways, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania leading the charge with Kang's return.
Now, a key Marvel actress from the Ant-Man franchise has opened up about this game-changing ramification from Loki.
Evangeline Lilly Reacts to Kang Chaos
Wasp actress Evangeline Lilly sat down with Collider to talk about chaos theory that was introduced in Loki.
Lilly first admitted that she was surprised by the fact that the Marvel series introduced the mind-bending concept, pointing out that it's a "really brave" move:
“The science geek in me loves that element of how smart they are and how they tackle such enormous topics that most kind of fluff popcorn movies are not going to tackle. They tackled chaos theory. That's really brave and really bold and really cool.”
In the simplest terms, chaos theory describes the qualities of the point at which stability moves to instability or order moves to disorder. This was established during Loki's Season 1 finale when He Who Remains' death cemented the existence of many dangerous Variants of himself, thus unleashing multiversal madness.
Lilly then discussed how she can relate to exploring the two sides to chaos theory with the ongoing pandemic:
"It's so good. And the fact that when we explore the two sides to chaos theory, it's two sides of the same person, is so good. Because I don't know about you, but I have both those people in me. I mean, I have that constant battle inside of me, especially right now, with the way the world is today, of like, how much do we control, and how much do we need freedom? And where is that balance? And what does that look like? And what's more important, safety or freedom? And that's what they're tackling in this show. The fact that they're tackling it in 2021 post ... well, mid pandemic, is really brave and bold. And yeah, I dig it."
The Looming Threat of Kang in Ant-Man 3
The multiverse effectively opens the door for many unique story opportunities, and a preview of those has been heavily teased in films like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
At this stage, it's still unknown if Jonathan Majors' He Who Remains is really telling the whole truth during Loki's finale, considering that his multiversal exposition poses more questions than answers.
Despite that, Evangeline Lilly's "really brave" comment about Loki's chaos concept shows just how excited she is that Marvel Studios is pushing the boundaries. In a way, the Ant-Man actress' passionate answer could hint that this concept could be revisited in Quantumania, and it would be fitting if Kang the Conqueror would be the one to give his own take on the matter.
Tony Stark already gave a stern warning during Avengers: Endgame that if you mess with time, it tends to mess back, which is a harrowing tease toward Kang's imminent reign of terror. It is unknown how Kang will start his conquering in the MCU, but it's a safe bet that more concrete information will be unveiled during his proper debut in Quantumania.
Whatever the time travel villain's plan will be, it's clear that Lilly's Wasp and the rest of Team Ant-Man clearly have their work cut out for them with Kang's arrival.
The first season of Loki is now streaming on Disney+ while Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will premiere in theaters on February 17, 2023.
