After Avengers: Endgame hit theaters, bringing the Infinity Saga to an end, fans wondered what in the world could possibly come next. What could match such an epic storyline and/or keep the momentum going past such a big event? Well, it looks like Marvel is closing in on a clear answer to that.
Of course, that answer seems to be alternate realities—more precisely, the multiverse. With WandaVision setting up Wanda as a probable Nexus being and lining her up for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the stage is set for Marvel's next massive storyline.
That's not to mention the many rumors when it comes to Spider-Man: No Way Home, and how it will likely feature multiversal villains, and potentially even some familiar masked heroes. There is one unexpected piece of the puzzle that has popped up as well in Loki
Loki centers around the title character being kidnapped by the TVA, an organization that claims to rule over all of time and whose purpose it is to prune branch timelines that shouldn't exist. A clear addition to the multiverse theme being set up for Phase 4.
The real question is this: is the TVA telling the truth about everything? It's a pressing question, one that is making fans question everything they think they know about how the timeline works in the MCU, and in relation to the multiverse.
And that's the exact response that Kevin Feige intended.
LOKI, ALTERNATE REALITIES, AND THE TRUTH
Kevin Feige sat down with Rotten Tomatoes and discussed everything MCU, particularly that of the recent Marvel Disney+ shows.
Of course, one of the biggest elements of these shows is the draw that they will connect back to the films as well. Something that Feige is proud of, and says that everything they do “are building blocks towards the bigger MCU.”
“Well, I think everything we do I hope are building blocks towards the bigger MCU, While actually just being entertaining pieces of art in of themselves.”
He eventually drew the focus to Loki—but more specifically that of the TVA, who supposedly rules over all of the time, and butts heads with Loki himself.
According to Feige, they at Marvel Studios have been “obsessed with for years”, and they’ve in fact been thinking about then “15, 20 years ago”.
“The Loki series…[pauses]...explores an organization that we’ve been obsessed with for years at Marvel Studios, from the comics, called the Time Variance Authority. And honestly 15, 20 years ago, going ‘this is a great idea, I wonder if we could ever do something with this?’ And honestly thinking it was a pipe dream, it would never come to fruition. Avengers was a pipe dream 20 years ago.”
Of course, dreams do come true. Cut to 2021 and Loki exists, with that very organization at the very forefront of the show.
Feige proudly lists the many creatives and artists associated with making the show possible, and praises their handling of the TVA, saying that they’ve “turned it into an entirely different way [of] looking at the MCU, and looking at the timeline of the MCU.”
“And now that we have this series, that our producer Kevin Wright and our director Kate Herron, and our head writer Michael Waldron, and executive producer Stephen Broussard, have taken the TVA conceit that we’ve loved so much, and turned it into an entirely different way at looking at the MCU, and looking at the timeline of the MCU.”
Of course, with the TVA, comes the potential of alternate realities. Things that fans have “heard whispers of from the Ancient One”, alongside other characters within the MCU.
"And yes, the potential of alternate realities, that we’ve heard whispers of from the Ancient One, and from other characters in a few of our movies. But actually being able to explore it, and try to understand it in a, again, rather subversive way. In a very bureaucratic organization."
Then Feige follows up with a tease, saying that the TVA “may or may not be telling the truth about the way things work”, something that fans likely started to catch on to the moment the fake robot Time Keepers were revealed.
“That may or may not be telling the truth about the way things work. The title character also being someone who you shouldn’t necessarily take at face value, and is perhaps the most famous trickster, god of mischief that there is.”
ARE LOKI'S TVA LIARS?
For those watching Loki, there's clearly something amiss in the TVA. Their so-called leaders were fake robot lizard people. That's not something that a truthful organization sets up.
What's more likely, is that there is someone else behind the curtain—someone who is far more dangerous and unpredictable. Someone who has lied to the entire TVA in order to potentially keep a tight grip over the so-called Sacred Timeline. If only there was a clear candidate for who that might be.
With only one episode left, fans will have to wait to see the truth behind the TVA, and how Loki as a whole sets up the future of the MCU. Needless to say, from all that has been seen so far, it's likely to be an extremely important element of the overall storyline going forward.
The finale of Loki can be seen next Wednesday, streaming only on Disney+.
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