Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige removed a key element from Loki Season 2's ending according to the show's composer Natalie Holt.
Throughout the Multiverse Saga, the Marvel boss provided several notes to previous projects under Phase 4 and Phase 5.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse director Sam Raimi revealed in the film's audio commentary Feige wanted to remove the first encounter between Strange and Mordo in Earth-838 since he felt that "it was a little corny," but the filmmaker refused.
In June 2023, Secret Invasion director Ali Selim shared that there were ideas for the series that Feige "killed" because "he has a plan going down the road."
Ms. Marvel director and showrunner Adil El Arbi also pointed out in July 2022 that Feige had a special request for the show's mutant reveal, with the MCU boss telling him to "just shoot [the scene], put the [X-Men theme] on, and that’s it."
Loki's Ending Song That Almost Came to Be
In an interview with Marvel Entertainment, Loki Season 2 composer Natalie Holt talked about the one change that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige made to the series' final moments near the end of post-production.
At the end of Season 2's finale, Mobius and Sylvie overlook a suburban house belonging to one of Mobius' Variants. As Sylvie walks away and the camera stays on Mobius pondering his future, a rock-inspired tune starts playing. The music intensifies through the final shot of Loki protecting his secured timelines and continues to play through the credits.
The original plan devised by Holt and crew was for this song to be accompanied by lyrics.
Holt explained how she had been working with a songwriter to craft words for the epic closing song:
"I wanted to write a song [for 'Loki']. I’d been working in the studio with a songwriter, trying to come up with a song using the 'Loki' theme."
However, as the series was wrapping up, Feige altered such plans for Loki's emotional ending to be accompanied by poetic lyrics, as he thought that they would "feel too leading:"
"Kevin Feige just said, 'I don’t like having lyrics here. It feels too leading.'
But what is left is this sort of underneath of a song."
Holt reflected on Feige's advice, admitting that "it seemed to work better" without lyrics:
"It seemed to work better without lyric’s help, because when you add lyrics into a song it does make it very specific. So yeah, it has the feel of a sort of rockier version of the theme though."
Why Loki's Score Works Better Without Lyrics
Given Loki Season 2 ended with a poignant moment for Tom Hiddleston's God of Mischief, it's fitting that it was accompanied by the perfect score from Natalie Holt.
Kevin Feige's advice to not put lyrics in Loki Season 2's finale score is understandable since including them would've spoon-fed the viewers what kind of emotion or reaction the creators wanted them to feel.
While it would've been unique for the score to be a full-blown song while Loki's ascension is happening, hearing a powerful theme without words is more impactful and thrilling for the viewers.
All in all, many would agree Holt's score managed to elevate the finale and the show's theme became as recognizable as other MCU music like the Avengers theme.
All episodes of Loki Season 2 are now streaming on Disney+.
