The MCU is about to travel one of its wildest roads to date thanks to the universe-shattering events in the Season 1 finale of Loki.
With the introduction and subsequent death of He Who Remains, also known as a Variant of Kang the Conqueror, the God of Mischief now has to bear witness to the MCU's multiverse ripping apart. This helped Loki accomplish what neither of its Disney+ predecessors had by setting up potentially lasting ramifications for future movies and shows alike in Phase 4.
Loki marked another first by confirming that the show will continue into Season 2, as was revealed by a message during the credits of Episode 6. That being said, with so many MCU projects being released between this show's two seasons and other upcoming projects, the possibilities to what could happen in the future are nearly limitless.
Although no details are known in this regard yet, one of Marvel's top writers has at least given a clue to what won't happen going forward.
NO FAN SERVICE IN STORE
Loki Season 1 head writer Michael Waldron spoke with Insider about why the show's second season won't rely on fan service to drive its story.
Waldron made it clear that his team's job is largely "trusting their own instincts" rather than the desires of fans. According to the screenwriter, the task at hand is figuring out what parts of fan expectations are "worth biting into" and when it's a better move to simply "(create) something totally new" for the plot:
"Part of any creative team's job is trusting their own instincts, especially working in big IP projects like this. That's what you have to do. You have to understand the parts of the expectations that are delicious and worth biting into and the parts where you're better off creating something totally new."
Waldron told the outlet that the continued development of the series would not be significantly impacted by perceived fans' hopes.
Diving further into Season 1's cliffhanger ending that showed Loki in an alternate TVA, Waldron also teased that there are "many permutations of endings" that were written. However, don't expect him to give any particular details on what they mean or what's on the way:
"There's many permutations of endings that exists over the course of the whole thing. But I'm not going to tell anybody about those."
LOKI SETTING ITS OWN PATH
Michael Waldron is certainly the person to go to when looking for the MCU's future plans after his work on Loki. He has also already completed his work as one of the writers for next year's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which potentially features Tom Hiddleston's trickster god, setting the stage for a truly spectacular event.
However, even with a fan base as passionate and vocal as the one Marvel Studios boasts, the writer makes it clear that he and his team have their own set path when developing these stories.
While fan service certainly plays a role in some blockbuster sequels, even sometimes from the MCU itself, the Loki head writer doesn't want to use it too heavily and take away from what Loki's next adventure should deliver on. With so many options for where Marvel Studios can take the plot, it's clear that whoever works on Season 2 simply needs to do what's best for everybody involved and not just those watching the story unfold.
As for the cliffhanger ending Waldron discussed, fans are already anxious to see where exactly this leads, especially with movies like the Doctor Strange sequel and Spider-Man: No Way Home coming before Season 2. With Kang on the loose and Loki in a truly troublesome situation, there's no telling what the future will hold for this specific show.
All six episodes of Loki's first season are available to stream on Disney+.
