After the Season 1 finale of Loki, many ideas and scenes were revealed to have been cut from the series. One idea that was scrapped early on was an alternate interrogation tactic from the TVA that would place Loki in a fake timeline where he won, only for the TVA to rip it away from him, thereby showcasing their power.
Another idea one concept artist proposed was a cameo appearance from Rocket Raccoon, which was inevitably shut down by higher-ups at Marvel Studios.
However, there were supposedly multiple deleted scenes that sounded even crazier, such as Sylvie kicking "an armadillo with a laser mounted on it" or her even going on a rampage through the TVA.
Now, even more has been revealed through concept art, showing that the third episode would have included crazy sci-fi vehicles.
BUDGET CONSTRAINTS FOR LOKI
Concept artist Shane Baxley, who seemingly specializes in vehicles and sci-fi technology, recently posted several pieces of concept art for Loki, specifically for its third episode, "Lamentis."
Many were comprised of sci-fi vehicles, which were all, according to Baxley, cut due to budgetary constraints.
Baxley commented on his Instagram account that "I designed so many bikes for the Loki series." Baxley also explained that "vehicles are nearly always the first thing to be cut when a project is trying to trim the budget as they’re so expensive."
Interestingly, one of his pieces shows off an earlier concept for Sophia Di Martino's Sylvie, sporting a far more futuristic get-up and significantly different horns adorning her head.
According to Baxley, the above concept was "the final police jet bike design I created for the Loki series in 2019!" It was meant to be stolen by Sylvie and Loki who were both going to "ride through Sheroo" on it.
Unfortunately, it "was going to be a full [model] build before it got cut" for the previously mentioned budgetary reasons.
Other sci-fi vehicles meant to be seen on Laments were a series of "mining vehicles that the pirates stole and retrofitted" into "little speeders."
It seemed like there were three iterations of the mining vehicles. Two looked like the standard sci-fi speeder, but the third design seemed unique.
The primary body of the vehicle was designed to hover several meters in the air. At the same time, another part connected by a cable was stationed on the ground—presumably, the mining component, which had massive wheels that turned up the rocky terrain of Lamentis.
Baxley didn't specify how these vehicles would have been used in Loki, but it seems like these would have been the same bandits mentioned by head writer Michael Waldron who would have attacked the train in "Lamentis."
BIGGER ISN'T ALWAYS BETTER IN THE MCU
As Baxley said, when cutting down on the budget, things like vehicles are the first to go due to the amount of investment they would involve. So, instead of the pirates jumping the train, Loki and Sylvie are discovered without tickets and abandon the train.
In place of an elaborate chase sequence with them riding a speeder through the city, the two Gods of Mischief are instead left desperately running for the escape vessel. Removing the original mode of transport didn't necessarily hurt the scene of the Variants dashing through the city, but it's still disappointing that audiences didn't see more of the chaos of the planet.
The planet's politics weren't subtle at all, but it would have been fascinating to see the train carrying the wealthy attacked, forcing Loki and Sylvie to abandon the train that way instead.
Hopefully, fans will see cool vehicles like these in the next season of Loki, which may come out in late 2022 or early 2023.
