Loki Season 2 finally introduced Victor Timely with a shocking twist from his Marvel Comics counterpart.
Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror is back in the spotlight as a part of the hit MCU Disney+ series; however, he looks a little different from when fans last saw him.
Loki Season 2 had been teased as a search across the Multiverse for "Kang Variants to map out and see the extent of their control across time." The first of these was revealed to be the mysterious Victor Timely, who appeared in the post-credits stinger from Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
Three episodes into Loki's sophomore run, audiences finally got to meet Victor, who many had assumed would be the primary antagonist of the Disney+ series' second season.
Victor Timely Introduced With a Twist
Warning - The rest of this article contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 3 of Loki.
After first being teased in the post-credits scene from Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, Jonathan Majors' Victor Timely finally appeared as a part of Loki Season 2 Episode 3.
Timely is the first Variant of the dastardly Kang the Conqueror to pop up in the second batch of Loki episodes, but he comes with a bit of a twist.
While many thought the character would be a straight-on villain in the streaming series (much like his comic book counterpart), Victor - at least for now - is just an eager inventor and somewhat of a fraud.
Victor Timely has a storied history in Marvel Comics, first appearing in The Avengers Annual #21 (July 1992).
On the page, Victor is a version of Nathaniel Richard (aka Kang the Conqueror) who travels back in time from the year 3000 to 1901 to build a technological empire and lay the groundwork for his future time-conquering exploits.
Loki's version of the character is completely different.
The major twist here is that this Victor does not seem to be a version of Kang who traveled back in time to dominate another era but is instead a separate Kang Variant who will one day grow to become He Who Remains (aka the founder of the TVA).
When Loki and Mobius come across Victor at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, he is merely a scientist studying the power of time and swindling the public in doing so.
He is seen demonstrating a primitive version of the Temporal Loom that powers the Time Variance Authority then tricking a government official into purchasing a pair of trousers that make them taller.
While Victor Timely could still go on to play a villain role in Loki Season 2, as it stands, he looks to be fairly harmless in comparison to his comic counterpart.
Is Victor Timely Loki Season 2's Villain?
Following Episode 3 of Loki Season 2, some are going to wonder if Victor Timely is the big bad many had expected of him in the Disney+ series.
Yes, his version of the character is seemingly being set up to become the maniacal He Who Remains who rules over the TVA. But, at present, he is not giving off Avengers-level threat energy just yet.
This could change quickly, though.
According to previous reports, "there will be multiple Kang variants in Loki Season 2." So could one of these Variants come into contact with Victor, opening his eyes to the Mutliversal domination his character is seemingly destined to take part in?
This would be an interesting twist on the Victor Timely story but still get him to a similar place as where is was in the comics.
Maybe he comes back to the TVA with Loki and Mobius and wants to help repair the Temporal Loom, but in doing so irreversibly damages time itself.
This could set up his path to villainy and put the MCU on the road toward the inevitable Kang-centric showdown in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars.
Loki Season 2 continues with new episodes debuting on Disney+ every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET.
