Now that Season 2 of Marvel Studios’ smash hit Loki series has officially wrapped up its six-episode run on Disney+, many fans are already asking: where will the God of Mischief appear next? Well, even though his newfound “glorious purpose” seems pretty final, there’s no denying that showrunners left the door open for his MCU return somewhere down the line. With this in mind, here are five projects Tom Hiddleston’s beloved anti-hero will most likely appear in next.
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What Is ‘Loki’ About?
The TVA, Sacred Timeline, and He Who Remains
Over the years, Loki Laufeyson (played masterfully by Tom Hiddleston) has become one of, if not the most popular anti-heroes in pop culture history. However, his death at the end of Avengers: Infinity War (2017), in which he lays down his life at the hands of Thanos (Josh Brolin) to save Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the surviving Asgardians, seemed pretty final, with many thinking it was the end of the road for the character.
Thankfully, if there’s one thing about Loki, it’s that he has a pretty hard time staying dead. When Marvel Studios started expanding into the streaming space on Disney+, they wisely thought to resurrect Hiddleston’s character for his very own solo series, which premiered on the platform in Summer 2021 to rave reviews. Today, Loki still holds the crown for the most-watched MCU show on Disney+.
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Loki follows a variant of the titular God of Mischief, who escaped with the Tesseract in an alternate version of Avengers (2012). However, he’s shortly apprehended by agents from a mysterious bureaucracy known as the Time Variance Authority (TVA) and is plucked from the timeline to face trial. He’s spared from execution at the last second thanks to an intervention from TVA analyst Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson), who recruits the Asgardian trickster to help track down a dangerous variant.
In typical Loki fashion, he ends up double-crossing Mobius and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) once he discovers that the rogue variant is actually a female version of himself called Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino). Throughout the season, Loki becomes sympathetic toward Sylvie’s cause and her plot to destroy the TVA that wronged her and helps her to track down the TVA’s actual creator at the end of time: He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors).
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Sylvie ends up out Loki-ing the God himself, stabbing He Who Remains in a fit of rage despite his ominous warning about what — or instead, who — his death will bring forth. After using Loki’s own feelings against him and kissing him, Sylvie pushes him through a Time Door, back to a version of the TVA where his friends don’t even remember his name.
‘Loki’ Season 2 finale and MCU implications
Loki‘s sophomore season began airing on Disney+ last month and saw Kate Herron handing over showrunner duties to directing duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. Eric Martin also served as head writer for the new batch of episodes, widely regarded as the best thing Marvel has released post-Infinity Saga.
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Picking up immediately after the bombshell Loki Season 1 finale, Season 2 sees the God of Mischief “time-slipping” throughout various points in TVA history. Thankfully, he slips into his correct reality, where Mobius, Casey (Eugene Cordero), and Hunter B-15 are able to help him with a little wisdom from the TVA’s quirky repairs and maintenance guru, O.B. (Ke Huy Quan).
Still, all is not right at the TVA, as its Temporal Loom — the only thing holding the fabric of the Sacred Timeline together — is at risk of complete failure now that He Who Remains is dead. Elsewhere in the Multiverse, Sylvie is doing her best to live a normal life as a McDonald’s employee in the small town of Broxton, Oklahoma, and Loki has to reluctantly ask for her assistance when things start to go awry.
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Instead of He Who Remains or Kang the Conqueror, the latter of which made his MCU debut in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), a different Kang variant takes center stage this season: Victor Timely, a brilliant but bumbling nineteenth-century scientist selling his various gizmos and gadgets at the Chicago World’s Fair. Loki, Mobius, and Co. attempt to bring him back to the TVA in hopes that his temporal signature will help fix their loom, but rogue AI Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) and Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) have ulterior motives of their own.
Still, even after getting Victor Timely back to the TVA, he’s unable to fix the loom, putting Loki in a sort of Groundhog Day-esque scenario in which he watches his friends and the TVA get spaghettified over and over again by the temporal radiation. Even after plucking Mobius, Hunter B-15, Casey, and O.B. from the Sacred Timeline, Loki tries and fails time and time again to change the outcome, but only his powers and abilities can save the TVA and millions of branched timelines from certain doom.
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Once again sacrificing himself for the greater good, Loki destroys to invalidate He Who Remains’ failsafe, allowing the branches to coexist in a conjoined Multiverse. Loki remains at the center for all eternity, alone and binding everything together in a new Yggdrassil-style tree of time, adopting his new, divine role as the MCU’s “God of Stories.”
Everything We Know About the Multiverse Saga
The Avengers will team up to fight Kang…maybe
During San Diego Comic-Con 2022, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (2026) to be the fifth installment of the Avengers franchise, the first half of a two-part story that will be followed by Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). These team-up flicks will likely see Avengers like Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson/Captain America, and even Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man leading a Multiversal Army against Kang — or so we think.
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It’s no secret that Marvel has been steadily introducing a new ensemble of heroes since the Infinity Saga came to an end with Avengers: Endgame (2019), swapping out fan favorites like Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) for Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) and Hawkeye/Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) for Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) throughout much of Phases Four and Five, to varying levels of success.
The Multiverse Saga really kicked off with Loki, though Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Marvel’s What If…? and even Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) have all explored alternate realities of their own. And moving forward, Marvel plans (or at least planned) to have Jonathan Majors’ Kang at the center.
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However, Majors’ highly-publicized legal woes have him making headlines for all the wrong reasons after the actor was arrested back in March for allegedly abusing his ex-girlfriend. He was charged with multiple counts of misdemeanor assault, aggravated harassment, attempted assault, and harassment and is currently fighting against these accusations in court, though his case has been significantly delayed.
Given how much of a PR nightmare this is for Marvel, who understandably aren’t too happy about their next Thanos-level threat going on trial for such accusations, it sounds like Feige and other higher-ups are already discussing Majors’ replacement as Kang — if he’s proven guilty. A Variety piece published earlier this month detailed a “retreat” in which Marvel executives discussed swapping out Kang with Doctor Doom or simply recasting the character if things go south.
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For now, it seems like Marvel is still planning on seeing Avengers: The Kang Dynasty through, though the project recently lost its writer and director. Interestingly enough, the studio recently decided to withdraw trademarks for the latter Saga title, “Eternity Saga,” Nomad, and Runaways: New Era, though Avengers: Eternity Wars is still trademarked, hinting that Marvel could change directions if they decide to axe Kang’s storyline. And given that Loki’s not dead, per se, it seems almost sure that he’ll return in some capacity throughout the remainder of the Multiverse Saga.
Marvel Spotlight will separate street-level heroes from the MCU
Another particularly noteworthy development is the announcement of a new banner titled “Marvel Spotlight,” which will act as a trial and error period for the studio to operate outside of the Multiverse Saga, primarily in the TV and streaming landscape.
This new era of MCU stories will launch with the upcoming Disney+ Echo series, which, according to Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s head of streaming, “gives us a platform to bring more grounded, character-driven stories to the screen, and in the case of ‘Echo,’ focusing on street-level stakes over more considerable MCU continuity.
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“Just like comics fans didn’t need to read ‘Avengers’ or ‘Fantastic Four’ to enjoy a ‘Ghost Rider’ Spotlight comic,” Winderbaum added, “Our audience doesn’t need to have seen other Marvel series to understand what’s happening in Maya’s story.”
This could be the answer Marvel’s been looking for since the end of its Infinity Saga, and could finally satiate demands for more grounded, episodic content that exists outside of a massive, shared narrative that requires watching 30+ movies, post-credits scenes, and various MacGuffins that have, frankly, felt more like homework in recent years. While Loki won’t be underneath the “Marvel Spotlight” banner, seeing how the MCU handles these two very different corners of the shared universe will be interesting.
5 MCU Movies and Series Where Loki Can Appear Next
‘Loki’ Season 3
While a third season of Loki has yet to be announced — if it ever will, considering producer Kevin Wright has previously explained the first two seasons function as “two chapters of the same book” — there’s no denying that Marvel certainly left the door wide open for the God of Stories,’ well, story to continue down the line. Although a Season 3 renewal, presumably, isn’t a priority for the studio at the moment, Wright did offer a hopeful update on future seasons, saying there may be “other stories to be told.”
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And if there’s one thing Disney is notorious for, it’s easy cash grabs. Considering the unprecedented success of Loki, it would seem like a waste not to follow up on a series so widely loved by both critics and fans — a rarity, as Marvel is at the center of seemingly every Hollywood hit piece these days. Still, if showrunners had a clear vision in mind for a two-part series, then fans would happily make do with the Season 2 finale, as it was, in many ways, the perfect, full-circle ending to Loki’s story — title and all.
Deadpool 3 (2024)
It’s far-fetched, but not entirely out of the picture, to imagine that the Ryan Reynolds-fronted Deadpool threequel could bring back the God of Stories in an albeit unlikely way. Given that the movie is set to resurrect Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and, likely, other X-Men from throughout the universe, the Multiverse will have to factor into the story in some way, shape, or form. Plus, there were rumors of a Mobius cameo, meaning the Merc with a Mouth’s third MCU outing could be more important than you’d think in setting up a larger narrative.
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Thor 5 (TBA)
Marvel has yet actually to confirm a fifth Thor installment, but it’s pretty much guaranteed, though it’s hard to tell if it will come before or after Secret Wars. Unlike its last two entries, Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), the yet-untitled Thor 5 won’t see Taika Waititi in the director’s chair, likely due to Love and Thunder receiving less-than-favorable reviews.
All the right ingredients are there for the “sun to shine” on Thor and Loki again, though things get a bit more tricky when considering the latter’s new role as the God of Stories. However, Kevin Wright previously confirmed to Variety the plan for Chris Hemsworth’s Thor to eventually reunite with Loki is a “priority,” noting how the desire to set that up emotionally has been the “goal” of the Disney+ show.
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Exactly where or when the brothers’ inevitable reunion will take place is currently unclear, but with Hemsworth almost certain to return for Thor 5, perhaps Hiddleston could make his way back to the franchise after skipping out on Love and Thunder in a way that’s satisfying to all the character growth he underwent in his Disney+ solo series.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (2026)
This one is perhaps a given, but considering Loki’s extensive history with He Who Remains, the Asgardian trickster has an intimate knowledge of Kang variants that could prove useful to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes when the inevitable Multiversal War breaks loose.
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Thanks to the expertise and rivalry he has built against him across both seasons of his Disney+ show, Loki could well end up being one of the most important characters in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty as he leads the way and, perhaps, even warps time itself to bring the treat of Majors’ supervillain to the attention of the Avengers. Fighting alongside the team would give the Avengers a huge advantage and would see his full circle character arc complete, being the first villain the team faced in 2012 and now, an ally.
Avengers: Secret Wars (2027)
Another given, but it would be a massive waste on Marvel’s behalf not to feature Loki in Avengers: Secret Wars as the fight against Kang comes to an epic climax. While it would be excusable if Loki sat out The Kang Dynasty, which will likely see the Avengers learning out the threat of Kang, it would be downright distracting in Secret Wars, as he’s the only person who can bring together heroes from all across the Multiverse he now watches over at the end of time as the “God of Stories.”
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As one of the Multiverse’s most powerful beings, Loki could even be the only person to defeat Kang. Disappointing as it might be, this could mean he may pull a big Iron Man-level sacrifice play, finally closing out his MCU journey by proving once and for all that he’s capable of doing good.
Which MCU project are you most looking forward to seeing next? Let us know in the comments below!
The “God of Stories” now sits alone in his throne at the end of time, but could #Loki come back for future #MCU movies and TV shows? Read More