Loki (TV series)

Loki is an upcoming American web television miniseries created for Disney+ by Michael Waldron, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. The series is produced by Marvel Studios, with Waldron serving as head writer and Kate Herron directing.

Loki
Genre
Created byMichael Waldron
Based on
Written byMichael Waldron
Directed byKate Herron
Starring
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
Production
Executive producer(s)
  • Kevin Feige
  • Michael Waldron
  • Stephen Broussard
  • Kate Herron
CinematographyAutumn Durald
Production company(s)Marvel Studios
DistributorDisney Media Distribution
Release
Original networkDisney+
Chronology
Related showsMarvel Cinematic Universe television series

Tom Hiddleston reprises his role as Loki from the film series. Sophia Di Martino, Owen Wilson, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw also star. With Marvel Studios developing a number of limited series for Disney+ centered on supporting characters from the MCU films, the series was officially confirmed in November 2018, along with Hiddleston's involvement. Waldron was hired in February 2019, and Herron had joined by that August. Filming of the series began in January 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia and was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production is expected to resume in August 2020.

Loki is expected to be released in early 2021, and will consist of six episodes. It will be part of Phase Four of the MCU.

Premise

After the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), Loki uses the Tesseract to travel through time and alter human history.[1]

Cast and characters

Main

Additionally, Sophia Di Martino,[3] Owen Wilson,[4] and Gugu Mbatha-Raw have been cast in undisclosed roles.[5]

Guest

Episodes
No.TitleDirected by [7]Written byOriginal release date [8]
1TBAKate HerronMichael Waldron[9]Early 2021 (2021)

Production

Development

By September 2018, Marvel Studios was developing several limited series for its parent company Disney's streaming service, Disney+, to be centered on supporting characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe films who had not starred in their own films, such as Loki; the actors who portrayed the characters in the films were expected to reprise their roles for the limited series. The series were expected to be six to eight episodes each and have a "hefty [budget] rivaling those of a major studio production". The series would be produced by Marvel Studios, rather than Marvel Television who produced previous television series in the MCU. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was believed to be taking a "hands-on role" in each series' development,[10] focusing on "continuity of story" with the films and "handling" the actors who would be reprising their roles from the films.[11] Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed in November that a series centered on Loki was in development and that Tom Hiddleston was expected to reprise his role from the film series.[12]

Michael Waldron was hired as head writer and executive producer of the series in February 2019. He was also set to write the pilot episode. The series was expected to follow Loki as he "pops up throughout human history as an unlikely influencer on historical events".[9] A month later, Feige stated that Loki is over a thousand years old in the MCU films, so the series would be exploring what he has done throughout his long life. He added that the interest for Marvel Studios in making the series was to work with Hiddleston more and explore the character of Loki beyond him being a supporting character in the films.[13] Hiddleston explained in August 2019 that he had known about his cameo role in Avengers: Endgame (2019) when he filmed Loki's death for Avengers: Infinity War (2018), but he considered the latter to be the emotional end of his character arc. He then learned about the plans for a Loki series around six weeks before Infinity War was released, and kept the series a secret until its official announcement later that year. He expressed excitement about being able to change Loki in different ways by taking an earlier version of the character and "seeing him come up against more formidable opponents, the like of which he has never seen".[14] Also that month, Kate Herron was revealed to be directing and executive producing the miniseries, which was confirmed to run for six episodes.[7][15][16]

Writing
Hiddleston promoting the series at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con

The series takes place after Avengers: Endgame, which saw Loki steal the Tesseract during the 2012 events of The Avengers (2012),[8] which created an alternate timeline from the main MCU films.[17] In the series, Loki uses the Tesseract to travel through time and alter human history.[1] In August 2019, Herron stated that the series would be "taking Loki to an entirely new part of the MCU" while Waldron said it would "explore the questions we all have: where did Loki go after he picked up the Tesseract? Could Loki ever make a friend? And will the sun ever shine on him again?"[7] Executive producer Stephen Broussard stated that in addition to the time travel element, the series would have a "man-on-the-run quality to it".[18] Waldron also felt the series would explore the character's "struggle with identity", adding "over the first 10 years of movies, he's out of control at pivotal parts of his life, he was adopted and everything and that manifest itself through anger and spite towards his family."[19] Waldron added there would be an "unexpected" science fiction quality to the series.[20] According to Feige, the series will tie-into the Phase Four film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).[21]

Casting

With the November 2018 announcement of the series, Hiddleston was expected to reprise his role as Loki,[12] with his involvement confirmed in February 2019 by Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan F. Horn.[2] In November 2019, Sophia Di Martino was cast in a "highly contested" unspecified role,[3] reported to be a female incarnation of Loki.[22] In January 2020, Owen Wilson joined the cast as "a prominent character",[4] followed the next month with the casting of Gugu Mbatha-Raw as the female lead, also said to be "a prominent character".[5]

In March 2020, Richard E. Grant was cast in an undisclosed role for a single episode of the series.[6]

Filming

Filming began in January 2020,[23][4] under the working title River Cruise,[24] with Herron directing.[7] Autumn Durald serves as cinematographer for the series.[16] Location shooting took place in the Atlanta metropolitan area throughout the month of February.[25] On March 14, filming for the series was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[26] Production is scheduled to resume at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in August.[27]

Marketing

A commercial for the series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and WandaVision was shown during Super Bowl LIV.[28] Julia Alexander of The Verge said the footage "wasn't much" but offered "enough glimpses to tease fans".[29] Haleigh Foutch at Collider felt of all the Super Bowl commercials, Marvel's teasers "stole the whole show" and had "a lot to get excited about".[30]

Release

Loki is expected to debut on Disney+ in early 2021,[8] and will consist of six episodes to be released weekly rather than all at once.[15][31] It will be part of Phase Four of the MCU.[32]

References
  1. Steele, Sean (August 11, 2019). "Exclusive: New Details on 'Loki' Disney+ Series, How It Will Tie Into 'Thor: Love & Thunder'". FandomWire. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  2. McClintock, Pamela (February 21, 2019). "Disney Film Chief Alan Horn Talks Fox Merger, 'Star Wars' and Pixar Post-John Lasseter". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  3. Kroll, Justin (November 15, 2019). "'Loki': Sophia Di Martino to Co-Star With Tom Hiddleston in Marvel Series (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on November 16, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  4. Boucher, Geoff; Andreeva, Nellie (January 31, 2020). "'Loki': Owen Wilson Joins Marvel Series On Disney+". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 31, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  5. Andreeva, Nellie (February 11, 2020). "'Loki': Gugu Mbatha-Raw Joins Marvel Series On Disney+". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  6. Thorne, Will (March 11, 2020). "'Loki' Disney Plus Series Adds Richard E. Grant". Variety. Archived from the original on March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  7. Vejvoda, Jim (August 24, 2019). "Loki Will Take Character "to an Entirely New Part of the MCU"". IGN. Archived from the original on August 24, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  8. Sandwell, Ian (July 21, 2019). "Marvel finally confirm Phase 4 movies at Comic-Con". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on July 21, 2019. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  9. Kit, Borys (February 15, 2019). "Marvel's 'Loki' Series Lands 'Rick and Morty' Writer (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 18, 2019. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  10. Kroll, Justin (September 18, 2018). "Loki, Scarlet Witch, Other Marvel Heroes to Get Own TV Series on Disney Streaming Service (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on September 19, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  11. Boucher, Geoff; Hipes, Patrick (October 30, 2018). "Marvel Duo Falcon & Winter Soldier Teaming For Disney Streaming Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 31, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  12. Chmielewski, Dawn C.; Hipes, Patrick (November 8, 2018). "'Rogue One' Prequel Series in Works For Disney's Streaming Service, Now Named Disney+". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 8, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  13. Rotten Tomatoes. Kevin Feige On Planning the 'Infinity War' Ending, 'Captain Marvel', And Honoring Stan Lee. YouTube. Archived from the original on September 9, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  14. Butler, Tom (August 16, 2019). "Tom Hiddleston kept his 'Loki' secret for a very long time". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on August 16, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  15. Bonomolo, Cameron (August 23, 2019). "Loki to Get Six 1-Hour Episodes Directed by Kate Herron". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  16. Fisher, Jacob (November 16, 2019). "Autumn Durald Joins 'Loki' (Exclusive)". Discussing Film. Archived from the original on November 16, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  17. Davis, Brandon (May 15, 2019). "How Loki's New Timeline Plays Out After Avengers: Endgame". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  18. Dinh, Christine (November 13, 2019). "What's Next for the Marvel Cinematic Universe After 'Avengers: Endgame'". Marvel.com. Archived from the original on November 14, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  19. Whitbrook, James; Jackson, Gordon (March 27, 2020). "The Loki Disney+ Show Wants to Get to the Heart Of His Identity Crisis". io9. Archived from the original on March 27, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  20. Whitbrook, James; Jackson, Gordon (July 15, 2020). "Updates From Loki's Disney+ Series, Stargirl, and More". io9. Archived from the original on July 15, 2020. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  21. Pearson, Ben (November 7, 2019). "Marvel's 'Loki' TV Show Will Tie Into 'Doctor Strange 2'; 'Hawkeye' Was Initially Planned as a Movie". /Film. Archived from the original on November 7, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  22. Andreeva, Nellie; Boucher, Geoff (November 15, 2019). "'Loki': Sophia Di Martino Joins Tom Hiddleston in Marvel Limited Series For Disney+". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 2, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  23. Derschowitz, Jessica (August 1, 2019). "Tom Hiddleston on coming to Broadway with an act of Betrayal". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 2, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  24. Schmidt, JK (September 11, 2019). "Loki Working Title Revealed for Marvel Studios Series". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on September 11, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  25. Walljasper, Matt (February 29, 2020). "What's filming in Atlanta now? Loki, WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Samaritan, DMZ, and more". Atlanta. Archived from the original on March 2, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  26. Kroll, Justin (March 14, 2020). "Marvel's Disney Plus Shows Pause Production Due to Coronavirus". Variety. Archived from the original on March 14, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  27. Sandberg, Bryn Elise (July 2, 2020). "How Georgia Hopes to Lead Hollywood's Return to Production". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 2, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  28. Coogan, Devan (February 2, 2020). "Disney+ drops surprise look at Loki, WandaVision, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 3, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  29. Alexander, Julia (February 2, 2020). "Marvel gives first looks at Falcon and Winter Soldier, Loki, and WandaVision Disney+ series during Super Bowl". The Verge. Archived from the original on February 3, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  30. Foutch, Haleigh (February 2, 2020). "'WandaVision', 'Loki', & 'Falcon and the Winter Soldier' Reveal First Footage in Disney+ Super Bowl Trailer". Collider. Archived from the original on February 4, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  31. Mitovitch, Matt Webb (August 24, 2019). "Disney+ to Release Episodes Weekly: A Welcome Break From Stress-Bingeing?". TV Line. Archived from the original on August 24, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  32. Couch, Aaron; Kit, Borys (July 20, 2019). "Marvel Unveils Post-'Endgame' Slate with 'Eternals', 'Shang-Chi' and Multiple Sequels". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 21, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
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