Trailer Breakdown: Marvel Studios’ Loki Trailer 1 & 2
Tasnia Shahrin, Anindya Arif
Marvel surprised its fans by dropping the second Loki trailer, which hints at the God of mischief falling into the pitfalls of a time travel adventure of his making. With the first trailer showing multiple hints and upcoming reality shifting, this recent one opens with Loki getting captured by the Time Variance Authority, who moderate the official timelines within the multiverse; the Avengers separate timeline during New York’s battle, get Loki captured with Tesseract. After which, he gets taken to their Headquarters outside the regular MCU space-time. An important thing to note is that this particular version of Loki did not get his redemption arc in Thor the dark world and has just been humiliated by the Hulk after being tossed around.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige described it as a “crime thriller” Loki will finally reveal to the fans what the infamous God of Mischief (Tom Hiddleston) has been doing. He got his hands on the Tesseract during Avengers: Endgame’s time heist gone wrong. In the recently released trailer, we see the Trickster getting lost in time and multiple realities, and at point bringing us to TVA – a mysterious organisation led by Owen Wilson.
In the first trailer, we find Loki inside a strange building that appears to have a large number of floors, each with peculiar names: LK3, 2W1, FHF, VG2, 3FG, CET, XN1, and TSL, as well as “x” and “=” signs in the middle, and a symbol that looks like a smiley face.
While this seems super confusing for now, one interpretation, given the basis of the show is time-heist, could be that – each level of the house could be the different realities and timelines of this universe. Whatever the meaning is, the graphics applied to portray these settings were definitely on point and added to the fans’ curiosity and excitement.
From the settings, let us now think a bit about TVA. The comics have now recognised as an organisation that monitors the multiverse and maintains discipline throughout the interdimensional order. Hence, seeing a trickster like Loki roam around with Tessaract, an infinity stone that can open rifts through space, is a particular matter of threat to TVA.
“You taking me somewhere to kill me?”
“No, I’m taking you someplace to talk.”
This conversation brings us to Owen’s character as we see him as someone who is not scared by Loki. The question, then, is – who is Wilson playing here? One probable answer could be Mobius M. Mobius – a mid-level TVA manager that we can see in the comics. It can be seen that Owen to have the cropped hair and moustache just like the comics’ character; he could be Mobius until the show confirms.
Next, the graphics changes, and it transports us to a new setting/reality. Here, a hooded figure appears and lights fire all around by throwing a lamp. This is where something puzzling happens. As the fire is scaring all the soldiers from that dimension, one soldier drops a helmet from his head that looks very similar to Captain America’s World War II helmet. While this may be an alternate version of Captain America, the mysterious man under the hood could alternate Loki from a different dimension, who Richard E. Grant could play, according to the rumours.
Apart from that, Time Variance HQ’s interior shot shows the first timekeepers’ statues, which has caused a popular theory to emerge on how they will possibly introduce Kang, the conqueror. Who could be making an appearance in the upcoming Antman 3 film, a big-time villain in the Marvel comics. Apart from this, the office structure and proceedings could be hinting at British styled bureaucratic humour.
They also tease a potential female Loki who could become the main villain as she decapitates a few Time-Variant agents and uses them to open portals. They also tease a scene showing a version of Loki talking to the female Loki in a post-apocalyptic setting. The trailer also shows another version of Loki where he pretended to be Odin and ruled Asgard and inevitably caused Ragnarok to happen. They also offer D.B. Cooper version of him, who in real life had robbed a couple of banks and hijacked a Boeing 727, who then parachuted off the plane, never found his body.
Loki stars our favourite Tom Hiddleston reprising his MCU role as the failed time heist from Avengers: Endgame created this surprise for us. The show will initially only have six episodes from director Kate Herron and will premiere exclusively on Disney+ on Friday, 11 June, 2021.
Tasnia is a proud Slytherin who loves binging on poetry and graphic novels in her free time.
Anindya eats music, fiction, and reality — all for breakfast. Send him fresh recipes at [email protected]