‘Loki’ is one of the MCU’s best chapters yet

Posted on August 6, 2021

By MARK VIOLA

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which now contains 23 movies and three television series. (I’m not counting “Agents of SHIELD” or the Netflix shows like “Daredevil” because they are not currently considered part of the official “canon” of the MCU.)

To date, we have had three new television series debut on Disney+ expanding the MCU, beginning with “WandaVision,” which I reviewed after the show ran its course in March, followed by “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and “Loki.”

Over the course of MCU’s 13-year existence, if there has been one common flaw to be found among the various stories being told, it is lack of truly good villains. Many are sadly generic and not terribly well developed from a character perspective.

Early on, the glaring exception to this was Loki (Tom Hiddelston), who was introduced in the original “Thor” film and served as the primary villain in “The Avengers” who prompted the formation of the team.

He would return for the two “Thor” sequels, as well as “Avengers: Infinity War,” before making a surprise cameo in “Avengers: Endgame,” during which he made an unexpected exit to destinations unknown.

I have to admit, I felt Loki’s story had mostly run its course, so when it was announced that “Loki” would be one of the first three TV series to debut in the MCU, I was not terribly interested. Then Disney debuted the trailer last December, and I was immediately hooked.

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