With its first season drawing to a close recently, Loki has won over critics and audiences alike with its blend of humor, action, and of course, lots of time travel. And unsurprisingly, this unique mix has made it ideal inspiration for memes - on everything from Loki himself to all the Loki variants, to franchise crossovers, to the future of the MCU.
For instance, the reveal of the Time Keeper known as 'He Who Remains' has proven to be easy meme fodder. Another common idea amongst several such memes is to explore the stress that Doctor Strange might face after confronting such drastic changes to the timeline.
Alligator Loki Needs A Hand
Among the various Lokis introduced in the penultimate episode, Alligator Loki seemed to be the strangest as Loki himself finds it hard to believe that a reptile could take his place in an alternate timeline. 'Lending a hand' to this carnivorous creature would surely be risky as can be seen from what he did to President Loki.
In a blink-and-miss moment from the same episode, the viewers can spot a frozen frog wearing Thor's armor and holding his hammer. This clearly proves the possibility of the Variant defeating Throg, an alternate version of Thor who exists as a frog in the 'Pet Avengers' dimension called Earth-97161.
Doctor Strange's 'Multiverse Of Madness'
As is evident from his integral role in cosmic events like Infinity War, Doctor Strange can be seen as an ideal guardian of time as we know it. He can travel through millions of other timelines to look at different outcomes of different futures but he never misuses his prophetic abilities.
However, by Doctor Strange's next adventure in Multiverse of Madness, the Sorcerer Supreme might be called to restore balance in the timeline given how the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase Four would change after the events of WandaVision and Loki. In the latter's case, the possibility of Kang The Conquerer unleashing his destructive abilities also looms large.
Total Chaos For The Next Ten Years
Loki ended up finding sense in the words of He Who Remains (and the history of the Time Keepers, already known to comic fans). But Sylvie was hellbent on killing him once and for all. What Sylvie fails to realize is that her impulsive actions would lead the timeline to branch towards unimaginable limits. This is because even after the Time Keeper dies and she gets her revenge, other evil and dangerous versions of him will arise (like Kang The Conqueror).
The damage has already started as Loki finds himself in a reality where even Mobius has forgotten him and TVA is thrown into time-altering chaos that is way beyond their comprehension.
Classic Loki Supremacy
Richard E Grant's portrayal of an aged Loki (dubbed as 'Classic Loki') has drawn much acclaim with many highlighting his role as a standout performance in the fifth episode. His arc involves him surviving Thanos's attacks and leading a lonely life until he finally gets 'pruned' by the TVA.
While Kid Loki and Alligator Loki prove to be hilarious, Classic Loki adds the dramatic potential as he manages to unleash the full extent of his powers to help Sylvie and Loki in their escape. President Loki also raised some eyebrows but unfortunately, had very limited screentime.
An Apple A Day Keeps Doctor Strange Away
Loki and Sylvie expected to real 'Time Keeper' to be an intimidating figure but in the end, they were surprised to find a human casually chewing on an apple. This is how He Who Remains is introduced.
Given the extreme control he has on the 'Sacred Timeline', it will make for an interesting moment when Doctor Strange encounters one of his variants. Like Kang's powers in the original comic book storylines, even He Who Remains seems to have knowledge on almost every force that will impact the flow of time. As Strange himself wields time-altering powers, the antagonist might surely be aware of the Avenger's activities.
Multiple Lokis
The fourth episode of Loki ended with quite a memorable post-credits scene as Loki wakes up to find his Variants. This meme ups the number of the Variants by introducing all other characters who have shared his likeness.
Two of these other Lokis are interestingly played by Matt Damon. In the 1999 comedy Dogma, he played an Angel of Death called Loki while Matt Damon had a cameo as a theatre actor playing Loki in Thor: Ragnarok. Alan Cummings can also be seen in this meme who played the original Norse version of Loki as a god of mischief in Son of the Mask.
Loki Pointing At Loki
It was a scene from the 1967 Spider-Man animated series that spawned the popular 'Spider-Man pointing' meme. The original template included Spider-Man pointing his finger at an impersonator and was last parodied in a scene from Into The Spiderverse. Given how the multiverse has changed, it is highly possible for the wall-crawler to encounter his own Variants just like Loki.
To add more context, rumors suggest that previous Spider-Man actors like Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield might return in the third film which is further connected to Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness (as confirmed by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige). The return of these actors is clearly one of the most hyped things that fans would want to see in No Way Home.
Multiple Owen Wilsons
Parodying Loki's teleportation to the Void, this meme reimagines a scenario in which Owen Wilson's Mobius wakes up in the Void and finds other Variants of the actor.
These Variants are just other iconic characters played by him, including even animated portrayals in Cars and Fantastic Mr. Fox. Other characters include Hansel from Zoolander and Jedediah from Night At The Museum. Given how badly the timeline has branched after Season 1, it wouldn't be surprising to believe that a realm of multiple Owen Wilsons will exist in the multiverse!
'Hulk Hates Stairs'
To analyze Loki from the start, Hulk walking down the stairs after the Battle of New York (as seen in a funny scene from Avengers: Endgame) triggered a chain reaction of events that will build up to the incoming multiversal war. Because of Hulk's bulky physique, the Avengers ask him to take the stairs instead of the elevator.
Hulk throws tantrums while climbing down the stairs creating chaos in the building's basement. This situation allows Loki to sneakily get his hands on the Tesseract and the rest is history.
The Hype For Phase 4
With the 2021 Marvel shows kicking off Phase Four of the MCU, there has been much hype for upcoming films like Shang Chi, Eternals, and Spider-Man No Way Home. The trailers for the first two have also dropped, increasing the anticipation.
But given how the Loki finale teased a literal 'multiverse of madness', hopes are set high for the Doctor Strange sequel that is most likely to touch upon the notions of time set by the series. Much to the dismay of fans, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will release only in 2022.