Loki is the MCU’s most viewed Disney+ series, and there are several reasons why it beat the others in this regard. Loki follows a variant of the titular trickster god as he escapes an alternate version of 2012’s The Avengers with the Tesseract, thanks to a botched portion of the Avengers’ Time Heist. When Loki runs afoul of the Time Variance Authority and meets a female Loki variant called Sylvie, the show gradually increases in scale, with potentially long-reaching ramifications for the entire MCU.
Since the conclusion of the Infinity Saga with Avengers: Endgame, the MCU has used Disney+ to populate Phase 4 of the franchise with episode TV series including WandaVision and Loki. Unlike prior live-action TV shows connected to the MCU, such as Agents of SHIELD on ABC and Daredevil on Netflix, the Disney+ shows have, for the most part, been well-integrated into the larger franchise narrative, continuing the stories of cinematic characters and even setting up the movies themselves in some cases. Loki not only focuses on a major antagonist from the MCU’s Phase 1, but it also sets up a villain who may succeed Thanos as the MCU's next great-scale antagonist.
According to Kevin Feige, Loki is the most successful MCU TV series on Disney+ thus far, as well as the only one with a season 2 in development. Loki’s success isn’t surprising when one considers how popular the character is — thanks in large part to Tom Hiddleston’s charismatic portrayal. Not only is Loki’s titular protagonist the most popular MCU character in all of the Disney+ shows so far, but Loki's story is the most different and impactful MCU plotline to happen on the streaming service. And when combined with a mixture of action and comedy, this led to an excellent reception from critics and viewers alike.
The Disney+ version of Loki picks up where he left off in 2012’s The Avengers and thus doesn’t experience his character development from the second two MCU phases. The Loki TV series brings him up to speed while simultaneously shattering his worldview, rendering the power of the Infinity Stones apparently meaningless and showing Loki that he’s destined to die betraying Thanos. By the season 1 finale of Loki, the villainous trickster god no longer cares about ruling others and wishes to simply have a meaningful connection to someone — which he finds, albeit briefly, in Sylvie.
Not only is Loki’s character development so compelling for viewers in Loki, but the series also exists on perhaps the grandest scale yet in the MCU. The TVA governs the entire multiverse, having been designed by the mysterious He Who Remains to stave off a multiversal war. Loki sets the tone for a new villain on an even larger scale by not only dismissing the Infinity Stones early on but also by setting up Kang the Conqueror as the MCU’s greatest threat yet.
Adding to all of this are simultaneously funny and emotional performances by Loki’s cast, with the titular protagonist having notable chemistry with co-stars Owen Wilson and Sophia Di Martino. When considering the popularity of Loki as a character and combining it with a refreshingly different MCU storyline and fascinating character development, it’s no surprise that the Loki series is so successful. With a second season on the way, Loki is currently the most viewed MCU TV series on Disney+, a record that won’t be easily beaten.
