Loki's "Hero" Song Mocks Thor's Absence From Disney+ Show

Warning: SPOILERS for Loki Episode 2 - "The Variant".

Loki episode 2 begins with a well-chosen song that mocks Thor's (Chris Hemsworth) absence from the Disney+ show. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) joins up with the Time Variance Authority to hunt a Variant Loki causing havoc through time. But that very villain, who was revealed to be a Lady Loki (Sophia Di Martino), struck first at a renaissance fair in 1985 Wisconsin and attacked a team of TVA Minutemen, accompanied by a clever song choice.

Thor isn't in Loki, although the God of Thunder did appear in footage from Avengers: Endgame that showed how the God of Mischief escaped S.H.I.E.L.D. custody in 2012 thanks to Loki swiping the Tesseract. However, the Thor movies are a major part of Loki, who is now displaced and considered a Variant from the Sacred Timeline maintained by the Time-Keepers. Loki received a download of what happened to his other self thanks to the TVA's Time Theater and Holo-Projector technology: the trickster saw key events like the death of his adoptive mother, Frigga (Rene Russo), in Thor: The Dark World and the death of his counterpart at the hands of Thanos (Josh Brolin) in Avengers: Infinity War.

However, Thor: Ragnarok was heavily referenced in Loki episode 2, and this ties in nicely to the opening scene when the hooded Lady Loki led the TVA into a trap and played Bonnie Tyler's "I Need a Hero" as she attacked the Minutemen. "I Need A Hero" isn't just a jaunty 1980s pop song, it also plays into how Thor sees and refers to himself constantly in Ragnarok. In his narration when Ragnarok begins, Thor describes himself as "a bit of a hero" with false humility, and later, he tries to recruit Valkyrie's (Tessa Thompson) help by reminding her, "That's what heroes do!" Bonnie Tyler's "I Need a Hero" playing while the unsuspecting Minutemen are slaughtered and kidnapped highlights how the God of Thunder - and the pure heroism Thor represents - is missing from the Disney+ show. The song lyrics, which begin with "Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods?" aptly describe Thor, but are also a pointed reference that there's no mighty God of Thunder to save everyone this time.

"I Need a Hero" is an amusing reminder that Loki is a show without a traditional Marvel superhero at its center to fight for what's right. Instead, the 'good guys' are the TVA, who are essentially a group of overworked bureaucrats, and Loki, a variant the TVA clearly don't trust and are reluctantly working with. As for Loki himself, is the God of Mischief even trying to be a hero? Loki has already spoken candidly that his endgame is to finagle an audience with the Time-Keepers and overthrow them so he can rule the TVA, which he sees as "the greatest power in the universe". This variant of Loki is not a hero and he never was. In fact, to Loki, the events of The Avengers when he was leading a Chitauri invasion to conquer Earth were just a few days ago. Loki may have had a rude awakening that he's "a villain" in episode 1, but he's hardly on the side of the angels.

Loki would be a very different show if Thor was involved because the God of Thunder would dominate the proceedings and Thor can be counted on to doggedly do the heroic thing every time. The fact that Loki is a show without a traditional superhero is a refreshing and intriguing change for Marvel. The fun of Loki is setting up the God of Mischief, who is at best, an anti-hero, against an even more nefarious version of the trickster god. Whatever actions Loki takes won't be the clear-cut right thing to do, which makes the series always feel like a wildcard. Loki is a no-Thor and no heroes zone instead. And while "I Need a Hero" may plead for a champion like Thor to save the day, Loki is, amusingly, the best chance the TVA has got, for better or worse.

Next: Why Loki Follows Lady Loki At The End Of Episode 2

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.