So far, each of Disney+’s Marvel series has featured one standout supporting character who threatens to steal the show from the leads. In WandaVision, it was Kathryn Hahn’s delightfully hammed-up Agatha Harkness. In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it was Wyatt Russell’s brilliantly hateable turn as John Walker, the anti-Steve Rogers.
And in Loki, which recently wrapped up its first season, it was Owen Wilson’s endearing performance as a TVA bureaucrat. Sylvie, Renslayer, and all the alternate Lokis were wildly popular, too, but no one from Loki’s ensemble seemed to grip audiences quite like the jet ski-loving Mobius M. Mobius.
Owen Wilson Shares Terrific Chemistry With Tom Hiddleston
Tom Hiddleston has great chemistry with plenty of his Loki co-stars, from Sophia Di Martino to Richard E. Grant, but his repartee was most electric with Owen Wilson’s Mobius.
Hiddleston and Wilson’s on-screen chemistry was actually already demonstrated a decade ago (complete with time travel) when Hiddleston played F. Scott Fitzgerald and Wilson played a time-traveling writer whisked away to the 1920s in Midnight in Paris.
Mobius And Loki Are Even More Of A Mismatched Buddy Cop Duo Than Sam And Bucky
Taking influence from movies like 48 Hrs. and Midnight Run, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier set out to tell a buddy cop story within the context of the MCU. But since Sam and Bucky weren’t all that different to begin with, the show didn’t really end up playing like that.
If anything, Loki is more of a buddy cop show than TFATWS. Loki and Mobius are a more mismatched pair than Sam and Bucky, while their investigations across the spacetime continuum constantly exemplify their differences.
Wilson’s Indifference To The MCU Was Perfect For The Character
During the press tour for Loki, Owen Wilson made no secret of the fact that he wasn’t in the loop on the MCU when he signed on to star in Loki. In order to understand the dialogue he was saying, Wilson had to be lectured on Marvel lore by Tom Hiddleston.
But this indifference to the MCU was perfect for the character, whose knowledge of the entire universe across all of time gives him some perspective on the insignificance of the Avengers and therefore makes him unimpressed by superheroics.
He’s A Bureaucrat With A Big Heart
Everybody at the TVA is a bureaucrat – that’s the whole idea – but some of its agents are more bureaucratic than others. In the pilot episode, Judge Renslayer’s sense of bureaucracy impresses even Mobius, one of the TVA’s most celebrated agents.
The difference with Mobius is that he’s a bureaucrat with a heart. He wants to get the job done, but he’s also sensitive to the fact that the TVA is meddling with human lives and humans have emotions.
His Simple, No-Frills Existence Is Endearing
While Loki dreams of ruling the world, Mobius dreams of pushing pencils, meeting his deadlines, and doing a good job. He goes to work, he tracks down variants, he prunes them, he closes the book, and he moves on to the next case.
Mobius’ simple, no-frills existence, gleefully accepting the world he inhabits and the life he leads with a positive attitude, is endearing. Of course, that existence turns out to be a lie and Mobius’ life is currently in a cosmic tailspin, but he remains optimistic.
Marvel Fans Are Desperate To See Him Ride A Jet Ski
Ever since Mobius gushed over the jet ski as the greatest creation throughout human history, Marvel fans have been dying to see him ride one. A handful of Photoshoppers and cosplayers among the MCU fanbase have made those dreams come true, but after all the build-up, it needs to happen in the show itself.
The season 1 finale might’ve been too early to get Mobius on a jet ski – if this actually happens, it’ll be a pretty huge moment – so maybe next season or later.
He Makes TVA Exposition Interesting
If there was one problem with the early episodes of Loki, it was all the exposition. But that was a necessary evil to set up the complicated, mind-bending world of the TVA.
It helped a lot that most of the TVA exposition was delivered by Mobius, whose warmth and dry humor made it a lot more compelling than standard exposition dumps.
He Stepped Up To Become A Hero In The Final Episodes Of Season 1
In the early episodes of Loki’s first season, Mobius had an “ignorance is bliss” attitude toward the TVA. It seemed to work, so he accepted his role as a cog in the machine. After learning that his existence is a lie and being pruned by Renslayer, Mobius really steps up to become a hero. He joins the band of Lokis in the Loki-verse and returns to the TVA to burn it down.
The shocking events of the season finale have left Mobius’ future uncertain, but the version of Mobius fans got to know in season 1 stood up for himself, turned on the TVA, and emerged as a hero (albeit a pretty unsuccessful one).
Wilson’s Deadpan Line Deliveries Are Ideal For MCU Quips
Unlike many comedy stars of his era, Owen Wilson has always brought understated line deliveries to his movies, often with a deadpan tone. This style can be traced back to Wilson’s work with the master of quirk, Wes Anderson, in movies like Bottle Rocket, The Life Aquatic, and The Darjeeling Limited.
Wilson’s turn as Mobius in Loki has been reminiscent of his work with Anderson, and those deadpan deliveries have paired perfectly with the MCU’s signature quips.
Mobius Is The Perfect Foil For The God Of Mischief
Mobius is the polar opposite of Loki. He never knowingly lies to people; he knows everything and never feels the need to flex that knowledge; he’s happy to be a follower and has no ambitions of being a leader; and above all, he’s a nice guy. As the anti-Loki, Mobius is the perfect foil for the God of Mischief. Mobius even inspired Loki to become a better person (well, Mobius and Sylvie).
When the trickster goes on one of his rambling, pontificating, pseudo-Shakespearean monologues, Mobius always swoops in with the perfect put-down. After Loki goes on and on about why he would never stab somebody in the back, Mobius fires back, “Loki, I’ve studied almost every moment of your entire life – you’ve literally stabbed people in the back like 50 times!”