[The following contains spoilers for Loki season 1, episode 6]
The season 1 finale of Loki was a nail-biting, suspense-ridden tumble through time and space, and left viewers with a cliffhanger that—according to the show's director—wasn't originally supposed to happen. Season 1, episode 6 of Loki arrived on Disney+ last Wednesday. Since then, fans have been left to speculate about the God of Mischief's future, and what exactly the addition of a multiverse means for upcoming MCU projects.
Loki's season finale quietly introduced the MCU's next big supervillian: He Who Remains, A.K.A., Kang the Conqueror. Played by Jonathan Majors, Kang is found at his citadel after Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) successfully enchant Alioth, the trans-temporal entity seen in episode 5. Kang, looking to retire from his job of overseeing the sacred timeline, gives the two variants an ultimatum: kill him and face the consequences, or seize power over the timeline themselves, at the cost of allowing the TVA to continue. Loki and Sylvie suddenly find themselves with conflicting opinions. Sylvie ultimately chooses to betray Loki in order to fulfill her lifelong thirst for revenge, and murders Kang. The remainder of the episode sees Loki, Sylvie, Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) facing the consequences of a shattered multiverse in which power-hungry Kang variants won.
In an interview with Variety, director Kate Herron revealed that Loki wasn't originally supposed to end with a cliffhanger. The finale, in what was perhaps the most heartbreaking moment of the season, ended after Loki discovered he was in an unfamiliar reality for the TVA in which Mobius and Hunter B-15 didn't recognize him. Read Herron's full comments below:
“When I started, there wasn’t a discussion of Season 2, exactly. It was just that season of ‘Loki.’ As we got deeper into production, everyone was very happy, and obviously there’s so much to explore with Loki. It felt like we should continue the story. So I think the cliffhanger ending came in later in the process.”
After that major cliffhanger ending, viewers were left with many questions: which reality of the TVA did our Loki land in? What will be the fate of the TVA? Where did Sylvie go? Fans of the show might get some answers in the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is set to premiere in March 2022. As the title suggests, the movie will explore the multiverse after Loki and Sylvie fully unleashed it. Additionally, followers of the MCU can expect to see more of Kang in Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantmania, slotted to release sometime in 2023. Majors' casting in the role was announced last year to the delight of many Marvel comics readers. In order to keep it a surprise, Majors lied when asked if his character would make an appearance in Loki last month.
While she won't be returning as the show's director, Herron and the other writers of Loki managed give the series an ending that rivaled that of Avengers: Infinity War, without even knowing if a second season would follow. Thankfully for fans, the season finale included a post-credits scene that confirmed Loki would be returning for a season 2. According to Tom Hiddleston, discussions surrounding the upcoming season have already begun, meaning viewers can expect much more of Loki's time-twisty adventures through the multiverse.
Source: Variety