Loki's showrunner Michael Waldron has confirmed that the show's second season will continue trying to subvert fan expectation. The show's first season ended on a substantial cliff-hanger with huge implications for the MCU and the rest of Phase 4. The finale saw Tom Hiddleston's eponymous god of mischief and his female variant, Sophia Di Martino's Sylvie finally confront the man behind the TVA, simply referred to as He Who Remains - a variant of Kang the Conqueror played by Jonathan Majors. Sylvie ended up killing He Who Remains after throwing Loki through a portal, thereby shattering the sacred timeline and unleashing chaos upon the multiverse. The closing moments saw Loki seek help from his friends in the TVA, only to not be recognized by them as he discovered that he was trapped in alternate reality.

The ending of Loki is set to have a significant impact on the events of future Marvel films, with Loki reportedly returning in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, and the branching multiverse may also go a way to explaining the presence of Natalie Portman's Mighty Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder. After the finale it was announced that Kate Herron, who directed all six episodes of Loki would not be returning for the second season which came a disappointment to many viewers. Likewise, it's unclear if Waldron will also be returning as showrunner.

Related: Loki Set Up A Villain Even Bigger Than Kang

Speaking to Insider however, Waldron revealed while his status on season 2 is unclear, he promised that Loki won't fall into the trap of fan-service. While there were elements of the show that were correctly predicted by fans, such as Jonathan Major's appearance in the final episode, the show still managed to keep people guessing throughout its run. Waldron claimed that it's an important to maintain a balance when working on a show such as Loki, stating that "you have to understand the parts of the expectations that are delicious and worth biting into". You can read Waldron's full statement below:

"Part of any creative team's job is trusting their own instincts, especially working in big IP projects like this. That's what you have to do. You have to understand the parts of the expectations that are delicious and worth biting into and the parts where you're better off creating something totally new." 

Loki and Sylvie preparing to fight.

Waldron added that this was the philosophy that he and his team of writers took when approaching the first season. He noted that the expectation was that "this was ... a time travel show about Loki, so people expected Loki influencing historical events — he's going to ride with Paul Revere," before noting how the writers asked themselves "How can we turn that on its head as much as possible?" Waldron was correct, many of the trailers for Loki suggested different historical settings, such as the brief clip of Loki as D.B. Cooper. What came to be was nothing like this at all, but although what was expected never truly came to fruition, the show managed to deliver a satisfying adventure for fans all the same.

Arguably, what Loki actually delivered was far better than what was initially expected. As such, viewers should have faith that the show will continue to deliver into its second season. Fan-service is often one of the greatest detriments to any production with a large fan-base, but simultaneously the risk of creating a twist for the sake of a twist can be be equally harmful. So as long as Loki's creative team can continue to maintain this balance, whether or not Waldron is involved, then fans can rest-assured that they should continue to expect the unexpected in Loki's highly-anticipated second season.

More: Where Ravonna Renslayer Went In The Loki Finale Explained

Source: Insider

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