Disney+'s Loki was justice for the many cut scenes involving Loki Laufeyson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. From the first Thor to Avengers: Infinity War, Loki has been a fan favorite despite his often villainous portrayal, and with Tom Hiddleston's charm it isn't hard to see why. However, when all of his scenes in the MCU were taken into account, Loki's screen time added up to less than an hour. In addition to limited screen time, Loki also had a large number of his scenes cut from the MCU. If any MCU villain or morally murky character was going to get a Disney+ show, it makes perfect sense it would be the God of Mischief.
Loki was released on June 9th, 2021 as Disney+'s third television series in the MCU. The Disney+ series introduced the Time Variance Authority (TVA), an organization that monitored time travel and preserved the sacred timeline. The TVA recruited a variant Loki to fix the timeline, giving the character a chance to escape being erased from the timeline forever. This gave Loki an excellent chance to play a hero, even though selfish motivations continued to drive him.
Loki gave some much-owed screentime to the beloved character, who had a total of roughly ten scenes cut from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A majority of his screen time occurred in Thor and Thor: The Dark World, which was considered the MCU's weakest entry at the time. Although Loki played a memorable villain in The Avengers, much of his character development was left on the editing floor. Perhaps, the most puzzling of these cut scenes was from Thor, where Loki was crowned King of Asgard. Beforehand, Loki has a conversation with his mother, who urges that she lied to him for his own good. Loki felt cast aside as Odin's son and his insecurities were amplified when he found out he was adopted. This scene conveyed Loki as a vulnerable character, as an outsider, and through Hiddleston's powerful acting it would be hard to watch this and not see the humanity in his performance.
Loki gave the character more screen time but also gave him the opportunity to play the anti-hero. Throughout the MCU, Loki walked the line between hero and villain, slipping into the former for the most part. However, Loki was a fan favorite because he didn't fit neatly into the category of either hero or villain when the sum total of his screen time was added up. His outsider status was exemplified in Loki when the variant classic Loki played by Richard E. Grant told other variants of Loki that they have one part to play: "the God of Outcasts."
As a dynamic actor, it seemed natural that Tom Hiddleston could carry an entire show. However, he got help from Owen Wilson who played Mobius, an agent of the TVA. Their banter worked because of their natural chemistry and the clear setup of opposing ideals: free will versus fate. While Morbius believed that the TVA was good and set up the true timeline, Loki believed in challenging the system. While Loki was criticized by some for focusing less on the lovable Loki and more on the show's time/timeline travel mechanics, the series highlighted Loki's ideals of freedom and chaos through the concept of time travel in Phase 4.
Nearly a year later, Loki has achieved justice for the MCU's biggest cut crime. The show was a ride that gave Hiddleston more than enough room to showcase his talent and bring Loki back to life, arguably making up for the amount of material abandoned by the studio. Through Loki and Tom Hiddleston's commitment to the character, the MCU scales have finally balanced for the God of Mischief. His upward momentum will likely continue in a big way, as Loki season 2 has already been confirmed for Disney+ with an expected 2023 release date.