Miss Minutes Explained By Loki Director

Loki director Kate Herron explains the TVA’s mysterious mascot Miss Minutes. Ever since various promotional material for the upcoming MCU Disney+ series revealed the Time Variance Authority’s supposed cartoon mascot, fans have been wondering how Miss Minutes will factor into the narrative. Loki finds Tom Hiddleston’s God of Mischief taken into custody by the TVA, a bureautic organization led by Agent Mobius (Owen Wilson) and tasked with mending the multiverse after the mercurial Marvel villain messes with the timeline.

As with most MCU characters and storylines, the inspiration for the TVA and their cartoon mascot can be found in the original source material, Marvel’s comics. The Time Variance Authority itself has a long and varied history in the comics, first appearing in a Thor issue from 1986. Miss Minutes’ first appearance in the MCU came in a Loki trailer, in which the cartoon clock briefly appears behind bars on a television screen. After her prominent position on a promotional poster for Loki, fans began speculating that this silly cartoon clock may play a larger role than a mere mascot.

Now, in an interview with Screen Rant, Loki director Kate Herron is opening up about the mysterious TVA’s even more mysterious mascot Miss Minutes. Herron explains the character, voiced by Tara Strong, will act as the show's introduction to the TVA and also discusses some of the inspiration for the cartoon clock’s design. Read Herron’s full explanation below:

One thing I would say that's so fun about it to me is that the show has a lot of British sensibilities and British comedy, because that's me. But Michael Waldron, our writer, is from the south in America. And I feel Miss Minutes is him in a way, like just the way she talks.

And I think it's so fun, because initially we have Miss Minutes [as] kind of our introduction to the TVA. She was almost like our Mr. DNA from Jurassic Park, in that she was explaining: who are the TVA? How does the world work? What are the rules? And I think that was fun in itself. But then I think we found, as we were developing the stories more, we just kept wanting to bring her back and spend more time with her because she's such fun.

In terms of her design, I had a great time because I was really inspired by cartoons like Felix the Cat - and I suppose that really unique opportunity to film this Roger Rabbit-esque character that's just interacting with all our actors. It was really fun delving into her, and I've been really excited by how happy everyone is to see her. So yeah, we hope you enjoy more of Miss Minutes.

Since she was first featured in promotion material, Miss Minutes has been shrouded in mystery, but based on Herron’s explanation above, it sounds like her role will become apparent very early on in the series, along with the TVA’s history in the process. In the past, Marvel fully embraced the mysterious aura the character carries, sharing a coded message on Miss Minutes’ Twitter account.

It was previously assumed that Miss Minutes would play only a small role, but it sounds like she will play a crucial role in introducing and explaining the TVA, and might even become a recurring character in the MCU. With Loki’s first episode having aired on June 9, hopefully the mystery surrounding Miss Minutes will soon begin to dissipate.

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.

Next: Who Is Loki's Cartoon Clock? Miss Minutes Explained