The latest Loki trailer confirms the Trickster God is behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s multiverse problem. While MCU films like Black Widow and Eternals have seen release delays, Marvel’s Disney+ series have been forging a new path for the shared universe. After Avengers: Endgame, Loki got a second lease on life, stealing the Tesseract during the Avengers’ time heist and pulling a disappearing act that will put him in the crosshairs of the Time Variance Authority. With the introduction of the multiverse, Loki essentially confirms the Trickster God’s actions are behind it all. 

As Loki’s June 11 premiere approaches, new footage is being released to get fans excited for what’s to come. While it’s been made clear Loki will be arrested by the TVA, the agency responsible for maintaining and protecting the flow of time, the newest trailer reveals the villain’s actions in Avengers: Endgame actually broke reality. It's an impressive feat considering all that happened in Endgame. In the film, The Avengers' version of Loki, who had been arrested for trying to take over the world, is successful in retrieving the Tesseract, vanishing from the primary timeline wherein he existed and changing the course of time forever. His actions in Endgame effectively set up the plot for his standalone Disney+ show, which sees TVA agent Mobius asking for the Trickster God’s help in fixing the timeline he wrecked. 

Related: Marvel Theory: Loki Planned The Chitauri Invasion To Unite The Avengers

It’s a known fact the MCU was branching out into the multiverse, what with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness putting it right there in the title and Spider-Man: No Way Home hinting at the multiverse with the arrival of Doctor Octopus and Electro from Spider-Man 2 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, respectively. While it’s no surprise Loki is going the same route, revealing he’s responsible for the MCU’s multiverse issue is notable — and completely on brand for the Trickster God, who is nothing if not meddlesome — because it confirms the problem won’t necessarily be fixed by the end of his show. 

loki trailer mcu timeline multiverse

Loki’s departure from his primary timeline seems to be the reason behind the multiverse’s creation to begin with, especially with the TVA’s time chart suggesting the chronology of the universe was previously a smooth line. Now, it literally has mini branches indicating alternate realities and changes (that may or may not be permanent). What's more, the existence of the multiverse may, perhaps, be made even worse with Loki’s attempts to evade the TVA, with the multiverse chaos he started likely bleeding over into other Marvel properties thereafter. At the very least, Loki’s time jumping explains the reason why the TVA is revealing its existence now and getting directly involved in the Trickster God’s latest kerfuffle. It seems they’ve previously remained on the sidelines while monitoring the time stream.  

The chaos Loki will wreak on the timeline will likely be immense. One could argue that his escape with the Tesseract wouldn’t have happened at all if the Avengers hadn’t time traveled to the past. However, they did attempt to adhere to the rules, whereas Loki doesn't seem to care for them one way or the other. With all the time traveling in Avengers: Endgame, things were bound to go wrong at some point and Loki’s disappearance from his original timeline creates alternate realities that might have not existed otherwise. His being behind the multiverse issue in Loki keeps him connected to Phase Four of the MCU, with the possibility of his continued involvement set until the problem is more or less solved.   

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