Loki’s latest trailer reveals the star of the show is a variant of Loki, but that means another variant of the god of mischief could be his villain. Loki has been taken in by the Time Variance Authority, the organization responsible for maintaining the normal flow of time, and Loki’s existence after Endgame has created a host of problems for them.
The TVA seems to be taking Loki on missions to fix the breaks in the timeline, but the trickster is not keen to cooperate, and the TVA’s supervision is nowhere to be seen in some scenes. The trailer flashes to a variety of settings, ranging from Asgard and a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Loki is going to get around a lot in the timeline, but it’s still unclear whether he’s fixing or further breaking it.
This Loki variant may be set loose on the timeline, but he’s possibly only one of many Loki variants. If he’s not responsible for the bigger problems the trailers hint are developing in the TVA, the villain of the series may be a different Loki. Loki’s biggest looming threat could be himself.
Many details of Loki’s plot and characters are still a mystery for now, but it’s clear that Loki has become a major problem for the multiverse. With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness coming up, the problems will likely only grow during Loki’s adventure, but he may not be the Loki responsible for the worst of it.
Loki's Endgame Ending Broke The Flow Of Time
When the Avengers time traveled in Endgame to bring back the vanished half of the population after Thanos’ snap, they inadvertently unleashed Loki on the timeline. They let Loki get his hands on the Tesseract at the end of their first showdown with him at Avengers Tower, and he escaped custody with the Tesseract’s power. The Timekeepers did not interfere during Endgame’s meddling with time, but they have to pick up the pieces when Loki’s escape changed the timeline. If Loki’s story diverged after the first Avengers movie, many of the ensuing events of the MCU would have been changed in a domino effect. That one fateful mistake created multiple divergences in the normal flow of time.
Loki's Trailer Establishes Variants Exist
When Loki is taken out of the Time Variance Authority in the trailer, they give him a jacket marked “VARIANT,” confirming that he is a divergence from Loki’s previous timeline. The existence of this Loki already means that his timeline has separated from the normal flow of time, essentially creating two Lokis who experienced the events after Avengers differently.
The trailer indicates that Endgame created multiple branching timelines, so the Loki created in this timeline may not be the only variant. Rippling changes from time travel or Loki’s future meddling may create more alternate Lokis. Any version of Loki likely has a penchant for mischief, but another variant may have bigger plans for the timeline or the multiverse.
Who Loki's Hooded Secret Character Could Be
While the trailers have revealed several characters like Mobius M. Mobius and Ravonna Renslayer, one major player remains in the shadows. A hooded figure is featured in the latest trailer in a fight and then dragging off an unknown character. The previous trailer also showed a hooded figure in mysterious circumstances, such as setting a fire with a lantern. Whoever this hooded figure is, they are the likely source of the oncoming storm that will wreck the TVA and possibly the multiverse.
The most common theory is that the hooded figure is Lady Loki, a female guise Loki has taken on the comics. However, some fans speculate that this could be Fantastic Four archenemy Doctor Doom or an agent of Mephisto, Marvel’s devil teased in the first trailer. This character’s identity has to be a secret for a reason, setting up for a big reveal in the course of the show, and there are a limited number of characters significant enough to hide during these teases. One major reason to keep this character secret is if the hooded figure is another Loki variant, from a different timeline or in a different form.
Theory: Loki's Secret Villain Is Another Loki
Loki is often his own worst enemy, but this time that conflict may be more literal, exacerbating the problem Loki has created in the multiverse. If one Loki variant is the cause of so many branches in the timeline, another variant in play could break the multiverse in irreparable ways, especially if the Multiverse of Madness is exactly the plan this other Loki has in mind.
In the comics, it’s not new for Loki to clash with himself. There have been multiple versions of Loki, ranging from Lady Loki to Kid Loki to King Loki, each with their own winding histories of the god of mischief changing forms and remaking himself. In Loki: Agent of Asgard series, he fought with King Loki, his future self who wanted to ruin his redemption to ensure his future of destruction.
The Loki show could be leading up to a similar battle: two variants of Loki from different timelines at odds with each other as they try to bring about their disparate plans. The new trailer revealed several secrets, but is still keeping the identity of the series’ antagonist close to the vest, probably because the character beneath the hood is someone very recognizable. Even in another form, Loki’s signature style is usually apparent. Given the multiple breaks in the timeline, there’s no telling how many Loki variants could be in play working against the TVA’s law and order. Loki is miring the god of mischief in a growing problem with the multiverse, and he may have to battle with himself if he hopes to solve it.