How Loki Could Be Phase 5’s Biggest Villain (And Biggest Hero)

Loki could simultaneously end up being the biggest villain and the biggest hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase Five. Loki had a full-circle arc during the first four phases of the MCU. He went from being Thor’s deviously scheming brother and the Avengers’ nemesis to someone who was willing to sacrifice his own life to Thanos — who is someone Loki had previously struck a deal with — to save Thor in Avengers: Infinity War. The Disney+ series Loki is expected to introduce different versions of the character by way of the multiverse and that sets up a whole new path for the trickster god.

The Loki series is already a deviation from the character’s original storyline. In Avengers: Endgame, an earlier version of Loki (circa 2012’s The Avengers) stole the Tesseract from the Avengers and vanished from sight. In the trailer for the Disney+ show, it’s revealed that he ended up in another plane of existence, with the Tesseract presumably sending him to a new location that put him in the direct path of the Time Variance Authority, an organization tasked with monitoring the timeline. Loki has been confirmed to be a time travel story, with Richard E. Grant and Sophia Di Martino rumored to be playing Old Loki and Lady Loki, respectively.

Knowing that this version of Loki will be the one who has yet to be reformed means that he could still be evil in the show. It’s basically like having a reset button on the character, with the series potentially harkening back to the days when Loki was constantly up to no good. The first footage from the show seems to indicate as much. With the power of the Tesseract and the knowledge that other timelines exist, Loki could carry on planning nefarious schemes to obtain power and control over the timeline itself.

Tom Hiddleston's Loki, dressed in a green suit, from his TV spinoff's teaser

It’s possible that he will even pick up where he left off in The Avengers in a bid to become the supreme ruler of Earth, a plan that was effectively thwarted by the titular superheroes in the film. Fans are already banking on this being the case and this iteration of Loki would allow him to become one of the greatest MCU villains in Phase Five, as he'd originally intended prior to the trickster god’s change of heart. The show’s use of different timelines essentially frees the character up to be bad while simultaneously maintaining the original timeline of events up to Endgame.

With the possibility of multiple Lokis, the Disney+ series could counteract evil Loki with a more heroic version of him. In the comics, the character is reincarnated into Kid Loki, a younger version who has lost his abilities after his death in the Siege of Asgard. Kid Loki is admittedly not very villainous, though he does maintain a lot of his mischievous traits. However, Kid Loki is arguably far more heroic than any version of the adult Loki and was even briefly a member of the Young Avengers.

Considering that Loki creates an alternate timeline, Kid Loki is speculated to be a part of the show. His introduction could be a great way to showcase the duality of Loki's identity. After all, a big part of Kid Loki’s arc in the comics is about evolving to become a better person, a stark difference to that of his adult counterpart. The trickster god could learn a few things from his younger self and Loki presents the best opportunity to explore both characters before potentially carrying them over into the MCU’s Phase Five.

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