The Marvel Cinematic Universe will return on Wednesday with the new show “Loki.”
“Loki” focuses on the character Loki, who is fresh off grabbing the Tesseract during “Avengers: Endgame.” Soon, Loki is arrested by the Time Variance Authority, who ask for his help in stopping a time-jumping criminal.
I attended a virtual press conference for “Loki” on Monday. Here are some of the major takeaways from the cast and crew.
Tom Hiddleston — Loki
Hiddleston said it was a delight and surprise to play Loki again.
“I was so excited by the idea and also had to scratch my head about it,” he said.
He said the scene in “Infinity War” where Loki died felt conclusive and like the end of Loki’s story. But the scene in “Avengers: Endgame” — where he picked up the Tesseract and transported away — raised questions about what happened to Loki. He was told that scene would be the starting point of the new series.
“There were so many places we could go. So many possibilities to think about,” he said.
Some of those possibilities include answering questions about who Loki is and where he is going next. It’s something that Hiddleston doesn’t mind diving back into, though.
“I just love playing the character and I always have. I feel so fortunate that I’m still here,” he said. “He’s a character of huge range so it never feels like the same experience. ... I owe it to everybody who has ever written this character.”
He added, “He clearly means so much to so many people for so many reasons.” He said Loki shows us the “human thing about being vulnerable.”
Gugu Mbatha-Raw — Judge Renslayer
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who plays Judge Runslayer, said she enjoyed her new role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the strict judge of the Time Variance Authority. And she hinted that there may be more of her in the future.
“There’s plenty of potential for her in the future as well,” she said.
Wunmi Mosaku — Hunter B-15
Before “Loki” started, Wunmi Mosaku said she got a “lecture” by “Loki” director Kate Herron about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The two discussed the timeline from “Iron Man” to the season finale of “Loki.” During that talk, she said learned “how we all fit into it.”
Owen Wilson — Agent Mobius
Wilson said he’s worked on a lot of projects but didn’t understand the secrecy of the Marvel Cinematic Universe until he joined “Loki.” The fan base is revved up and passionate. Marvel is committed to surprising people, Wilson said.
“You are definitely walking on eggshells. ... I always tend to fall back on that there are very shocking things that are going to happen.”
“It’s exciting to be a part of it,” he added.
It didn’t take much convincing to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He said Herron walked him through the idea of the show and the dynamic between Mobius and Loki. He said it was an engaging phone call that convinced him to join the MCU.
Wilson said Agent Mobius and Loki have “long scenes” together that felt like scenes in a play.
Kate Herron — director of ‘Loki’
Herron said she won the opportunity to be a director after she stalked Marvel about the position. She told her agent to call Marvel every day until they caved.
Herron said “Loki” is influenced by film noir movies through lighting and approach. She also said there’s a reference to the movie “Seven” with a needle drop scene in an upcoming episode.
Michael Waldron — head writer for ‘Loki’
Waldron said the television show used “Zodiac” and “Silence of the Lambs” as inspiration.
The crew filled a whiteboard with destinations and historical locations to shoot something at as they decided where in the world’s timeline Loki would visit, he said.
They really had to walk the line about showing Loki’s impact on history, he added. For example, Loki shows up as D.B. Cooper in one instance. It was a challenge to make sure Loki didn’t lean too much into the historical remixes, like becoming Paul Revere.
Kevin Feige — president of Marvel Studios
Feige said the idea for “Loki” came before filming “Avengers: Endgame.”
“We did not know what happened to Loki during ‘Infinity War’ but we knew after ‘Endgame,’” he said.
Feige said he and Hiddleston didn’t know where the show would specifically go. The only thing they knew was that they were going to tie up the loose end of Loki, who had disappeared at the end of “Endgame.” He said they knew at the end of “Endgame” that Loki was coming to Disney+
Early on, there was low-hanging fruit about Loki running a Hollywood club and there was concept art of Loki riding a horse that wasn’t used.
Feige also praised Hiddleston and Herron for bringing the character into an entirely new world.