DisneyPlus - Loki : discover the first trailer

By Mulder, 11 december 2020

Loki is an upcoming American streaming television miniseries created for Disney+ by Michael Waldron, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. The series takes place after the events of the film Avengers: Endgame (2019), in which an alternate version of Loki created a new timeline. Loki is produced by Marvel Studios, with Waldron serving as head writer and Kate Herron directing.

Tom Hiddleston reprises his role as Loki from the film series. Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sasha Lane, and Wunmi Mosaku also star. With Marvel Studios developing a number of limited series for Disney+ centered on supporting characters from the MCU films, the series was officially confirmed in November 2018, along with Hiddleston's involvement. Waldron was hired in February 2019, and Herron had joined by that August.

By September 2018, Marvel Studios was developing several limited series for its parent company Disney's streaming service, Disney+, to be centered on supporting characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe films who had not starred in their own films, such as Loki; the actors who portrayed the characters in the films were expected to reprise their roles for the limited series. The series were expected to be six to eight episodes each and have a hefty budget rivaling those of a major studio production. The series would be produced by Marvel Studios, rather than Marvel Television who produced previous television series in the MCU. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was believed to be taking a hands-on role in each series' development, focusing on continuity of story with the films and handling the actors who would be reprising their roles from the films. Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed in November that a series centered on Loki was in development and that Tom Hiddleston was expected to reprise his role from the film series.

Michael Waldron was hired as head writer and executive producer of the series in February 2019. He was also set to write the pilot episode. The series was expected to follow Loki as he "pops up throughout human history as an unlikely influencer on historical events". A month later, Feige stated that Loki is over a thousand years old in the MCU films, so the series would be exploring what he has done throughout his long life. He added that the interest for Marvel Studios in making the series was to work with Hiddleston more and explore the character of Loki beyond him being a supporting character in the films.

Hiddleston explained in August 2019 that he had known about his cameo role in Avengers: Endgame (2019) when he filmed Loki's death for Avengers: Infinity War (2018), but he considered the latter to be the emotional end of his character arc. He then learned about the plans for a Loki series around six weeks before Infinity War was released, and kept the series a secret until its official announcement later that year. He expressed excitement about being able to change Loki in different ways by taking an earlier version of the character and "seeing him come up against more formidable opponents, the like of which he has never seen".Also that month, Kate Herron was revealed to be directing and executive producing the miniseries, which was confirmed to run for six episodes. By November 2020, a second season was planned.

The series takes place after Avengers: Endgame, which saw Loki steal the Tesseract during the 2012 events of The Avengers (2012), which created an alternate timeline from the main MCU films. In the series, Loki uses the Tesseract to travel through time and alter human history.In August 2019, Herron stated that the series would be "taking Loki to an entirely new part of the MCU" while Waldron said it would "explore the questions we all have: where did Loki go after he picked up the Tesseract? Could Loki ever make a friend? And will the sun ever shine on him again? Executive producer Stephen Broussard stated that in addition to the time travel element, the series would have a "man-on-the-run quality to it". Waldron also felt the series would explore the character's "struggle with identity", adding "over the first 10 years of movies, he's out of control at pivotal parts of his life, he was adopted and everything and that manifest itself through anger and spite towards his family." Waldron added there would be an "unexpected" science fiction quality to the series. The four-issue comic miniseries Vote Loki served as an inspiration for one of Loki's looks in the series. According to Feige, the series will tie-into the Phase Four film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).

Filming began in January 2020, with Herron directing, and Autumn Durald serving as cinematographer. The series is filmed under the working title River Cruise. with Location shooting took place in the Atlanta metropolitan area throughout the month of February. On March 14, filming for the series was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production resumed at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in September. By mid-November, approximately one more month of shooting remained. A potential second season is scheduled to begin filming in January 2022, under the working title Architect. Loki will debut on Disney+ in May 2021 and will consist of six episodes. It will be part of Phase Four of the MCU.

Synopsis :
After stealing the Tesseract during the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), Loki uses it to travel through time and alter human history and ends up trapped in his own crime thriller.

Loki
Directed by Kate Herron
Written and created by Michael Waldron
Based on Loki by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby
Starring Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson
Executive producers : Kevin Feige, Michael Waldron, Stephen Broussard, Kate Herron
Cinematography : Autumn Durald
Production company : Marvel Studios
Distributor : Disney Platform Distribution
Original network : Disney+

(Source : press release)