Loki season 2: Everything we know so far about the new Marvel series
Loki season 2 is in the works, bringing us more of the MCU's mischievous trickster god. So far, there's no release date or publicly available trailer for the upcoming second season, but there are some behind-the-scenes glimpses to feast your eyes upon while you wait for official footage. There's Sylvie's brand new outfit as well as Loki making some weird moves, which is enough to get you scratching your head.
We've got everything you need to know about Loki season 2 right here, from casting details, the first-look footage that debuted at D23, who's stepping in as director (while head writer Michael Waldron is back, Kate Herron is not), and some theories on what the plot might cover. So, for all that and more, look no further than our ultimate guide. For even more from the MCU, see our roundup of all the upcoming Marvel movies coming soon.
Loki season 2 release date: Kevin Feige confirmed a release window
Loki season 2 has been given a reduced release window on Disney Plus by Marvel boss Feige. As part of Marvel's slew of Comic-Con announcements, the MCU head shared that Loki will be out in summer 2023. We didn't get a more specific date, but it seems we won't be waiting too long to see the God of Mischief again.
This confirms the speculation that the new season will premiere after the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, since the finale of the first season introduced Kang the Conqueror, and Kang is the main villain in Ant-Man 3, which is slated for a February 17, 2023 release date.
As of summer 2022, Loki season 2 is filming in London. This was confirmed by several leaks of the cast and crew on set.
Loki season 2 trailer
While Marvel hasn't released a trailer for Loki season 2 yet, the studio did unveil some first-look footage at D23 Expo 2022 in September. Total Film were on the ground in LA to give us a rundown – the clip hasn't made its way online yet – and detailed how the teaser had a creepy vibe to it.
In it, Loki clues Mobius in on what went down with He Who Remains (Jonathan Major) in the season 1 finale, revealing the villain's face behind a wall in the TVA. He then says he saw terrible, awful things when the timeline broke apart after Sylvie attempted to kill the baddie at the end of season 1. Eerie, huh?
Loki season 2 cast and crew
Tom Hiddleston, Jonathan Majors (as Kang), Owen Wilson (as Mobius), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (as Ravonna Renslayer), Wunmi Mosaku (as Hunter B-15), Eugene Cordero (as Casey AKA Hunter K-5E) and Sophia DiMartino will all be returning in Loki season 2. The latter's comeback as Sylvie was confirmed fairly recently after she was spotted on set with Hiddleston. In some leaked pictures, she could be seen outside a McDonald's, sipping from a straw and disposable cup. Some fans have spotted that her outfit bears a striking resemblance to the McDonald's employee uniforms in the '70s.
At D23 Expo 2022, which saw Disney tease a whole bunch of its upcoming projects, it was announced that Rafael Casal and Everything Everywhere All at Once star Ke Huy Quan had joined the cast.
Showrunner Kate Herron previously revealed her departure from the show, stating that she never planned to do a second season. "I'm really happy to watch it as a fan next season," Herron told Deadline. "I just think I'm proud of what we did here and I've given it my all."
Instead, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead have signed on as directors. According to Deadline, they will "co-direct a majority of the episodes for season two." The duo most recently directed two episodes of the Marvel series, Moon Knight, which stars Oscar Isaac as a superhero who suffers from a dissociative identity disorder.
The first season's writers Michael Waldron and Eric Martin are geared up to return, though Martin is taking over head writing duties from Waldron.
According to Inverse, an MCU leaker known as Cinestealth has claimed that Henry Cavill is in talks to play Marcus Milton/Hyperion – though we might have to take this one with a grain of salt.
Loki season 2 plot
The Loki season 2 plot is being kept under wraps, though it was pointed out at D23 that the second chapter will connect to the Multiverse Saga in a big way. Hiddleston (via Marvel) previously stated that he was "excited about the possibilities" and that the team was in "deep, deep, deep discussions" following the announcement of season 2 – but the actor has kept a tight lip since.
Mbatha-Raw told Popculture.com that she's excited for her character to go to "some deeper, darker places." Ravonna Renslayer was initially introduced as an anti-hero of sorts and potential love interest of Mobius, but was ultimately revealed as a villain who values her loyalty to the TVA above anything else. The season finale saw Ravonna go off on her own in search of free will. "She wants to [find] who pulled the wool over her eyes. That's what she's going to go out in search of," head writer Michael Waldron commented. "She is a scary customer to be out there in the Multiverse. So we'll see what happens."
The finale also saw Sylvie, Loki variant and love interest, send Loki into another dimension so she can finally kill He Who Remains. The slaying doesn't fulfill her like she thought it would, and she is left all alone at the Citadel at the End of Time. While Sophia Di Martino told RadioTimes that she's not sure whether or not her character will return, she did comment that Sylvie's final scene is "an interesting place to start another chapter" (via Marvel). Although, we now know she's coming back.
When Total Film quizzed Hiddleston about Loki season 2, he said: "What can I say? It's very much continuing to excite and challenge me. At the end of season 1, the story isn't over. I think that’s really clear. Loki's almost more unstable, and as turbulent and passionate and chaotic as he's ever been. And maybe some of that needs resolution. There's stuff to unpack."
Waldron has also hinted at what's to come. "In creating the show in the first place, the only way it's worth doing to me is that we can find a new story to tell with this character," he told Deadline's Hero Nation podcast. "It felt like we had new emotional ground to cover with Loki. That's the only way into season 2. We absolutely found that. It's a great continuation of that story that feels different from season one and hopefully will subvert expectations."
Loki season 2 theories
Because the first season ended in utter chaos, Loki season 2 theories are aplenty. Sylvie set off a multiverse war, Loki is stranded in another dimension, and an even more dangerous variant of He Who Remains has come to power.
In the new timeline that Loki finds himself trapped in, a statue of Kang The Conqueror is present. This implies that Kang, a variant of He Who Remains, has taken over as leader of the TVA and potentially all other timelines.
Nerdist theorizes that, while Mobius and Hunter B-15 don’t remember Loki in this timeline, Sylvie might. This is possible considering that it was Sylvie who killed He Who Remains and sent Loki to this new reality.
A theory from EliteDaily speculates that Ravonna might become the new love interest of Kang, seeing as her character plays his lover in the comics.
FandomWire points out that a TVA uprising could be on the horizon. Now that all the foot soldiers of the TVA have had their minds erased due to the slaying of He Who Remains, Loki is the only one who can make them remember what happened. Once they recall the horror of being kidnapped from their own timelines and subsequently brainwashed, the TVA could unite to bring down Kang.
Perhaps the most interesting theory comes due to the releases of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: now that the multiverse is open, could Loki team up with Wanda/Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange? We know that the series extends into the MCU, as Kang the Conqueror is set to be the main antagonist in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. It isn't out of the realm of possibility for other characters in the MCU to show up in an alternate timeline.
Pictures from the Loki season 2 set also sparked some theories. After being name-checked in Ms. Marvel, Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) was spotted on a movie poster. As we know, he's a Bollywood star/part-time Eternal in the MCU. As well as this, another poster advertises a film called 'Zaniac.' Zaniac is an obscure Thor villain who has the abillity to possess people to commit gruesome murders. Could he be making an entrance in season 2? It seems like we'll just have to wait and see what Marvel has up its sleeves.
Now that you're all caught up on Loki season 2, check out our guide to how to watch the Marvel movies in order.
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