After two years, Loki has finally returned with a highly-anticipated second season, considering that the first season was one of the more important Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe shows that directly affected the movies, leading to Ant-Man And The Wasp Quantumania. The premise of Loki Season 2 has been a mystery so far, so how is the follow-up to what was previously one of the best MCU series on Disney+? Read on to find out in this spoiler-free review.

Quantum Leap

(L-R): Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Ke Huy Quan as O.B. and Owen Wilson as Mobius in Marvel Studios’ LOKI, Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth Gatrell. © 2023 MARVEL.

The best thing about Loki Season 2 is still there, as Owen Wilson reprises his role as Mobius and his dynamic with Tom Hiddleston’s Loki is still great to watch. Tom Hiddleston himself is as charismatic as ever as Loki and after more than a decade of playing him, he knows the character inside and out at this point. Meanwhile, it’s also great to see Owen Wilson getting a bit more to do in Loki Season 2 in terms of development and showing off more of his acting chops. A fantastic addition to the cast is the eccentric and likeable performance by Ke Quy Huan as Ouroboros. Just like the first season, Loki Season 2 feels very self-contained and standalone, with not much in terms of MCU references, easter eggs or connections. This means that Loki Season 1 viewers can understand everything even if they’ve never watched any of the other Disney+ shows in between or even any of the recent MCU movies.

Besides that, the cinematography and unique set designs of Loki Season 2 still look phenomenal. These include not only the headquarters of the TVA, but also several of the new locations and settings (which I can’t spoil) that look like movie sets with high production value, which helps make the series more immersive. It’s clear that Marvel Studios spared no expense when it came to all of that. As a series that focuses on time travel, it’s important to be able to make it all look as real as possible and Loki Season 2 accomplishes that in terms of visuals.

(Center): Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer in Marvel Studios’ LOKI, Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth Gatrell. © 2023 MARVEL.

Loki Season 2 has a slower pace and feels like it has a smaller scale in some ways. The pilot itself is more concerned with establishing the new status quo, but the main narrative this time around feels messier and less focused than the first season. It was exciting trying to figure out who Sylvie was and finally learn about He Who Remains back in the first season. After four episodes, Loki Season 2 still feels like it’s trying to find its footing and the main story just isn’t as intriguing as before. It comes across as formulaic and playing it too safe, so much so that I sometimes felt like I was watching a procedural with time travel elements. Loki Season 2 also relies on a lot of convoluted techno-babble exposition that’s confusing.

The biggest weakness of Loki Season 2 is that after the first episode, it ends in a way that doesn’t compel viewers to watch the next episode. The lack of focus and excitement means that everything feels low-key (pun intended). After four episodes, I just don’t see why Loki Season 2 needed to exist or any good reason justifying why MCU or Marvel fans need to watch it. The best word to describe it all is “disposable”, which was a similar problem faced by Secret Invasion earlier this year. Maybe they’re saving everything “good” for the final two episodes of Loki Season 2 but that doesn’t excuse how directionless the first four episodes feel. Even the first season of Loki was only truly memorable because of its final few episodes, so perhaps Loki Season 2 will be the same.

Back To The Future

(L-R): Owen Wilson as Mobius and Tom Hiddleston as Loki in Marvel Studios’ LOKI, Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth Gatrell. © 2023 MARVEL.

Loki Season 2 is a bit middling and disappointing compared to its first season. It’s an okay series, but so far, it just doesn’t reach the high expectations set by the end of the first season. Loki Season 2 still has a lot of the same elements as Loki Season 1 but it just doesn’t have that same wow factor or shocking revelations or a compelling mystery that makes you want to keep watching episode after episode and week by week.

We’ll have to wait and see if the payoff will be worth it in the final two episodes. Perhaps it will all be worth it and those last two episodes will blow us away. The potential is still there.

FINAL SCORE: 70/100

We received an early screener of the first four episodes of Loki Season 2 courtesy of Disney+ Hotstar Malaysia. Loki is slated to premiere on Disney+ Hotstar on 6 October 2023.