Loki spoilers follow.
No matter what variant of Loki you meet, in whatever world you meet them, there is always one major similarity – they will always strive to survive.
But what about its Marvel TV iteration? Does it have the staying power the God of Mischief does? Or will it be disappearing into the multiverse, only to be seen in some parallel dimension by viewers who want it more than us? (As if that's possible!)
Well, we're here and we have you covered.
Here's everything you need to know about the future of Loki.
Loki season 2 potential release date on Disney+: when can we see it?
Never fear, folks! Loki will be back for season two – it was confirmed in the end credits sequence of the first season back in July 2021.
While an exact release date is yet to be announced, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige made an appearance at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 and revealed that season two will be available to watch on Disney+ in the summer of 2023.
Until then, maybe have a chat with someone at the TVA to give us a hop, skip and a jump through the wait.
Reacting to the confirmation, Hiddleston told Marvel.com: "I am so grateful that we got to do season one, I still am not quite able to process that we get to have another go at this. I am so excited by the possibilities. We are already in discussions. Deep, deep, deep discussions. I can't wait to get started.
"I want to say thank you to the audience because without the audience, we wouldn't be able to make a season two," he added. "I hope season one was full of surprises. And I think season two will be full of even more."
Just maybe don't expect it to get weirder than season one – because that would be a trick even Loki himself would have trouble pulling off.
"We had an alligator drinking wine out of a kiddie pool," Loki writer-producer Michael Waldron said (via Polygon). "That felt like the Mount Everest peak of weird! I think there’s plenty of opportunity there."
...Well, he's not wrong!
"We're always looking to outdo ourselves, but hopefully it's always driven by character," he added. "And yeah, I learned on [Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness] once again, no idea is too crazy. You can write Stephen Strange possessing his own corpse, and maybe you'll end up shooting it. That encourages me to be bold, which is good."
Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige told Collider in August 2021 that season two was already "under way" and "being developed as we speak" – but that could mean anything from 'the story is currently being written' to 'Tom Hiddleston is finishing up his scenes already'.
Loki season 2 cast: Who will be in it?
In typical Marvel style, they are keeping plans for Loki season two pretty close to their chest.
Obviously, Tom Hiddleston is on board, because after all what is Loki without, you know, Loki?
Season two is shooting in London, which is handy for the title star. "I think it was just an accident of scheduling, but I’m thrilled about it," Hiddleston said on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
The actor also confirmed in the interview that the entire cast is returning for the follow-up season, which means more Lady Loki, more alligators drinking wine from a kids' pool (presumably), and definitely more Casey.
"Yes, yes, you can [look forward to more Casey]," Cordero said (via CBR). "You know, I can't [tease anything], because I don't even know. There's so many passwords and passcodes that I have to fill out just to even look at the pages that I'm on, and the way that it works is things constantly change in a great way.
"I'm excited to do more and I don't know to what capacity I'll be able to be a part of it, but I'm excited to do it. So yeah, get ready, it'll be fun, I hope? No, it will be, it'll be great."
Gugu Mbatha-Raw will also return as Ravonna Renslayer. Though, speaking to Digital Spy in December 2021, she admitted she had no idea what lay ahead for her character.
"Honestly, I genuinely don't know where it's going," she said. "I feel like there's so much potential, especially when you're dealing with time, as Renslayer does, you know? So, yeah, I don't know.
"I haven't really… I sort of keep an open mind. I've been working quite intensely on something else over the last five months. So I don't know. I'm sort of open to the next chapter. We'll see. I would, of course, be open to (a movie). I don't know where it's all going at this point, but we'll see."
"It's been amazing to shoot the second season of Loki," Mbatha-Raw told ET. "[Fans] are gonna be in for a real treat because the show is bolder and more surreal. And in many ways, goes to some bigger, bolder places than season 1, which is really exciting.
"In Loki, Ravonna is a powerful presence. Selfishly, Renslayer makes it out of the TVA, which I'm really excited about.
"The thing that I found with Loki's second season is everyone on the crew knows your character and I've never had that before, stepping onto a set where people already know your character. That's kind of a cool feeling."
Given how season one ended, we'll also be expecting the following cast members to return in Loki season two:
• Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15
• Tara Strong as the voice of Miss Minutes
• Owen Wilson as Mobius M Mobius
• Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie
Don't be surprised if Jack Veal reprises the role of Kid Loki at some point too, whether it's in a second season of Loki or some kind of Young Avengers project. With multiple members now lined up, it's only a matter of time before Marvel's legacy team arrives, and we're hoping that Kid Loki will be a part of that, just like in the comics.
That's not the only Loki we're hoping to see return, either. Richard E Grant made a huge impact on fans with a brief but already iconic take on Classic Loki, complete with his Golden Age comic book outfit. Although this variant sacrificed himself to help Sylvie and Loki escape The Void, Grant told Entertainment Tonight that his character could still return one day.
"Everything's possible," he said. And although Grant doesn't know how this would work after "going out with such a bang", he did reveal that he "wouldn't say no" to coming back.
"I think that because his sacrifice is so huge and it's going out with such a bang, how do you top that if he had to come back? I have no idea. You know, it's not within my arena to do that. But I wouldn't say no, if asked. Put it that way."
Blindspotting star Rafael Casal has also been seen on set, but casting hasn't been officially acknowledged by Marvel, and his role is being kept under wraps.
Game of Thrones' Kate Dickie has been cast as a villain, though her role is also being kept under wraps for the time being (surprise, surprise).
Dickie and Casal aren't the only new cast members to have joined the series, as it was announced that Everything Everywhere All at Once actor Ke Huy Quan is also taking on an undisclosed role.
Back in September, during Disney's annual D23 Expo, Feige surprised fans by bringing Quan out on stage, as well as screening exclusive footage from the new season.
What about the talent behind the camera? When asked if she was keen to return, director Kate Herron previously told Collider that she was still very much focused on season one.
"I think for me, I'm just so focused on this story and I've been so wrapped up in it for two years. I think I poured every aspect of my soul and my time into the show, and I think for me, that's where my head's at really, is just focusing on this."
Along with Michael Waldron, Kate played a huge role in shaping this show, so it's a pretty big deal that she's since confirmed her exit ahead of the second season.
Explaining the decision to The Hollywood Reporter, she said that she "always intended just to do these six [episodes]".
"We were treating it like a movie, and we were running it like a movie," Herron explained. "We weren't doing it in the showrunner system. So it was a lot to direct these six episodes, and I gave it all of my energy and everything I had in my soul and in my heart. I threw everything I loved about Marvel at it.
"I just feel like my part is done," she added, "but I'm really excited to see where it's going to go next."
And, of course. Lovecraft Country's Jonathan Majors will hopefully return as He Who Remains – and not just one of him either. We expect to see an infinite number of Jonathans returning in season two.
Loki season 2 plot: What will the second season be about?
Minor Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness spoilers below
As expected, season one ended with a cataclysmic event that set up multiverses. Many theorised that it directly set up the chaos of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, along with Wanda's role in the film too. After all the Scarlet Witch is a Nexus Being which would have tied the two together very nicely.
The multiverse, and its impact, was later shown in Spider-Man: No Way Home in December 2021, with heroes and villains, and multiple variants of characters, being pulled through to the central universe by Doctor Strange when a spell went wrong. As a result, they were all living in the same timeline together.
However, Doctor Strange's release has since quashed those theories pretty much like Wanda trying to stamp out America. In fact, the events in Loki didn't even make the post-credits scene.
Michael Waldron, the screenwriter behind Dr Strange and Loki, explained his reasoning for keeping the two separate during a recent interview with Deadline. When talking about the lack of Kang in Doctor Strange, Waldron said: "To me it felt like we had the biggest best bullet in Wanda.
"When working with Sam (Raimi), I said we should really make the decision to make Wanda the antagonist in this film, we can't let another movie have that fun."
He added: "If you introduced Kang… you would have risked the movie getting overstuffed."
Wanting to give Wanda some breathing room to do her thing is definitely understandable. But what does that mean for Kang and his multiversal involvement?
During season two discussions surrounding Kang and the character's plot involvement, the screenwriter revealed: "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.
"It felt like we had new emotional ground to cover with Loki. That's the only way into season two. We absolutely found that. It's a great continuation of that story that feels different from season one and hopefully will subvert expectations."
Loki still has to contend with Sylvie's betrayal and the ramifications of what she did.
With Kang (He Who Remains) gone, an infinite number of his variants will rise up and take control of the multiverse. We've already seen that happen in "our" Time Variance Authority with the arrival of Kang's statue.
Then there's also Mobius to deal with too. Given that he no longer remembers who Loki is, it looks like "our" Loki has been erased from this universe, or replaced by a different version. What will our Loki do now that he's all alone again? Things aren't looking too good for the God of Mischief, especially now that he's turned over a new leaf.
Speaking previously at the MCM London Comic-Con, Hiddleston gave some juicy season two context, even if he did hold his cards very close to his chest.
"OK so look, we can't say anything unfortunately, but at the end of episode six, season one, Loki comes back to TVA," Hiddleston said.
"He's quite traumatised, he's quite emotional and he tries to explain what happens to Mobius [Owen Wilson], and Mobius doesn't recognise him. And then he turns to look at the statue of the Timekeepers, but it's not a statue of the Timekeepers, it's a statue of someone else... And I guess we'll start from there."
The cast and crew of Loki are being – understandably – tight-lipped when it comes to plot spoilers, for fear of Kevin Feige's red sniper dot landing on their foreheads. But Hiddleston did give an extra clue to season 2's arc during an Entertainment Weekly joint interview at D23 Expo 2022 (alongside co-stars Sophia Di Martino and Ke Huy Quan).
"Season 2 is kind of a challenge of a question asked of the [Time Variance Authority] itself," Hiddleston said (via CBR). "A battle for the soul of the TVA."
During the same interview, Ke Huy Quan said the second season's story is "really good" and that he was excited for audiences to experience it. Same!
Director Kate Herron might not be carrying on with season two (we're still waiting to hear who will replace her – and she'll be a tough act to follow), but she does have some ideas about where the story could go next (via The Hollywood Reporter).
"So the way I see it in my head is that the TVA exists outside of space and time, but reality and everything as we understood it has completely changed in the last few minutes. With the multiverse branching, how do we know the TVA still exists in that way?
"We don't know, and I suppose that's a big question that will be answered as the show goes on. But in my head, the intention is that Sylvie thinks she's sending him back to the TVA, but because of the way time and branches are crossing each other outside the window, Loki has unfortunately been sent back somewhere very different.
"So reality has shifted just by the nature of what He Who Remains said, and the idea is that he’s in this alternate TVA now."
That's actually a genius premise, and one that could the show going for as long as Doctor Who (or Sliders, at the very least). Let's hope Herron left behind detailed notes for whoever replaces her.
And don't think for a second that this is the last we'll see of Sylvie either. The last time we saw her, the Goddess of Mischief was dealing with the ramifications of her choice in Kang's Citadel. But now that she has a TemPad, expect Sylvie to pop up again very soon. But will she be a friend or a foe? Or even a lover? That kiss sure carried a lot of emotional heft right before that betrayal.
Maybe, just maybe, we'll see "our" Loki enjoy a romantic connection with another man following episode three's groundbreaking reveal. Bisexual people don't need to demonstrate same-sex attractions in order to be validated, but Marvel has notoriously shied away from anything like this in the past, so Loki season two could be a good way to address the character's queerness in a physical way.
When Collider asked Herron about this possibility, she said: "Basically I don't know plans for the future with Loki – I'm so focused on this story. But I would say that part of my thinking was, well, if it's canon and it's acknowledged, then yeah I hope there's obviously more road to travel with that aspect of his personality. And I hope it has opened the door to more stories, definitely."
Loki season 2 trailer: When can we see new footage?
We've had no news on when we're going to get an official trailer, so we have a feeling it's going to be a while yet.
The closest thing we've gotten to new footage is news of an exclusive teaser that was shown at Disney's D23 expo in September 2022, where announcements were made regarding the future direction of the MCU.
According to the footage, Loki has returned to the Time Variance Authority (TVA), but no-one recognises him and he continues to glitch in and out of time. Therefore, it appears as though the show will pick up right where it left off, which is a good thing given that the finale left many questions unanswered.
Apart from that it's unlikely that we'll see a full trailer until about a month before the show's release.
Keep your ear to the ground and time will fly pretty fast... after all, you've seen the show.
Loki is streaming exclusively on Disney+.
