Loki: Season 1

Loki has escaped from the Battle of New York with the help of the Tesseract, which he recovered from a time-travelling band of Avengers. Loki's joy is short-lived when he is apprehended by the Time Variance Authority (TVA), which eliminates rogue elements that threaten the "Sacred Timeline." The variant Loki faces deletion until he proves his own usefulness, something that could make him a potential new agent for the TVA.

If the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe can be said to have one outstanding breakout character and actor, there's a strong chance most people would say it was Tom Hiddleston's Loki. Since his debut in 2011's Thor, Hiddleston's formidable acting jobs, superb comic timing, gravitas and ability to turn his performance on a dime has made him one of the most popular actors in the genre. It was fitting, after the length redemption arc he went through in Thor: Ragnarok (2017) that he was allowed to die heroically, fighting the evil Thanos, in Avengers: Infinity War (2018). But, Marvel being the canny exploiters of character popularity that they are, wasted no time in restoring Loki to the MCU via time travel in the following year's Avengers: Endgame. Loki lives!

Loki is the third TV show produced by Kevin Feige as part of the canonical Marvel Cinematic Universe (earlier TV shows, like those produced by Netflix, are in various stages of being retconned into the canon), following WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, but it is the first planned to be a multi-season TV show rather than a mini-series (a second season is in pre-production). This allows the show more time to breathe, which is good because it has a lot going on.

Loki can be best-described as "the MCU does Doctor Who." Loki and his TVA colleagues get into various hijinks in time and space, with the TVA cleaning up damage to the timeline and restoring things so they make sense again. Loki is partnered up with Mobius, played with typical laconic charisma by Owen Wilson. Disappointingly, their partnership (played up in promo material) is not as dominant as might be expected, with Loki spending most of his time allied to Sylvie, a female variant of Loki from another timeline. Played exceptionally by Sophia Di Martino, Sylvie is a worthy foil for Loki with the two sharing a nice chemistry on-screen.

The episodic appeal of an MCU Doctor Who is briefly compelling but, aware it only has six episodes to get stuff done, the show quickly pivots into being a thorough exploration and deconstruction of Loki. "This" Loki missed the events of Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War, and as such has not gone through the redemption arc the original went through. This means that we are dealing with full-on supervillain Loki, apprehended whilst he was still in the middle of trashing New York City, and he has to undergo his own redemption arc. This risks being redundant but Marvel makes it work through sheer charisma - Hiddleston is still one of the heaviest weapons in the MCU arsenal and has possibly never been better than during this show - and also by underselling this Loki's villainy a little bit. It does feel like this Loki switches from villain to hero a bit too easily considering where he started, but given we've already seen Loki's capacity for good and also the need to get on with fresh business, the rapidity of his turn to good can be borne.

The latter half of the series gets a lot weirder and more epic, with multiple Lokis, various planets exploding or crashing into each other, more shifts in the timeline and huge revelations that should have an impact on the future of the MCU.

Negatives are minor: the tight, six-episode runtime means some ideas are under-serviced. A couple more episodes with Loki as a Time Cop could have been great, and the revelations at the end of the show risk feeling a little rushed. But the negatives are fairly minor.

Great pacing, effects and performances uplift one of the oddest and most interesting slices from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date. Loki's first season (****½) is enjoyably odd. The season is available worldwide now on Disney+.

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Cast for HAWKEYE TV series leaked

Hollywood industry bible Variety has gained access to the cast list for Disney+'s TV series Hawkeye, which is currently shooting.

The cast is as follows:

• Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton (reprising his role from the Marvel films)
• Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop
• Vera Farmiga as Eleanor Bishop
• Fra Fee as Kazimierz Kazimierczak, aka "Clown"
• Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova (reprising her role from Black Widow)
• Tony Dalton as Jack Duquesne, aka "Swordsman"
• Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez, aka "Echo"
• Zahn McClarnon as William Lopez

Steinfeld and Renner were caught on camera last week during filming in New York, confirming her long-rumoured involvement.

Hawkeye is one of numerous Marvel Cinematic Universe shows either shooting or in pre-production at Disney+. WandaVision will be the first show to make to air, on 15 January, with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki both wrapping and eyeing a spring-summer 2021 debut. Hawkeye and Ms. Marvel (starring Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan) are in early stages of shooting now, with She-Hulk (reportedly starring Tatiana Maslany) due to start shooting soon. Moon Knight is in pre-production, with reportedly Marvel close to signing Oscar Isaac in the starring role.

Marvel are also reportedly early in development on a Nick Fury series, with Samuel L. Jackson in talks to star.

Disney release trailers for new Marvel TV shows

Disney have released a trailer featuring the first footage shot for their first three Disney+ TV shows: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision and Loki.

The Falcon and Winter Soldier sees Avengers Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) teaming up with disgraced former SHIELD and CIA agent Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) to confront a new threat presented by Helmut Zemo (Daniel Bruhl), follow in his success in dividing the Avengers (as seen in Captain America: Civil War).

WandaVision sees Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) recovering from the events of Infinity War and Endgame, where she saw her lover Vision (Paul Bettany) slain. Wanda's exponentially growing powers apparently see her creating her own world where Vision still lives. An adult Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), who previously appeared as a child in Captain Marvel, will play a major role alongside Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) from the Thor movies and FBI agent Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) from the Ant-Man movies. The film is both a stand-alone and will also set up the events of Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (expected for release in 2021). The film is also expected to see Wanda claim the mantle of the Scarlet Witch, a title so far unmentioned in the film series.

Loki sees the return of the Asgardian supervillain of the same name (Tom Hiddleston). This version of the character was created from a new timeline in Avengers: Endgame and thus has not gone through the redemption arc seen in films such as Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War. The footage suggests that Loki has been imprisoned by the TVA (Time Variance Authority), an organisation that protects the integrity of the timeline and tries to limit the damage done by reckless time travel.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and WandaVision will both air in late 2020, Loki is expected to air in early 2021.

Marvel reveal their movie and TV line-up for the next two years

Marvel and Disney have confirmed their upcoming slate of movies and TV shows for Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel Cinematic Universe head honcho Kevin Feige announced the projects at the San Diego Comic-Con, outlining their release schedule for the next five years (although, as with the previous phase, there may be some variations to this schedule as things crop up). He also confirmed that Avengers: Endgame is imminently poised to surpass Avatar at the box office to become the biggest-grossing movie (unadjusted for inflation) of all time. 

The movies and TV series confirmed and announced are as follows: 

Black Widow
1 May 2020
Directed by Cate Shortland 

Starring Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow and Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
Also starring David Harbour, Rachel Weisz, O.T. Fagbenie and Ray Winston.

Set shortly after the events of Captain America: Civil War, this long-awaited stand-alone movie for Black Widow will also feature flashbacks to earlier in her life and career, including the much-discussed “Budapest incident.”

The Eternals
6 November 2020
Directed by Chloé Zhao 
Starring Angelina Jolie as Thena, Salma Hayek as Ajax, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Brian Tyree Henry as Phasots, Lauren Ridloff as Macary, Richard Madden as Ikaris and Lia McHugh as Sprite.

The Eternals introduces a completely new group of characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a powerful race of extra-powerful beings whose attention is called to Earth by recent events.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Autumn 2020 on Disney+ (6 episodes) 
Starring Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, and Daniel Bruhl as Helmut Zemo, with Emily VanCamp reportedly in discussions to reprise her role as Sharon Carter.

The first Marvel show for Disney+, this series will pick up after the events of Avengers: Endgame and explore Falcon’s role as the new Captain America. He and Winter Soldier team up for apparently a lower-key, grittier story more in the tone of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Zemo, the villain of Civil War, returns and apparently will don his iconic costume at some point.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
12 February 2021
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton 
Starring Simu Liu as Shang-Chi and Tony Leung Chiu-wai as the Mandarin. Also starring Awkwafina.

The introduction of a new superhero, who has mighty martial arts skills. Shang-Chi will be fighting the Mandarin, the real Mandarin after a fake one appeared (contentiously) in Iron Man 3.

WandaVision 
Spring 2021 on Disney+ 
Starring Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, Paul Bettany as Vision and Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau.

This series is interesting because it is set after Infinity War and Endgame, which obviously raises the question of how Vision is in it. The mini-series has been described as a major event series which will have major ramifications for the MCU going forwards, including immediately setting up the events of the Doctor Strange sequel, so the smart money is that this series will introduce the Marvel Multiverse in full (after teasing it in Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home).

Loki 
Spring 2021 on Disney+ 

Starring Tom Hiddleston as Loki

This mini-series will explore both what happened to the alternate-universe Loki introduced during the events of Avengers: Endgame and will also expand on Loki’s backstory, featuring flashbacks to key moments in Earth history where it will be revealed that Loki had a hand. 

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
7 May 2021
Directed by Scott Derrickson 
Starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange and Elisabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch

This sequel to Doctor Strange is apparently the MCU’s first “horror movie” and will explore the ramifications of the discovery of the Multiverse, with Scarlet Witch providing continuity from her mini-series. It’s unclear if Benedict Wong or Chiwetel Ejiofor will be returning at this time. 

What If?
Summer 2021 on Disney+ 
Starring Jeffrey Wright as The Watcher, Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger, Sebastian Stan as Winter Soldier, Josh Brolin as Thanos, Mark Ruffalo as Hulk, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Haley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan, Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Natalia Portman as Jane Foster, David Dastmalchian as Kurt, Stanley Tucci as Abraham Erskine, Taika Waititi as Korg, Toby Jones as Arnim Zola, Djimon Hounsou as Korath the Pursuer, Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster, Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta and Chris Sullivan as Taserface.

The MCU’s first official animated series is an anthology alternative-universe show, narrated by Jeffrey Wright as The Watcher. Each episode explores a different “what if?” possibility from the MCU, such as Peggy Carter becoming the super-soldier instead of Steve Rogers. 

Hawkeye 
Autumn 2021 on Disney+ 
Starring Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye

A mini-series focusing on Hawkeye as he meets a talented young woman, Kate Bishop, and trains her to effectively become his replacement.

Thor: Love and Thunder 
5 November 2021
Directed by Taika Waititi 
Starring Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster and Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie

The sequel to Thor: Ragnarok, although this film feels like it will need to jump a little bit to address the ending of Avengers: Endgame (which seemed to be setting Thor up as a member of the “Asgardians of the Galaxy”). The big news is that Natalie Portman is returning to the MCU for the first time since Thor: The Dark World in 2013 (although she did provide a brief voiceover in Endgame, but the physical footage of her in that movie was cut material from The Dark World). The story will seem to revolve around Jane gaining the powers of Thor, a story arc drawn from the comic books.

Blade
Date and director to be confirmed
Starring Mahershala Ali as Blade.

In a surprise move, Marvel confirmed that they are rebooting the Blade character in the MCU. Wesley Snipes previously played the character in Blade (1998), Blade 2 (2002) and Blade: Trinity (2004). Blade is, historically, the first movie made by Marvel under the deal that would eventually pave the way to Iron Man ten years later. Snipes had been hoping to reprise the role in the MCU, and played a satirical version of the character in What We Do in the Shadows earlier this year (in an episode directed by Taika Waititi!), but going with fresh blood makes sense.

This also marks the first time a major actor from one of the Netflix shows has appeared in the films as a separate character, as Mahershala Ali had previously played Cottonmouth on Season 1 of Luke Cage, furthering he likelihood that Marvel no longer regards the Netflix shows as canon.


Other Projects
Feige also confimed that more movies are on the way. He formally confirmed that Captain Marvel 2 was coming and reconfirmed that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be in production as soon as James Gunn finishes up on The Suicide Squad for Warners. More surprising was the absence of Black Panther 2, as they seemed ready to roll into production quite soon. The packed schedule suggests we won’t see that film until early 2022 at the earliest, a full four years after its predecessor.

In more exciting news, Feige also formally confirmed that the Fantastic Four will be introduced to the MCU, but they don’t have a schedule for that just yet. Mutants – presumably the X-Men sub-universe – are also on the cards, but are again even further down the pipe. Feige had previously suggested that we wouldn’t see the X-Men show up until 2023 and Phase Five at the earliest, and that seems to track with that.

Noteworthy by their absences are Ant-Man 3 and any future Avengers movies, which you assume has to be a shoe-in after the titanic success of Endgame, even if the next Avengers movie features a very different roster to the previous ones. There was also no confirmation for the Hulk Disney+ series that had been mooted with the possible aim of bringing in She-Hulk, or the mooted Thunderbolts film and Power Pack series for younger viewers, all of which are presumably now on the backburner.

More news as we get it.