Topic: SPOILER ALERT: MCU Thread (Quantum-Ant-Man-ia)

[Stratos]

So I think either there are no time lords and the judge/boss gal is filling in as a ruse. Or she is in fact one of the time lords.

Also, my theory on Kang the Conqueror is that he's a control freak who thinks he is ordained to 'tend' the timeline as a sort of gardener. Then Loki/shenanigans disrupt his happy time-garden and he snaps, and decides that its best to wipe out the timeline and restart fresh, which leads into him being a new big bad for the Avengers to have to deal with.

[ThePerm]

Everything is setting up for the multiverse. The Canon is becoming too limiting.

I can't wait to see Deadpool's surprise cameo in Doctor Strange 2.

[Spak-Spang]

If Deadpool has a surprise Cameo that would be incredible.  I would love it.  So many fun and silly jokes they could do with the multiverse. 

[BlackNMild2k1]

So what's the over/under on Sylvie going back in time, pulling Loki back before he was "deleted" and then Loki saving Mobius....

hold up... I was in the middle of typing the above and then the mid Credit scene played...
nevermind. Carry on.

were there mid/post credits on any previous episodes? I don't remember see any.

[UncleBob]

Nope.  First one (in Loki)

If you go on the Marvel Studios subreddit, the mods always sticky a reply at the top of their spoiler topic that says if there's midcredits/end credits scenes without spoiling what they are.

[nickmitch]

That's good to know!

I watched the last two episodes the other day, and something told me there'd be a post-credits scene on that last episode.  It figures that Marvel wouldn't just let the episode end with Loki being deleted.

I don't wonder what's up with wherever Loki Prime landed.  Is that someplace that all deleted variants go? Or is there some trickery at play?

[Stratos]

Considering how much of a farce the TVA is turning out to be, I expected a twist like this.

[ThePerm]

I wonder if the time stones work again at the end of time? If only Sylvie had known what was in that drawer.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Latest episode was pretty funny. I think there's only 6 eps right?

Biggest Easter egg I can recall was the Thanos Copter, but there were certainly others in not recalling.
The war of the Loki's was pretty funny too.
Not Our Hiddleston Loki vs GatorLoki, and NOHLoki losing his hand just before the fighting started, and them all betraying each other. Good stuff.

[Stratos]

Its another Loki at the end of the void. Calling it now.

Would be great if it was our original Loki that 'died' in Infinity War. They've teased it enough he either lived like I always believed, or at the end of all things Loki 'returns' to his proper time and ends up doing the trick to avoid getting killed by Thanos.

#LokiLives

[ThePerm]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opKe7ijMyXg

[nickmitch]

I'm still holding out hope for it being Bob Iger and Deadpool at the end.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I'm still holding out hope for it being Bob Iger and Deadpool at the end.

And Stan Lee.... Long con ultimate surprise payoff.

[nickmitch]

I'm still holding out hope for it being Bob Iger and Deadpool at the end.

And Stan Lee.... Long con ultimate surprise payoff.

Lol. Just as long as the final 20 minutes are contract negotiations for future MCU appearances.

[Stratos]

Well...it was something a bit more substantive in many ways, and we get a season 2 of Loki. Also rumors point to Tom Hiddleston/Loki being in Multiverse of Madness so things are definitely going to get super crazy there, though we knew that already.

Anyone else happy with Loki and the other MCU D+ offerings? They have been enjoyable but a bit frustrating at the same time for me. Like they have missed some opportunities and were more setting the stage for the big movies to take and run with.

[nickmitch]

The ending of Loki felt a little anti-climatic to me.  The setup for future content was great, but I felt that was all the finale was going for.  It feels almost like a prelude to either Dr. Strange or the second season.  Either way, the show was great overall.  Tom Hiddleston as Loki is just a pure delight, and I got about as much of it as I could've asked for.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Even though I enjoyed Loki and look forward to a 2nd season, for some reason it never really drew me in.
The door it left open in the end is interesting, and I look forward to seeing how that shapes the entry of all of everything recently acquired into the new MCU timeline, starting with Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. Alligator Loki and Throg being present were nice little things that I hope come back at some point (there was a deleted scene for Throg vs Loki when Loki was watching his life of losses reel <Loki lost to the frog>)



Having said that though.... I still haven't seen Black Widow.... and i'm usually an MCU opening weekend type, and have the ability to watch it from home. Not really sure what I'm waiting for, but event though I haven't seen it, it still seems like a movie that should've came out mid phase 3.
AM I trippin? should I watch it already and stop holding out for some lost motivation?

[Stratos]

Eh, reviews of Black Widow say it is alright to good-ish, but the biggest complaint is how it should have come out earlier like you said. "Too little too late" was something I saw tossed around a bit. Truthfully Black Widow should have been released when Captain Marvel was as a prelude to Endgame or earlier. After knowing she perishes in Endgame it really took a lot of the thunder from her solo flick and really, Captain Marvel did very little to support the buildup for Endgame in hindsight. Especially considering how little she was involved in the core plots of the film. Black Widow as opposed to Marvel was an already established core character in the MCU and her solo film could have given a few nuggets that could hit harder when she gives her life in Endgame.

I've not seen it either and honestly if you haven't yet might be worth waiting for it to be free on D+. I'm actually not sure I want to go to the theater for half of the current MCU films, especially when I can wait a few months and see them on D+. Its what, three months at most? Why drop $30 on the silly Premier Access or that and more in a theater and risk mingling with clowns that are not vaccinated?

[Adrock]

Loki was my favorite of the first three Marvel Disney+ shows. It wasted none of its runtime. Michael Waldron and Kate Herron (who will, unfortunately, not be returning for Season 2) made the extremely wise choice to not relegate He Who Remains as a post credit scene as originally planned.

A friend of a friend put Black Widow on his Plex server so that's how I watched it. The movie is fine. Everything Stratos said above rings true. Natasha's death in Endgame would have hit waaaaaaaaay harder had Black Widow released before it.

[Shorty McNostril]

I was quite underwhelmed with Loki and rank it a distant third of the three series thus far, the finale of which was the worst episode in my opinion.

A couple of standout points which didn't work for me:

1. I refuse to accept that this Loki had such a turn around in something like a week. Remember this Loki a few days prior was invading to subjugate earth. He drilled out someone's eye mercilessly. He tried to kill his brother. Loki is the god of mischief. He has been spending countless centuries causing chaos and reveling in it. It's his life purpose. And in a week we're suppose to believe that he has completely repudiated his deeply entrenched life purpose and was willing to sacrifice himself for the betterment of humanity? Not buying it. If this was Loki prime (who died in Infinity War) then I would be on board, but not this one.

2. On average the writing was excellent. So why did they ruin the episodes with combat? The choreography was awful. Once again coming back to the theme, this is Loki. He is the God of Mischief. These conflicts could have been resolved by wit and cunning which would allow the writers more opportunities to get clever. Instead we have cheap fisticuffs which looked terrible. When Loki and Sylvie were standing on guard when Mr Remains' door was opening I was laughing because of how bad it looked. Especially since Loki uses daggers, not a machete or whatever that thing was.

3. It felt completely flat and unsatisfying. It certainly left things very exciting for the remainder of phase four, but provided absolutely no resolution to the series. I was gobsmacked when the end credits came up. I thought we were only half way through the episode. Marvel have traditionally been quite good at making each project have it's own standalone resolution but leaving further story tendrils for future projects. Not the case here.

This point is a bit different, but I was also disappointed in the fact that the end of episode two with the time bombs just stopped. That was a really interesting premise and we never saw it again, rather just Loki and Sylvie arguing with each other for half an hour.

I still enjoyed it and very much look forward to what it now means for the MCU.

[UncleBob]

>I refuse to accept that this Loki had such a turn around in something like a week.

I think we're supposed to believe that this Loki watching Prime Loki's life play out, which included his role in the death of his mother and Ragnarok, combined with making a "real" connection to another (another?) person in Sylvie, he manag  change similar to how Prime Loki did.

[Adrock]

^ Yeah. Variant Loki doesn't get Prime Loki's personal development, but viewing his Time Theatre forced the variant to reevaluate the choices he has made so far which ultimately affected the choices he made in the series. "Glorious purpose" practically became a point of shame.

I thought the Scepter/Mind Stone given to Loki by Thanos either corrupted or controlled Loki during the events of the first Avengers. Before that, he was the god of mischief who was kind of a **** but hadn't done anything especially awful. Ripping that guy’s eye out and killing 80 people in two days was implied to be Thanos' influence.

Also, I was under the impression Loki was at the TVA for an indiscriminate amount of time. Since time flows differently there, Variant Loki could have been there for a week, a few months etc.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Also the show ending without a resolution to that series was allegedly a last minute tweak that was not in the original plan.

I don't know how that changed the final episode of the season, but the show runner/director that isn't coming back for season 2 briefly mentioned it. No idea if that has any relation to why she is not returning. She just started that it wasn't part of the original plan.

[Shorty McNostril]

>I refuse to accept that this Loki had such a turn around in something like a week.

I think we're supposed to believe that this Loki watching Prime Loki's life play out, which included his role in the death of his mother and Ragnarok, combined with making a "real" connection to another (another?) person in Sylvie, he manag  change similar to how Prime Loki did.

Yeah I acknowledge that, but still not enough for me. Don't get me wrong, I would certainly expect some change and growth, but nowhere near the extent we saw here. If anything I would believe Loki would be all for watching the anarchy from "the others" if Mr Remains was killed. The resulting chaos would be right in his wheelhouse.

Also, I was under the impression Loki was at the TVA for an indiscriminate amount of time. Since time flows differently there, Variant Loki could have been there for a week, a few months etc.

Yeah I did think of that, but no effort at all was made to really drive that point home. The closest they came was when they sent him to go a few rounds with Lady Sif, but the episode doesn't indicate he was down there for long at all since all that passed in the TVA world were a couple of conversations before they went and pulled him out. At the very least I guess they could have just done a Spongebob and put some text on the screen at some point saying "An indeterminate amount of time later....." to at least indicate that events aren't taking place as quickly as it seems.

Also the show ending without a resolution to that series was allegedly a last minute tweak that was not in the original plan.

If this is true it wouldn't at all surprise me. I'd love to know what the ending was supposed to be.

[Stratos]

Especially knowing that the show will continue another season at least, I kinda wish we got more. More episodes of Loki and Mobius playing cop/detectives for a while. Maybe make that all of S1 and then the twist at the end of S1 is the full reveal that things are a farce at the TVA or some such thing, then let Loki go on the run a while and lead into the showdown at the void at the end of S2. This would give enough time for Loki to stew on his "Prime Life" and experience similar parallel character developments to Prime.

I'm still in the #LokiLives camp for Prime Loki. Nothing shown in the show is a shoe-in for his life being over, just implied. And with all the other smoke and mirrors the MCU D+ shows and this one in particular have been throwing around I think that is still in the cards. They've teased the possibility with Classic Loki sharing the survivor story. The series could very well conclude with TVA Loki warning Prime Loki or taking his place to die at Thanos' hands or some other switch-a-roo so that story hasn't wrapped yet.