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Tom Hiddleston calls 'Loki' season 2 finale the 'conclusion' of his 14-year MCU journey

By JUSTINE PUNZALAN Published Nov 13, 2023 4:26 pm

Marvel's hit series Loki has left fans awestruck and emotional with its finale last Nov. 9. It also left them with one question: Is this the last time we're seeing the iconic God of Mischief—or rather God of Stories—in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Hot on the heels of Loki season 2's finale, Tom Hiddleston guested on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Falon to give a hint of the fate of his beloved character. Apparently, the 42-year-old English actor described the episode as the "conclusion" of the last 14 years of his life spent with Marvel Studios.

"If you haven’t seen it I won’t spoil it for you, but I will say this, it all comes full circle," he told Fallon. "It’s the conclusion to season 2. It’s also a conclusion to season 1 and season 2"

"It’s also a conclusion to 6 films, 12 episodes, and 14 years of my life. I was 29 when I was cast. I’m 42 now. It’s been a journey," Hiddleston added.

The first season of Loki premiered in  July 2021 and it became the biggest Marvel series premiere on Disney+ that year, racking up 731 million minutes in viewing. The numbers are significantly higher than Marvel shows The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (495 million minutes) and WandaVision (434 million) that both premiered earlier in 2021, according to Nielsen's rankings.

Season 1 followed Loki as he was brought to the mysterious Time Variance Authority (TVA) and was tasked to help Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson) catch a dangerous variant version of himself, who turns out to be the enchantress Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino). Together, Loki and Sylvie travel to the end of time to hunt for He Who Remains, or Kang the Conqueror, to stop him from controlling the TVA and the multiverse's Sacred Timeline.

In the show's next chapter, which dropped on Disney+ in October, Loki slips through various timelines to restore balance to them and prevent them from dying altogether. The series wraps up with the God of Mischief finally realizing his "glorious purpose" and sacrificing himself to replace He Who Remains. Loki ultimately becomes the God of Stories who gives life to all of its branches and is capable of rewriting the multiverse.

In his recent interview with Fallon, Hiddleston said that the show's finale gave new meaning to Loki's role in the MCU.

He explained, "In the finale, there are echoes and resonances of every version of Loki I have ever played. The episode is called 'Glorious Purpose.' If you remember in the first Avengers film, Loki comes down to Earth, looks at Sam Jackson as Nick Fury and I say, 'I’m Loki of Asgard. I’m burdened with glorious purpose.' And he’s arrogant and he’s hubristic, and he’s entitled and he’s puffed up and he’s going to take over the world."

"And then, you know, it doesn’t go so well for him. We’ve all seen Infinity War. Face-to-face with Thanos. Not so glorious," he continued.

"At the beginning of [Loki] season 1, Mobius, played by Owen Wilson, basically shows Loki that the glorious purpose was a fallacy. And he gets kind of a second change. And that, I think, was the most exciting thing about this show—seeing Loki try to rethink and rediscover that sense of purpose, which we can all relate to I think. We wonder if we are in control of our own story."

While the show's finale gave a fitting ending to Loki's dire search for his "glorious purpose," reports say that it could actually set up the story of Avengers: Secret Wars.

Because all the timelines still exist, the collision of the Marvel 616 Universe with the Ultimate Marvel 1610 Universe could still happen and lead to the war which will gather multiple Marvel heroes and villains together. Good news for Loki fans is that this makes the possibility of the God of Stories making his much-awaited comeback not a distant one.