‘Loki’: Fans Have Complicated Theories About Which Version of Loki ‘Died’
More than a decade into the MCU and Loki remains one of the most well-loved villains in the franchise. At any given point, Thor’s brother can be little more than a bratty brother, a tyrant hellbent on destruction, or something in-between.
After dying in Endgame, however, many wonder what version of Loki appears in the upcoming series that also bears his name.
Loki’s journey
Fandom notes that Loki made his grand entry into the MCU with Thor’s first appearance in the entertainment juggernaut. The Thunder God’s elder half-brother, Loki always felt like a black sheep in his family until it eventually boiled over into all-out villaindom. Despite this, Thor and Loki have a close relationship that is teased on throughout the series.
For the first few years of the Thor saga, Loki was an unabashed villain with a penchant for resurrecting every time he has a brush with death. While he never made the leap into an all-out hero, he started trending in the right direction during recent years. In Ragnarok, he is not the villain, although his conniving ways do not make him a hero. By the first scene of Infinity War, Loki dies at Thanos’ hands.
Thanks to the time-jump in Endgame, however, we see our favorite villain escape in 2012 to an unknown time and world. Loki looks to answer all these questions, but as of now, fans are still left wondering what’s to come.
Which ‘Loki’ will fans get to see?
Fans on Reddit took it upon themselves to fill in the holes that we have not yet seen. While the MCU is now one movie and two television series removed from Loki’s escape, we haven’t seen the Asgardian fallout from Thanos, the Blip, and the reawakening. With that in mind, many wonder where the other fans.
Kicking off a fan theory on Reddit, u/AssortedShortbread posited that Loki in the timeline we saw is dead, but the one in the series is the 2012 version who escaped his timeline during Endgame. They wrote about it in a thread.
“So, I have no evidence or reason to believe this, but, as many have pointed out, Marvel killed off Loki after years of character development and are making a show with the Loki from 2012. I have a theory that the show will end with 2012 Loki realizing that our Loki ultimately led a better life due to his relationship with Thor and the events of Ragnarok and decides that he is more worthy of living and so swaps places before Thanos attacks,” said the user.
However, other users, such as u/divinepandora, already poked holes in this plan. After all, that Loki has missed a large chunk of what made him turn. As such, unless it leads to him becoming absolute evil, the timeline might not sync up.
“But the thing is that Loki from the series can still fix his own relationship with Thor and even has the opportunity to save his mother. So I don’t really understand why 2012 Loki would feel like 2018 Loki is somehow a better person since he can still become that person himself,” wrote the user.
Nobody can agree, which is why fans are so excited to see where the series goes from its established origin.
When will ‘Loki’ premiere?
According to Variety, Loki arrives on Disney Plus on Wednesday, June 9. From there, fans can tune in every Wednesday to see which version of Loki, if any we’ve met before, will headline its interdimensional drama. However, as the publication notes, Hiddleston has implied that some adventures could take place just off-screen from moments we already saw in the film universe.
When Loki premieres, it will mark the most prominent television event yet. While WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier brought back beloved character, none had the depth that Loki does. That, alone, is a reason to be excited for his next trip back from the dead.
