The bulk of this post will include spoilers, but to those who have not seen the 6-part series Loki on Disney+ (and you either can’t believe it has any apocalyptic relevance or you aren’t sure you’d enjoy it), I’ll provide some spoiler-free reasons why you should check it out.
First of all, it’s really fun. Marvel never skimps on set design, and the faux-fifties styling reminded me of Fallout. The action scenes are great, the characters are interesting, and there are some really cool apocalypse (and post-apocalyptic) moments.
Do you need to watch all the Marvel movies before Loki? Technically not, but a major part of Loki begins directly after Avengers: Endgame. If you don’t have hours upon hours to get through the entire Marvel catalogue, you could get away with watching The Avengers (2012) and the three Thor movies (or at the very least Thor: Ragnarok, which is the best one) and the first twenty minutes of Endgame if your only intention is to watch Loki.
For those who have watched all the Marvel movies but can’t remember all the intricacies of Loki’s journey, a handy video on Disney+ called Legends recaps it for you.
Onwards to spoilers!
Is Loki the God of the Apocalypse? It’s complicated. As we know from the finale, he was given a choice to reign supreme over the TVA, to keep the one timeline intact to prevent an apocalypse, but Sylvie decided to deny him (and her) this. How much control over these events will the Lokis have? Will they decide to work together to save everyone, or will they be offered another chance to take over? We’ll have to wait for season 2!
Speculations about the future aside, Loki may well be the most apocalyptic show of 2021, simply due to how many different apocalypses occur!
The focus on apocalypses in the show took me by (pleasant) surprise. If you recall, the reason we have so many scenes is that Sylvie hides out from the TVA during apocalyptic events (whether city-destroying or world-ending). She does this because so much is happening at these moments that the timekeepers (and their enslaved minions) don’t notice her deviation from the norm due to the severity of the event. So rather than go into the details of “Nexus events,” I’m going to rank all the apocalypses in the show, starting from least favourite to favourite!
Let me know in the comments which you liked best!
4. Pompeii
While the scene was brief, it was done with typical Marvel flair. The simple shot of the marketplace with the looming volcano in the background created a fun tension for those who know Ancient history. The explosion of Mount Vesuvius was on par with the entire movie Pompeii, and a great introduction to the even more impressive apocalypse sets we get later.
3. The Roxxcart Hurricane, Alabama
This event was enjoyable simply for the ambiance. The mall, with its fluctuating power and deserted aisles, felt like something from any post-apocalyptic movie. I half expected zombies to come rushing out at any moment.
2. Lamentis-1
As someone who loves apocalypse movies and space, this was such a fantastic set and concept. I really enjoyed the opulent train on route to destruction (because I love anything that reminds me of Snowpiercer). The scene where the meteors hurtle towards the moon was absolutely gorgeous. I’m also fond of scenes where people realize they are in love at the last moment of their lives (I was a Loki+Sylvie shipper the instant she showed up). The best part of the episode was the mad rush for the ships as the moon was bombarded. The fight/escape scene was not only exciting and well-choreographed but did a great job giving us false hope (I did not expect they would not make it to the arc ship).
1. The Void
How awesome was episode 5 (“Journey into Mystery”)? Not only did we get all the previous apocalypse events throughout Loki, but we get an episode that was post-apocalyptic!
The opening shot was gorgeous – I loved the pan of the destroyed buildings overtaken by decay and earth.
The episode also introduced a little bit of zany humour that reminded me of 80s post-apocalyptic movies; the pizza delivery car has become my vehicle of choice for the wasteland, and Alligator Loki was a fun addition.
We also were given that fun battle of Lokis. When the second group shows up in the bunker, the fight that ensues was like a raider brawl.
And, lastly, on top of all these fun tropes, we also get Alioth, a massive Kaiju-esque creature that is intent on murdering everything that lives. Fun!
While 2021 has given us some surprising (The Mitchell’s vs the Machines) and not-so-surprising apocalypse movies and shows, Loki being one of them was the biggest surprise of all.
