It might not be Marvel’s brightest moment, butLokiproves there is still interestin the MCU. With the second season’s exciting conclusion, The God of Mischief completed his transition from villain to heroic deity after so many years of character evolution. Loki’s treatment in his homonymous series was clean, clear, and compelling, breathing new life into an already beloved character while giving him a new future in the cinematic universe. However, there were some bumps in this season’s road, and one in particular has been slowing down Marvel’s exit from its long-running crisis: the multiverse.
Introduced long ago as a fascinating idea, the multiverse started to show its limits shortly after. The complexity behind parallel universes and the possibility of traveling between them, though filled with the potential for a multipart saga like Marvel’s, became somewhat confusing for many fans, not because of its intricacies but for the unclear purpose the concept has for this phase and the upcoming ones. In other words, viewers can understand it as long as they can see where it is going, and thoughLokimanaged to anchor part of the idea for upcoming media, fans are still unsure of the multiverse’s direction. So, has the multiverse gone too far?
How the Multiverse Went Astray
The first cinematic adaptation/mention of the multiverse can be tracked toDoctor Strange, released in 2016. Though mentioned and briefly explained in the film, the most fascinating aspect of the multiverse presented in the movie was the visual style. Designed as a glimpse of what was coming in future phases,Doctor Strangewas a brilliant teaser that avoided too much explanation to captivate audiences' attention. After a solid introduction,Avengers: Endgame,the most epic crossover in superhero cinema, gave the multiverse concept more straightforward rules regarding time travel and its consequences, paving the way for its use in future media.
2021 could be named the year of the multiverse. TheWhat If…?series andLoki’s first season continued to explain the concept and its reach. The latter, in particular, expanded onthe variant conceptand introduced the TVA, institutionalizing the idea of multiverses, timelines, and pruning. Yet, the multiverse’s probable highest point came withSpider-Man: No Way Home.Profiting from Marvel’s troubled history of Spider-Man and Sony, the third entry in Tom Holland’s Peter Parker movies made Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s Spideys canon by acknowledging their stories as alternate timelines. Audiences roared in theaters when Garfield and Maguire appeared on the screen, adding an emotional spice to the multiverse.
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The downfall started with the subsequent moviesDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of MadnessandAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.It’s not that these films embezzled the concept, but their treatment of it was too expansive and problematic, to say the least. It became flexible enough to allocate almost any idea, missing the point of what role it should play in this phase. In other words, it worked more as a gimmick rather than a pivotal element in a bigger picture,blurring the phase’s direction.
Did Marvel Go Too Far With the Multiverse Concept in Loki?
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Loki’s second seasonwas tasked with the challenging mission of trying to restore a certain order in the multiverse’s narrative to give the phases a new sense of direction. It is safe to say that, despite its hiccups, the show managed to give some balance to the idea. In fact, the lowest points from this season came with the poor time-traveling moments, aiming for the multiverse to turn into a more “Inceptionfrom Nolan” idea but resulting in a lackluster homage toBack to the Future. Still,Loki’s transformation came throughand overshadowed the narrative misses.
Answering the question, Marvel seemed on the verge of spoiling the multiverse concept, butLokisomehow gave it one more chance. It was not through a good reintroduction of the concept but rather a solid story with a beloved character and his godly transformation into a sacred timekeeper, an interesting twist to both his development and the audiences' understanding of the multiverse. The Multiverse saga might have found a new purpose with this show, but this new and precarious balance might not last long.
All in all, the problem with the multiverse is not at its core but in its development. With so many shows and movies introducing new characters and stories that do not seem to reasonably fit this new timeline just yet, a sense of atransitional moment in the franchisehas been going on for too long now. The problem with long transitions is that they suffer many losses along the way, mostly in viewership and interest. Maybe the transition is over, or it will be soon, and that will ultimately avoid the malversation of the multiverse concept, but the risk of doing so is right around the corner, so Marvel should be smart if it wants to continue profiting from one of the most popular franchises in cinematic history.
