Will Loki Meet Other Lokis in Loki?

What’s cooler than one Loki? Like…a bunch of Lokis.

Or at least that’s what Marvel fans think. Loki, the next MCU Disney+ effort, isn’t set to premiere for another week, but many online observers can’t help but entertain the possibilities that the show’s time traveling plot represents. 

In the comics, there are many iterations of the God of Mischief, from the traditional adult Asgardian version to Kid Loki, Lady Loki, and more. Since the MCU’s version of the character (played by Tom Hiddleston) is now in the clutches of the Time Variance Authority, what’s stopping him from meeting other versions of himself? Only a writer’s imagination, really. Thankfully, in a new interview with Vanity Fair, Loki head writer Michael Waldron intimates that his imagination is more than up to that task. 

In speaking abstractly about the possibilities that time travel stories present, Waldron harkens back to a classic of the genre, saying:

“You can literally hold up a mirror to your characters. Perhaps they can encounter other versions of themselves at different points in their lives. In the case of Back to the Future’s Marty McFly, he can encounter versions of his parents and then he understands himself better.”

While Back to the Future is the consummate time travel movie, Waldron needn’t have remembered back that far. Marvel’s own Avengers: Endgame features characters both meeting their parents (Tony Stark meeting father Howard in the ‘60s) and themselves (Steve Rogers kicking his own perfect ass in 2012). When pressed as to whether Loki meeting himself could be similarly literalized, Waldron told Vanity Fair:

“It certainly could. What being is more chaotic than Loki? What do you have to learn from any version of yourself?” 

The piece goes on to clarify that Marvel is steadfastly refusing to answer whether other versions of Loki will pop up in the Disney+ series, as is their right since that would be a fairly fun surprise. But it does still seem pretty clear that that’s a viable and exciting direction for the story to go in. The show has a dynamic character in Loki, an endlessly charming actor to play him in Tom Hiddleston, and the storytelling mechanics to produce more of him. It would be malpractice not to.

Fans online have also noted that actor Richard E. Grant does not currently have a character confirmed for Loki. Not only that, but he just also happens to resemble an older version of Tom Hiddleston. Curious indeed…

It also must be noted that Loki is set to feature an alternate version of Loki to begin with. The Loki that survived through the events of Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War is dead. This version is straight from 2012’s Avengers and has not gone through the same character arc as his primary timeline partner. 

Loki will already present us with a new Loki of sorts. What’s a few more? 

Loki will premiere Wednesday, June 9 on Disney+.