Loki Creator Recalls the Time Marvel Said “No” to a Wild Idea
Marvel signed off on all kinds of easter eggs for Loki's first season, but one idea from the show's creator was just too much.
It seems like an age ago now, but back in 2021, we were obsessed with season 1 of Loki. Marvel’s Disney+ series about the God of Mischief was must-watch stuff, and its fifth episode especially was a playground for us nerds.
“Journey Into Mystery” saw Loki transported to the Void, a bizarre, post-apocalyptic dumping ground at the end of time where the TVA sent pruned variants and realities. The episode was packed with easter eggs and Marvel references, from Frog Thor and the Thanos-Copter to Qeng Tower. But there was one Void addition from Loki creator Michael Waldron that Marvel completely shut down.
During a recent Reddit AMA, Waldron was asked a series of questions about his time at Marvel to date, including one from a reader who was curious about staying creative within the boundaries of an existing universe.
“There is a lot of creative freedom within the MCU,” he replied. “I think LOKI is the weirdest thing in the world. I can’t think of many times I was told no. Maybe when I originally wrote a deleted version of the Mojoverse into the Void.”
In the pages of Marvel Comics, the Mojoverse is a dimension ruled by Mojo, a grotesque, power-hungry being obsessed with television, ratings, and mass entertainment. The realm operates as a kind of dark satire of TV culture and audience manipulation, and has appeared in a couple of X-Men animated series over the years.
Waldron doesn’t seem too gutted about having to ditch a live-action nod to the Mojoverse, though. Later, he added that above all else, he “just wanted Loki to meet an alligator version of himself tbh.”
Waldron left Loki in the capable hands of indie directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead at the end of season 1, and went on to pen Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Avengers: Doomsday for Marvel. He is currently out and about promoting his new Hulu sports comedy series Chad Powers, hence this week’s intriguing AMA and its behind-the-scenes Marvel tidbits.
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Kirsten Howard has paid their dues. Yes sir, the check is in the mail.