Culture

The ‘Loki’ Finale’s Massive Multiverse Implications For The MCU Explained

How the finale sets up 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,' 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' and more!

by Merryana Salem  25 July 2021
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Loki has been a wibbly wobbly timey whimey time from the start and the series one finale was no different. It’s been just over a week so let’s talk about what that game-changing finale might mean for the rest of the MCU.

~This piece contains spoilers for Loki on Disney Plus~

It Was He Who Remains All Along

A big question throughout the entire season has been who, or what is really behind the TVA? Who created it? What is it really for? Well, the answer finally arrived in the form of Jonathan Majors’ scene-stealing, totally unhinged portrayal of Kang the Conqueror. However, in this version of reality, he goes by the name He Who Remains.

He Who Remains reveals to an aghast Loki and Sylvie that he created the TVA to protect this version of reality from himself. He explains that in every version of reality there are versions of him who sought to wage war in an effort to become ruler of all realities. He Who Remains created the TVA so he could prune any timeline that would have created an easy path for other, more bloodthirsty versions of himself to enter this reality.

After explaining all this to Sylvie and Loki, he offers them a choice. Either they do what they came to do and kill him, risking chaos and more dangerous versions of Kang entering this reality, or they take over the TVA and rule over all of time and free will in this version of the timeline.

Despite their shared goal in getting to the bottom of the TVA, Loki and Sylvie’s united front ends at He Who Remains/Kang’s ultimatum. Loki wants to take the offer to rule the TVA, but Sylvie wants revenge on the man behind the organisation that ruined her life. The pair fight before sharing a kiss that Sylvie uses to push Loki through a one-way time portal. Now alone, Sylvie kills He Who Remains, shattering his control on the timeline and opening it up to the multiverse.

What Does It Mean For The Series?

Before the credits roll and confirm Loki will be back for a season 2, we get a sense that Sylvie’s actions have already altered the TVA as we know it. When Loki arrives back to the TVA, the statues of the three timekeepers that loomed over the TVA’s epic lobby are gone. The three statues are now replaced by a single statue of Jonathan Majors’ Kang.

To make matters all the more upsetting, Loki runs to find Mobius and to explain what has happened. When Loki finds him, he explains what he saw and what Sylvie did. But Mobius replies as if he doesn’t know Loki, asking who he is and if he’s an analyst with the TVA.

It’s a gut-wrenching moment that indicates Sylvie’s act of killing He Who Remains/Kang and opening the timeline to chaos has already altered reality in infinite ways. From changing statues to making allies forget allies. Whether season 2 of Loki will follow our favourite god of mischief as he tries to right this new chaotic reality, or rule over it, is anyone’s guess. But things will never be the same.

What Does This Mean For The Rest Of The MCU?

As shocking and chaotic as this finale may seem, it actually provides a missing link to the MCU’s next phase. Now that Sylvie’s murderous tendencies have officially demolished the walls of the multiverse, what we know of the new Spider-Man and Doctor Strange sequels makes a lot more sense.

As the title suggests, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will see Doctor Strange meddling with the multiverse with some help from Wanda Maximoff. As for Spider-Man: No Way Home, the confirmed cast list teases familiar faces from previous Spiderman films, including Jamie Foxx reprising his role as Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Alfred Molina as Doc Ock from Spider-Man 2.

The events of the Loki finale also might explain why Disney has held back on dropping a trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home, despite its scheduled December release. If the film deals directly with the multiverse, as the cast suggests, it’s understandable that the trailer couldn’t be released until the multiverse became canon in Loki.

This also may explain the long speculated premise of the Marvel Disney+ animated series, What If, coming out in August. The What If trailer teases alternate versions of characters in the MCU, like if T’challa was Starlord, or if Steve’s great love, Agent Peggy Carter was her own patriotic hero. A multiverse is, after all, full of infinite possibilities.

As He Who Remains/Kang teases with his farewell, “see you soon,” we will be seeing him again in the MCU and not just in Loki.  Jonathan Majors has been cast as Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, due out in 2023.

It’s unclear how the Loki finale links to The Eternals, the next MCU film due out in November. The Eternals are celestial beings who watch over all of reality, not unlike the debunked “timekeepers” who supposedly ruled over the TVA. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

All episodes of Loki are streaming on Disney Plus.

Merryana Salem (they/she) is a proud Wonnarua and Lebanese–Australian writer, critic, teacher and podcaster on most social media as @akajustmerry. If you want, check out their podcast, GayV Club where they gush about LGBTIQ rep in media. Either way, she hopes you ate something nice today.