The ‘Loki’ finale doesn’t make Marvel’s Kang-related options any clearer
By Brian Lowry, CNN
(CNN) — Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers about the “Loki” Season 2 finale, “Glorious Purpose.”
Marvel potentially faces tough decisions regarding what to do about Jonathan Majors’ pivotal role in the next phase of its cinematic universe, but the “Loki” second-season finale – which prominently featured the actor – didn’t make those choices any easier or clearer.
Majors – who is charged with assault and aggravated harassment stemming from an incident involving his former girlfriend in March – appeared during the latest six-episode season in the guise of Victor Timely, a benign variant of his MCU villain Kang the Conqueror, as well as the seemingly all-knowing He Who Remains. That included a faceoff in the finale episode with Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who was forced to essentially become the protector of time – a role steeped in Norse mythology – to save the sacred timeline, having exhausted all other options.
“I know what kind of god I need to be,” Loki said, before wading in to restore the branches of time.
Still out there, meanwhile, is Majors’ character, who has been earmarked to become Marvel’s next “big bad” villain, culminating in a future “Avengers” movie subtitled “The Kang Dynasty” after his role in the recent “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”
Majors, however, is due in court later this month as his case is moving to trial.
The actor has denied the allegations through his attorney, but in light of the uncertainty surrounding him, Disney has already pulled an unrelated, smaller-scale movie featuring the actor, “Magazine Dreams,” from its release schedule.
The “Loki” finale underscored the more sober tone that defined the second season of the Disney+ series, after the sporadically goofy nature of the first edition. That included a debate between Loki and the revenge-minded Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) about whether it was truly worth saving the timeline at the cost of exercising free will.
While time marches on in the show, “Loki” left behind several loose ends, none bigger than Marvel and Disney’s real-life decision about whether Majors will remain the linchpin of its next slate of movies (with hundreds of millions of dollars hanging in the balance), or if the studio will need to find some alternative.
As Victor Timely, Majors began the finale episode by walking into a dangerous situation and quietly saying, “Time to be brave.” As for what that will look like for Marvel, in keeping with “Loki’s” main preoccupation, only time will tell.
The-CNN-Wire
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