The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has been going strong since the release of Iron Man in 2008. The studio released one of the highest-grossing films of all time with Avengers: Endgame in 2019, but has been dealing with a series of disappointments in the last few years. For many fans, there was hope that the release of Loki Season 2 would turn the tide. However, it’s continued to disappoint many.
Loki Season 1 was one of the most-watched MCU series on Disney+, released during Phase Four and following the releases of WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The series stars Tom Hiddleston returning to his role as the god of mischief, first introduced to the MCU in Thor (2011).
Credit: Marvel Studios
Season 1 also introduced the Time Variance Authority (TVA), as well as Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius, Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer, and Jonathan Majors as He Who Remains/Kang the Conqueror. Season 1 still has some of the highest ratings and popularity of any MCU series, and hopes were high for Season 2 to save Marvel’s current streak of failures.
Unfortunately, there’s one glaring issue that has many fans disappointed in the studio despite the show’s overall success. In the Marvel Comics, Loki is often shown as a genderfluid shapeshifter who shows interest in both men and women. Season 1 attempted to address this with a conversation between Sylvie and Loki in which Sylvie asks, “How about you? You’re a prince. Must’ve been would-be-princesses or, perhaps, another prince.” To this, Loki replies, “A bit of both.”
Credit: Marvel Studios
Marvel fans were thrilled with this nod to Loki’s sexuality as he became Marvel’s first queer leading character. Hiddleston himself was too, stating that it was an important step, but that there was more to go. After confirming that Loki was, in fact, bisexual, fans began to hope it meant the studio would show him in a queer relationship with Owen Wilson’s Mobius.
Unfortunately, these fans were left wanting as Marvel decided to lean into Loki and Sylvie, including a kiss between them in the season finale. Fans were outraged, calling the relationship “self-cest” since the characters are just variants of the same person and calls for a Loki/Mobius (Lokius) moment renewed as Season 2 approached.
*Warning for spoilers for Loki Season 2!
So far this season, there hasn’t been any sort of romantic overtures including Loki, although that hasn’t stopped fans from speculating. However, as two new relationships were introduced, but involving Jonathan Majors‘ character this season.
Credit: Marvel Studios
Victor Timely is a variant of He Who Remains, revealed to be the only person able to help Loki and the TVA stop the Time Loom from collapsing. While Loki and Mobius attempt to find him, Renslayer and Miss Minutes are also looking for him, to help set him on the path to create the TVA (part of a plan He Who Remains set into place before he died).
Renslayer and Timely are given several moments of flirting and coy looks between them and it’s revealed that Renslayer was a trusted general of He Who Remains. Jealous, Miss Minutes tries to come on to Timely, telling him that although his variant gave her sentience and feelings, she never got a body. Long nights playing chess and being a companion to He Who Remains led to Miss Minutes developing feelings for him and she grew upset by the fact she couldn’t do anything about it.
Credit: Marvel
After this reveal, Lokius fans shared their outrage online at the fact that Marvel would write in a relationship like that but wouldn’t show Loki’s queerness. “First Loki falls in love with himself then an Ai clock falls in love with Kang lol the Loki writers are freakazoids,” posted @Jadedkiss626. “Marvel please i beg give me more loki screen time (with mobius preferably) instead of a fucking psycho wild horny ass clock ai,” begged @redhoodluvs.
“Your show has a romance plot between a cartoon AI clock and human. I thought it couldn’t get worse after having Loki fall in love with himself but here we are,” shared @donutrolls15. “If they’re going to insinuate a romance between a sentient AI clock and Kang, the least they could do is let Loki and Mobius kiss,” demanded @falliamnation.
Credit: Marvel Studios
Although these are only a few of the comments that have popped up online over the last couple of weeks, it’s clear that fans are disappointed by the lack of representation from one of the biggest film studios in the world, whether or not the writers actually intend to show a relationship between Loki and Mobius. For many, it’s no longer enough to add in a throwaway line implying a character’s bisexuality. Fans want more clear representation to be included in these mega movies.
With Hiddleston himself supportive of Loki’s bisexuality, it’s upsetting that Marvel refuses to do anything with their first confirmed queer character. With Season 2 coming to an end, Loki’s future in the MCU is unclear and this may be the last time fans see him onscreen. Although Loki may not be able to carry the torch for the queer community, hopefully he’s at least opened the door for someone else in the future.
Do you think Loki’s sexuality needs to be further explored or no? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Marvel fans are outraged over ‘Loki’ Season 2. #Marvel #Loki #MCU Read More