If Disney can make movies about bad girls like Cruella DeVil and Malificent, and “explain” their evil, it makes sense Marvel would make a TV show about making a bad guy good….somewhat.

Can a god of mischief who doesn’t like his half brother bring order to reality with the help of a guy who has been crashing a lot of things besides weddings? Disney Plus will give it a try with its new Loki series. It’s already breaking the rules by airing on Wednesdays instead of Fridays.
The first episode sets up the rest of the season, but it’s a kick seeing Loki get spun around by some guy in a suit. He’s missing Hulk at some point.
Still, this is because he took the Tessaract in a “deleted” Avengers scene, and it starts quite a journey

SPOILERS BELOW

It starts when he lands in the Gobi Desert with the Tesseract, and tries to conquer a few Mongolians. Then some soldiers from the Time Variance Authority show up, and he is not impressed.
Then they arrest him by literally slowing him down. He’s dispatched to the TVA office, where he’s puzzled and unimpressed. He looks at a cartoon that explains how he broke the Sacred Timeline, creating multiverses that shouldn’t exist, and how that has to be fixed. Gotta admit, the talking clock is cute.
After a trial where he is guilty and proud of it, he learns his powers are gone. Now what?

A guy named Mobius (Owen Wilson) intervenes, and it seems he’s got a lot of interest in the mischief god. A good chunk of the episode is part interview, part therapy session. Wilson and Hiddleston play off each other very well, as Mobius could give Dr. Phil a run for his money. Loki tries to impose his might, even without powers. He’s learning, though, he’s in big trouble here.
His philosophy is interesting. He claims that choice creates shame, uncertainty and regret for “most” living things. He exempts himself, of course. People just make the wrong choice, which is why free will is awful (except for him).
It’s even revealed that Loki was DB Cooper, and it’s all because of a bet with Thor.

Then he sees how helping the Dark Elves in the second Thor movie led to the death of his mom Frigga. That shakes him, a lot. It’s not enough to make him completely repent, but it’s a lot. He later finds out he is destined to die in Infinity War, challenging Thanos. That ending he rejects, and he tries to outwit one of the Minutemen with Mobius’ time gizmo. Eventually, he realizes he’s trapped.
He also finds out something shocking when he recovers the Tesseract…it’s just a glowing cube in the TVA-verse. Not only that, they’ve got lots of extra uncharged Infinity Stones. That also jolts Loki.
He realizes the Time Variance Authority is the Ultimate Power. Its heavy bureaucracy and reliance on paperwork should prove that.
There’s a guy who’s been behind his desk so long he’s never seen a fish. That’s power.

So, why does Mobius need Loki at all? Mobius is looking for a very dangerous Variant who has been ruining the timeline. He stabbed several people in France in the 16th Century, and even gave out bubble gum to kids. He’s also used a time machine to get rich in 19th Century Oklahoma, and killed some of the Minutemen.

Who is this Variant? None other than….LOKI!
So how come he doesn’t remember that….unless it’s another Loki.
Yes, it’s going there. After all, there’s two Captain Americas in Endgame for a minute. This is the opposite.

This could be the wildest Marvel show yet, after a year of a town trapped in sitcoms and the rise of a new type of hero. It’ll be a wild ride through time and multiverses through the rest of the summer.
If Loki sees versions who are better and worse than himself, the question is…what will he become in the end?

Loki airs new episodes every Wednesday on Disney Plus.
Here’s an interview with Tom Hiddleston on Jimmy Kimmel Live, courtesy of YouTube.