Marvel Just Removed Tom Hiddleston’s ‘Loki’ TV Show From the Schedule Indefinitely

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Tom Hiddleston as Loki in 'Loki' TV show

Credit: Marvel Studios

It’s bad news for Loki TV show fans, as Marvel Studios has scrapped the summer 2023 release of one of the franchise’s most anticipated series.

Tom Hiddleston as Loki in the 'Loki' TV show
Credit: Marvel Studios

Loki Season 1 became the third streaming show in Marvel Phase Four. Beginning with WandaVision, Disney+ Originals came thick and fast, at least from a Marvel standpoint, with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If…?, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law joining the roster of TV shows in Kevin Feige’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.

As more fans turned to streaming due to the industry-wide shutdown of movie theaters across the world, Marvel Studios opted to saturate Disney+ with what felt like an endless stream of content. Let’s not forget that Cate Shortland’s Black Widow (2021) should have commenced the fourth chapter of the MCU; instead, it debuted six months after the Phase began, and even then, the spy-thriller released simultaneously on Disney+ through the now-defunct Disney Premier Access service.

Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
Credit: Marvel Studios

For Loki, the show from Michael Waldron (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) and director Kate Herron broke Disney+ streaming records and ushered in a shift in release days for all new Originals; where new episodes used to air weekly on Fridays, Loki‘s success on Wednesdays marked a big move for Disney+.

Starring Tom Hiddleston as the titular God of Mischief, Waldron and Herron’s six-episode series marked the first major moment the Multiverse concept and its rules were introduced in the MCU canon, with new factions like the Time Variance Authority and the introduction of Variants and the Sacred Timeline. Loki also starred Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer, Tara Strong as Miss Minutes, Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius, Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15, Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie, and Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror Variant, He Who Remains.

He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) in Marvel Studios' LOKI, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Credit: Marvel Studios

Related: After 10 Years, Marvel Finally Confirms Loki’s Sexuality in MCU Canon

Majors returned in the widely-panned inaugural Marvel Phase Five movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) as Kang with the post-credits scene of the third Ant-Man movie from director Peyton Reed showcasing a new clip of Hiddleston, Wilson, and Majors (as Victor Timely) in Loki Season 2.

Loki TV show gets a disappointing update.

While anticipation was high for the return of the Loki TV show, fans will seemingly have to wait even longer for more of the beloved anti-hero. Per new reports and a change on the Disney Originals website, the release of the sophomore Loki season in “Summer 2023” has been ditched, with only a “Coming Soon” in its place. Loki Season 2 is also set to include recent Academy Award winner Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once).

This move comes after the second season of Marvel’s animated television series, What If…?, also shifted to “Coming Soon” after long being tapped for “Early 2023.” Then, just a couple of months ago, it was reported that Echo, Ironheart, and Agatha: Coven of Chaos had all shifted out of 2023, the latter being rumored to have been pushed to 2025. This left only Loki Season 2 and Secret Invasion (Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Emilia Clarke, Olivia Colman) on the calendar for this year.

Tom Hiddleston scared as Loki as he sees Victor Timely
Credit: Marvel Studios

The upheaval of streaming content comes as newly-reinstated Disney CEO Bob Iger stated the profitability of the House of Mouse’s streaming service was top of mind — CFO Christine McCarthy said on the latest Earnings Call that the streamer would be profitable by end of fiscal 2024. In tandem with Iger’s sentiments, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said the superhero studio would pull back on the volume of content being distributed to Disney+.

And it seems they have scaled back quite a bit. As said above, what was once a year with a projected six shows releasing has been stripped down to just one, per these reports.

Loki (Tom Hiddleston) talking to Mobius (Owen Wilson) in the 'Loki' TV show
Credit: Marvel Studios

Related: Marvel Likely to Continue Loki’s Legacy Without Tom Hiddleston

The element of superhero fatigue has been floating ever since Phase Four really got underway. As projects received a lukewarm reception or underperformed at the box office, fans and critics of the MCU feel dragged down by the oversaturation of content. Only Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) really made a significant dent in the box office, and even though Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) rode off the success of the Spidey threequel, it wasn’t the smash hit many expected, at least in hindsight.

So, while fans were teased with a Loki Season 2 clip at the end of Quantumania, they may have to wait quite a while longer before they find out what truly happens in this next chapter of the Multiverse Saga.

Are you disappointed that Loki is not releasing this summer? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!

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