Credit: Marvel StudiosFrom the get-go, the sophomore season of Marvel’s hugely popular Loki series has been met with uncertainty. From pandemic-related delays to its main villain being, essentially, blacklisted from Hollywood, things haven’t looked too promising. And now that they’ve finally cemented its premiere date on Disney+ and begun promoting the new episodes, Marvel is dropping yet another unexpected bomb on fans eagerly awaiting Loki Season 2.
Related: Marvel Ditches Tom Hiddleston for ‘Loki’ Season 2 Promotion
‘Loki’ Steaming Success and Continued Popularity
When Loki Season 1 debuted on Disney’s streamer in June 2021, it became an instant hit for Marvel. It quickly surpassed views for previous TV installments like The Falcon and the Winter and even Emmy darling WandaVision. An estimated 2.5 million households watched the series premiere within its first five days, and today, it still holds the crown as the most-watched MCU show to date.
So, why is Loki so popular? Well, for one, Tom Hiddleston’s titular God of Mischief is perhaps the most beloved anti-hero in Marvel history, attracting a massive fanbase over the years. Its creative premise and inclusion of the ever-elusive TVA are also credited with being some of the best comic book-accurate storytelling since the Infinity Saga, which the MCU has largely failed to live up to since Avengers: Endgame came out in 2019.
Related: Marvel Superheroes Pose Psychological Benefits, Study Proves
Since making his franchise debut in Thor (2011), the Asgardian trickster has been met with a terrible fate no less than three times throughout his six appearances in the MCU, though his actual death (well, in a sense, at least) comes at Thanos’ (Josh Brolin) hands at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War (2017), which seemed to finally be the end of the line for Hiddleston’s character.
What is ‘Loki’ Season 2 About? Cast, Story Details, and Postponed Release Date
However, the first season of his solo spinoff series resurrected Loki yet again, and now, he’s poised to make a comeback in Season 2. Similar to the first batch of episodes, Loki Season 2 will follow the titular anti-hero as he deals with the consequences of He Who Remains’ (Jonathan Majors) murder at the hands of Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) and the shattering of the Sacred Timeline, leading to even more time-traveling antics that will likely set up the remainder of Phase Five, and into Phase Six.
Now that the MCU’s Multiverse has officially kicked off, Loki will have to recruit some old friends including TVA Agent Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson), Eugene Cordero’s Casey, and franchise newcomer Ke Huy Quan, who plays tech expert O.B., as they hunt down a particularly dangerous Kang variant called Victor Timely, who audiences got a taste of the post-credits for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).
Those who follow Marvel know that Loki Season 2 has had a rocky path to production, with Marvel President Kevin Feige initially claiming that the new episodes would premiere on Disney+ in the summer of 2023. This projected release window was then changed to October, likely due to MCU scheduling changes.
Check out the official trailer for Marvel’s Loki Season 2 below:
Believe it or not, the second season of Loki wasn’t delayed by the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes or even Jonathan Majors’ arrest back in March when he was taken into custody on assault and harassment charges. Marvel has long been known to reshuffle their slate of upcoming releases, and despite its popularity, Loki Season 2 was no exception.
Marvel Pushes Up ‘Loki’ Season 2 Premiere
Now, just when we thought the new episodes of Loki were locked in for an October 6 release date, Disney+ is switching things up yet again. On Monday morning, Marvel took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce that the first episode of Loki Season 2 will now arrive ahead of schedule on Thursday, October 5, ditching its typical midnight P.T. release for 6 p.m. P.T.
An animation of Tara Strong’s Miss Minutes shared the happy news, followed by a short clip of Mobius and Loki talking in what is presumably a TVA office:
Hey y’all! Check this out! Marvel Studios’ #Loki Season 2, an Original series, is streaming on October 5 at 6PM PT, only on @DisneyPlus.
Hey y'all! Check this out!
Marvel Studios’ #Loki Season 2, an Original series, is streaming on October 5 at 6PM PT, only on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/8sGo1xmRIW
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) September 18, 2023
‘Loki’ Takes a Page From ‘Ahsoka’s’ Book, but Will It Pay Off?
It seems like Disney+ will now adopt this new timeframe for their more buzzy releases moving forward, with the smash hit Star Wars spinoff Ahsoka acting as a sort of guinea pig for this earlier release. This is likely because the House of Mouse wants to have as many eyes on Loki Season 2 as possible and get people talking on social media to attract even more viewers (well, North American viewers, at least) to the show.
With this in mind, it doesn’t come as a complete surprise that Loki‘s sophomore season is being pushed up to October 5, though it is unusual to see Disney moving a release date so close to its scheduled premiere. But fans of both Marvel and Star Wars will undoubtedly be well-fed in terms of TV content, with Ahsoka‘s finale airing on October 3 and Loki Season 2 arriving just two days later.
We should certainly savor these back-to-back releases for now, considering the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes mean that we’re likely going to experience a dry spell in regards to new TV shows for the foreseeable future until writers and actors can work out a fair deal with the major Hollywood studios.
Fans can look forward to seeing Loki and Co. back in action on October 5, 2023, at 6 p.m. P.T.
What do you think of Marvel and Disney+ deciding to last-minute change the premiere date of Loki Season 2? Do you like these earlier release times? Share your thoughts in the comments below.