The God of Mischief returns in the first-look trailer for Disney+ series Loki, which stars Tom Hiddleston as Thor's (adopted) brother. The trailer is packed with exciting story reveals, as well as many nods to the pages of Marvel Comics, and introduces the characters played by Owen Wilson and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Loki was killed by Thanos towards the start of Marvel multiverse.
Thematically, Loki ties into other Marvel Studios released like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, WandaVision and Spider-Man 3 (which will bring in characters from previous Spider-Man movie franchises as part of an exploration of the multiverse). With infinite possibilities, things are bound to get very weird. Here are the biggest reveals and most intriguing clues from the Loki trailer.
#21 Loki Loses The Tesseract
If, as the Loki trailer suggests, this scene in the desert takes place immediately after Loki teleports away from New York City using the Tesseract, then it appears that somewhere along the way he lost his grip on the Infinity Stone. The status of the Infinity Stones in the MCU is a little confusing. They were reduced to atoms by Thanos after he successfully wiped out half of all life in the universe, but the Avengers then went back to different points in time to "borrow" the past versions of the Infinity Stones so that they could use them to undo The Snap. Captain America then went back in time again to return all of the Infinity Stones to the point at which they were taken. However, he had no way of returning the Tesseract that Loki stole. Did the Tesseract in Loki's possession cease to exist after he used it? Or was it lost somewhere along the way - along with the muzzle he had on his mouth before teleporting?
#20 Where Loki Ends Up
Based on the desert surroundings and these strangers sporting Mongolian clothing, it appears that Loki ends up in the Gobi Desert, which spans parts of Southern Mongolia and Northern China. It could be the case that this is elsewhere in the Nine Realms, in a world that's based on the people and clothing of Mongolia, but a landing on the other side of the world seems more likely. That still leaves open, however, the question of which Earth Loki has ended up on - whether it's the MCU's original Earth, or elsewhere in the multiverse.
#19 The Time Variance Authority
Some time apparently not long after his rough landing, Loki ends up in the custody of the Time Variance Authority, or TVA: a vast bureaucratic organization that has the daunting task of keeping track of the many, many, many realities across the multiverse. Rather than killing Loki or throwing him in a cell, it appears that the TVA may be interested in recruiting him as an agent - or at least a temporary ally.
#18 Owen Wilson is Mobius M. Mobius
The subtitles for the Loki trailer confirm that Owen Wilson is playing Mobius M. Mobius, a middle-ranking bureaucrat of the Time Variance Authority who also appears in the comics. Mobius's appearance, like that of the many clones at the TVA, is based on Marvel comic book writer and editor Mark Gruenwald, who died of a heart attack in 1996 at just 43 years old. Mr. Mobius gives Loki his first introduction to the TVA, and he's already very familiar with the God of Mischief, noting that he's a habitual liar and "we both know that you love to talk." Loki's accidental scrambling of the timeline may be what gets him arrested by the TVA, but it seems they've been keeping an eye on him for some time.
#17 Loki Is A Prisoner Of The TVA
It's not easy to keep the magic-wielding son of a Frost Giant king under control, but the TVA apparently manages it by way of a heavy collar around Loki's neck. A detail later on in the trailer suggests that this may be a bomb collar, designed to explode if Loki attempts to escape. Based on the fact that he's not using magic to free himself or make Mobius's elevator trip an unpleasant experience, the collar also appears to have the effect of dampening his powers.
#16 A Mysterious Hooded Figure
This mysterious hooded figure appears several times throughout the Loki trailer, and is first seen here, standing in long grass amid an eerie blue fog. The figure drops the lantern that they are holding and attacks TVA operatives. They also appear later in the trailer, watching over a TVA mission in a supermarket via a wall of CCTV monitors. There's every indication that this is the main villain of Loki, but given the twisted nature of the multiverse it could also be an alternate version of Loki. There's a long-running observation that MCU villains tend to be mirrors of the heroes (like Abomination being an evil Hulk, Iron Monger being an evil Iron Man, and Yellow Jacket being an evil Ant-Man), so having the antagonist literally be Loki's mirror image could be a fun, tongue-in-cheek way of addressing that trend.
#15 The Mirror In Stark Tower
While this funky mirror in the background when Loki says "glorious" might look like some kind of window in the multiverse, it's actually part of Tony Stark's design aesthetic. The mirror is in Stark Tower, and can be see in Avengers: Endgame when the superhero team escort a freshly-arrested Loki into the elevator. Also recognizable from Stark Tower is the wall of golden pillars that are reflected in the mirror. Interestingly, this Loki is wearing a different outfit from the one he wore in The Avengers and Avengers: Endgame, indicating that the God of Mischief takes a different trip back to the moment of his defeat.
#14 Gugu Mbatha-Raw's First Appearance
The Loki trailer offers a first look at the character played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who is known for her roles in Belle, Black Mirror and The Cloverfield Paradox. Mbatha-Raw is playing a high-ranking executive at the TVA, who presides over a courtroom that Loki is taken to and later fights him during an apparent escape attempt.
#13 The TVA's Founding Member(s)?
Both the courtroom scene and this shot showing the exterior of a TVA building feature three mysterious statues, presumably of the beings responsible for creating the TVA. Though they don't quite fit the character design in the comics, one or more of these characters could be the powerful time-travelling villain Kang the Conqueror, who is set to appear in the Ant-Man and the Wasp movie sequel Quantumania. They could also represent the three-faced cosmic entity known as the Living Tribunal, whose role is to maintain balance between the many realities of the multiverse. Given the TVA's role in the MCU, the Living Tribunal seems like the better fit.
#12 An Unpleasant Memory For Loki
This shot in the Loki trailer shows Mobius revisiting one of the God of Mischief's less illustrious moments: his defeat at the hands of the Avengers. This shot, representing Loki's point of view as he lies defeated before Earth's Mightiest Heroes, is one of the most well-known moments in the MCU, defining the moment at which the Avengers all united as one to protect Earth. Mobius could just be bringing it up to needle Loki during an interrogation, or - based on the fact that Loki apparently returns to Stark Tower - he could be outlining a mission.
