Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) may have targeted Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in Loki series could cause a great deal of trouble for the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, particularly Doctor Strange.
After having several key roles in a number of MCU installments, Tom Hiddleston’s God of Mischief met an untimely end in the beginning of Avengers: Endgame.
The fourth Avengers movie provided a way for Loki to stay relevant in the MCU, even though it was impossible for him to be resurrected by Smart Hulk’s snap with everyone else. During the Avengers’ mission to 2012, the team accidentally complicated matters by letting the Loki from that timeline escape from SHIELD custody. It’s this version of the character that viewers will be seeing more of in the MCU. Loki will return on the small screen when he headlines his own TV series on Disney+ as a part of Marvel’s Phase 4 slate. It could be that what the show has planned for him is connected in some way to what happened between him and the Sorcerer Supreme in Thor: Ragnarok.
Loki Was On Doctor Strange's Most Wanted List
Early in Thor: Ragnarok, Thor and Loki’s visit to New York City was interrupted by Doctor Strange, who used his magical powers to kidnap Loki. Afterward, Thor went to the Sanctum Sanctorum and met with Strange, who explained why he took his brother. According to the Sorcerer Supreme, he keeps a “watch list of individuals or beings from other realms that may be a threat to this world,” and Thor: The Dark World, and with that much power at his fingertips, he could have unleashed a ton of destruction on the Nine Realms.
Loki WASN'T On The Ancient One's List Of Targets
It makes sense that the previous Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), would have had her own “watch list” of threats. Due to her position, it was her responsibility to look out for enemies that could threaten the universe. However, Loki didn’t seem to have her attention prior to her death in 2016. If she did, she surely would have taken a more active role in the battle against the Chitauri in 2012. It was shown in Endgame that she did her part by defending the Sanctum Sanctorum, but she may have done much more if she really felt that Loki was as big of a threat as Strange thought of him to be in Thor: Ragnarok. For Strange to see Loki in a different light, something must have happened after the battle. It could be that Loki’s future became clearer as time ed and the conflict with Thanos drew closer.
Loki Can Still Be A Threat After Endgame
It’s important to keep in mind that if Strange did detect that Loki would become a threat later on, it wasn’t the Loki in Ragnarok that he foresaw an issue with. That character is now dead, presumably for good. As previously noted, it’s the 2012 Loki from the new timeline that would have been Strange’s primary concern. This Loki isn’t the same character who just redeemed himself trying to help Thor; this is a full-fledged villain who just led an army of aliens against the Earth. It could be that even though the two versions of Loki are fundamentally different, Strange targeted Ragnarok’s Loki simply because his knowledge of the events to be depicted in Loki made him aware of his potential for evil.
Loki Became A Target By Meddling With The Timeline
What would the alternate timeline 2012 Loki have to do to be perceived as a bigger threat than he was originally in The Avengers? Whatever it is, it would have to be worse than leading the Chitauri to Earth. One thing that would certainly explain his presence on Strange’s “watch list” is the possibility of the character meddling with the timeline. Details about Loki’s TV show indicate that he’s now loose in the timestream, free to wreak havoc wherever (and whenever) he wants. A being as powerful as him free to do as he pleases in any time period of his choosing is a disaster waiting to happen.
It would seem that his time travel antics will understandably warrant an investigation by the Time Variance Authority (TVA), an organization in Marvel Comics entrusted with keeping time travel activities to a minimum. If he alarms the TVA so much that they decide to pursue and capture him, it stands to reason that Strange would have the same concerns about him. As someone called the “God of Mischief”, it’s hard to imagine Loki respecting the rules of time travel. A person like him will most assuredly cause problems in the timestream if left unchecked.
For example, one catastrophe that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
