Let’s start from the beginning.

Iron Man 1 was the first movie I watched in the MCU roughly back when it came out, so I’ve been a fan of this franchise since pretty much its inception. I was a kid, so, anything that’s fun and awesome caught my attention. I didn’t like it as much as the other movies I watched around that time, but I liked it. Then, as these movies came out, I watched them. Mostly with interested indifference, to be honest.

Imagine this: you like drinking coffee made with those instant packs, but can you truly claim that it is one of the best things you ever tasted in your life? Usually, such praise is reserved for something you rarely tasted or a dish that holds great meaning to you. It doesn’t mean you like instant coffee a lot, but you’re unlikely to put it in the list of “top ten best things you ever consumed in your life.”

And that’s what the MCU was like for me. Something I really, really like, and even love at times. It wasn’t until Infinity War and Endgame came out that I realized just how much I cared about this franchise and its characters. Hell, I cried when I saw the Avengers Assembled scene. And I still want to care about it even when my most favorite characters are no longer around.

However, I think both the people in charge of the production of these MCU projects and some of its fans may have forgotten why people cared about these movies. People watch these movies for fun, definitely, but what gets them planning to watch the next entry of the MCU is the characters. The emotional journey of these characters is the foundation on which the MCU is built. I’m not the first to make this statement, and I certainly won’t be the last, but I want to write it out still.

Because this is the reason why I stopped caring about something I once held a deep affection for. I watched some of the shows when it came out, and they were entertaining. I quite like the Hawkeye show and Moon Knight, to be honest. They were fun, and they recaptured some of the magic that once hooked me in, but they were all bogged down by one thing. The one thing that every project post-Endgame has been doing and is the bane of all creative endeavors - capitalism. What, did you think I was gonna write something poetic? Come on, it’s always capitalism.

Jesting aside, I find myself unable to care much about the MCU since Endgame. After all, it is the culmination of a decade’s worth of blockbuster storytelling. It’s highly unlikely anyone can replicate it, especially in this current landscape. The projects that came after didn’t really give me a reason to care, either. Back then, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers were the core that made the MCU, so even when other movies didn’t work out well, they were still there holding the greater narrative together. There’s nothing like that post-Endgame, and there won’t be after I finish writing this piece with how things are turning out.

That is why, even when I finished watching Loki Season 1 and liked it a lot, it wasn’t enough to make me want to watch Season 2 when it came out. Everything else Marvel was putting out sucks, so why would Season 2 be any different? Guardians 3 was great, but that’s because of James Gunn and his team, not Marvel. I had no interest in watching Season 2 until people were getting loud about how good the ending was.

So I watched the first episode of Season 2 and was immediately hooked back in. It reminded me of my love for the MCU, but it didn’t reignite it. And then, I binged the rest of the episodes in one night.

I spent the next hour just… talking about it with a friend who didn’t watch it. Usually, when I think something is really good or bad, I’ll get loud about it. I’ll say how much I love or hate that something. I get quite animated.

But after watching Loki Season 2, I just sat before my computer and calmly talked about it with my friend. To process how I felt about it, because for the rest of the night, I don’t know how or what I’m feeling.

There’s a lot of preamble here because I want you, reader, to understand where I’m coming from before you read what I have to say about the show. Those experiences and my perception are as significant as what the show actually is. Without my relationship with the MCU, as someone who once loved but now feels utterly indifferent toward it, I wouldn’t be talking about this show the way I am. For other people, this show’s probably just another entry onto their pile of “pretty good/great show.” For me, well…

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Have y’all ever watched Steins Gate before? It’s a pretty popular anime that I watched years ago. The first half of this time-traveling show is the setup, and the second half is the payoff. I wondered, as I watched the first half, if the setup was ever going to be worth it. I even considered stopping watching because it was getting kind of boring. Then, I watched the second half, and I know why it’s ranked #3 on MAL.

Loki, to put it simply, is that. Everything that came before the last three episodes of Season 2, including all of Loki’s appearance in the MCU movies, is essentially that first half, and the last three is the payoff. In a way, it is even greater of a culmination than Infinity War and Endgame combined. I don’t mean it as a hyperbole when I say this may be the best MCU thing ever, and it’s because it’s not “in” the MCU.

You know how people say MCU movies or shows are “same-y”? A lot of them certainly share common ground, like the light-hearted tone and the quips, for better or worse. There’s a style to MCU stuff, but Loki the show doesn’t have that style.

At first, it still certainly feels like it’s rooted in the MCU, even when the direction of its style, whether it be the music, the set designs, the tone, everything, isn’t really. The first season of Loki no doubt feels more in line with the rest of the MCU as it is, like I said, setup. Not that it doesn’t have great payoffs in the first season, it does, but all of that is presented is still just set up. It’s also a lot of “fan service,” like with the Loki variants and cheeky nods here or there.

When Season 2 started, it still felt more or less consistent with Season 1, but the change in tone was immediately noticeable past a certain point in episode 1. That change, or perhaps sharpening, in tone is gradual as the episodes went on. Then, the end of episode 4 hits, and I know then this is something different.

This isn’t “just” another MCU project anymore. It’s not here to pander to the fans mindlessly or trying and failing to keep you interested in the next project, promising something better is in the horizon. When episode 5 starts, it’s a clear declaration to anyone watching that this show is about nothing but what the title says. It’s about this MCU version of Loki and his journey.

To those who are avid readers of fanfiction, I only need a single sentence to describe what this show is. This show is like a god-tier fanfiction that understands a character perfectly and intimately. This show is so very clearly the product of those who love and care about this character.

I didn’t even like Loki that much. I thought he was a fun villain who turned into a good guy. That was how he was when he met his hand at Thanos’ hand, but this show is like a rabid fan explaining why the character Loki is good in the best way possible. It is a conversation with the audience about why Loki is a compelling character who deserves to have this journey.

If this show had all its MCU-specific concepts and characters swapped out, and all its core ideas retained, it’d still be a pretty fantastic show. However, this show is built atop over a decade of material on this character, and that is what makes it great for me. It is of the MCU, but not by or is the MCU. Its success is detached from and dependent on the MCU at the same time.

There are very few times in my life that I just stay quiet for hours after absorbing a story. I’m not claiming that this show is the best thing ever or incredibly profound. It’s not a landmark piece of fiction or anything like that. But, tell me, what other character went from being in a mythological fantasy setting to an existential, science fiction story over the course of twelve years, from the big screen to the small one?

I don’t think the MCU will ever produce a project that is as good as this again. For me, this is the new and definitive ending point of the MCU. Thor may still be around, but, well, let’s just say I’m not terribly interested in what he does next, but I hope he’ll meet with Loki again. Pretty much all the characters I cared about from before Endgame are now officially all gone. Maybe I’ll watch an MCU project if it proves to be entertaining in the future, but it won’t be the same anymore.

However, it’s fine. I’m satisfied with this. And, no matter what future projects do with the events that happened in this show, nothing can change the fact that it has become one of the few stories that emotionally moved me to my core. I don’t even care if people think I’m exaggerating or mock me for thinking something like this is somehow on the level of other incredible pieces of fiction. It doesn’t matter.

The story of Loki through the movies and show makes me glad that I’m alive to witness it and other similarly incredible stories.

So, no matter what happens, I’ll cherish this show. For all times. Always.

Thank you for reading.