Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Cosmic Spider-Man card details

    [EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW] The Spider-Man Set Gets A 5-Color Legendary Spider

    09/02/2025
    Lee Corso from College Football GameDay in EA Sports games

    EA Sports Always Understood Lee Corso’s Legacy

    09/01/2025
    Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 2 But Why Tho 10

    Spider-Man Is Coming To Magic And It’s Just Like The Comics

    08/29/2025
    Star Wars Visions Volume 3 Black

    ‘Black’ Sets The Tone For A Bold New Mixtape In ‘Star Wars Visions: Volume 3’

    08/28/2025
    Olivia Colman in The Roses

    ‘The Roses’ Is A Reimagining, Not A Remake, And That’s Why It Works So Well

    08/27/2025
  • Indie Games
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
But Why Tho?
Home » TV » REVIEW: ‘Loki’ Season 2 Triumphs With A Clear And Distinctive Vision

REVIEW: ‘Loki’ Season 2 Triumphs With A Clear And Distinctive Vision

Allyson JohnsonBy Allyson Johnson10/03/20235 Mins ReadUpdated:03/18/2024
Loki Season 2
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

Loki Season 2 comes in hot and declares itself as the one remaining good thing about Marvel (I jest…kind of). Still, while other Marvel TV series have stumbled as of late, either riding on the magnetic charisma of one character such as Ms. Marvel or the complete car wrecks that were She-Hulk and Secret Invasion, Loki arrives poised, and confident. With a premiere that throws out all of the stops and crafts an engaging, breakneck episode that threatens to careen off course before beautifully righting itself once more, the Trickster God might be stealing himself as someone good, but the series maintains that wicked energy. 

Season 1 of Loki nearly stuck the landing aside from a few fumbles. Season 2 learns from those errors and delivers a heart-racing season that follows up on the timeline shenanigans of the first. Following Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) having killed Kang — dubbed her as He Who Remains — and pushing Loki (Tom Hiddleston) back in a different version of the TVA where Mobius (Owen Wilson) doesn’t remember him, Loki must set out to return to his version of the timeline as an increasing threat towers over the TVA (Time Variance Association.) This is made all the more crucial considering the end of season one also created the multiverse, the timeline has broken. Loki teams up with Mobius, Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku), and others to save the TVA and find Sylvie, Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), and Miss Minutes (Tara Strong.) 

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

The success of Season 2 stems largely from the involvement of director duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead. Both executive producers and the directors of Episodes 1 and 4 of the season — easily the best of the four given to critics — their distinctive style and flair for science fiction are apparent. Having directed DIY films such as The Endless, and Something in the Dirt, along with working on fellow MCU series Moon Knight, they clearly have a knack for this type of storytelling and world-building. But the strongest part of Loki Season 2 is the absolute speed with which they barrel through the plot, refusing to waste any time. 

This is most evident in the season premiere, which bottles the energy of a penultimate episode as Loki, Mobius, and company race against literal time to save the TVA, it having been threatened following season one when Sylvie killed Kang. This is where another key development arrives to help embolden the series, with Ke Huy Quan as one of the new main pivotal roles of O.B. His energy and delivery charge in and take the series with him, as the rhythm of the episode almost seems to shift due to his appearance and energy. 

Loki Season 2

It’s thrilling and endlessly engaging. The entire cast remains strong, with Wilson and Hiddleston’s chemistry still tremendous as the show allows for more scenes between the two. Sylvie and the decision to make her a Loki variant in Season 1 is still a questionable decision as the writing tries to create cohesive reasons for her involvement.

Still, Di Martino allows the character a tangible inner strength. Mbatha-Raw is also given more to do with her own adventures and Strong — who voices the eerie AI Miss Minutes — continues to prove her performance might be one of the strongest in the series. If anything, Hiddleston could be given more to do, especially with such an endlessly fun and unpredictable character as Loki. That said, when he’s allowed to lean into that devious playfulness in Episode 2, or when the desperation rings through his voice in Episode 1, we’re always reminded that he is one the best casting decisions Marvel has ever made. 

The elephant in the room obviously is Jonathan Majors’s involvement. Beyond whether or not you can separate the art from the artist in this case, it isn’t helped by the hamfisted and affected performance he delivers, one where every single performance decision is telegraphed, bellowing “this is acting” from his gestures and overtly physicalized mannerisms. 

Though the episode he’s prominent in — Episode 3 — is the weakest of the bunch, despite a fun time excursion, the rest of the season we’ve seen so far is better than its predecessor. Something that Loki has that so much of the MCU lacks is an established tone and a setting that differentiates itself from the pack. The series is fully committed to the science fiction atmosphere of the world. Take, for instance, the mix of spherical and cubic in the set design, with the tiled ceilings of the TVA contrasting with the circular design of O.B.’s basement office. There’s the green that eats away at the world, a nod to our titular character, but there are also sickly oranges that create a fittingly out-of-time sensation. 

The score by Natalie Holt similarly helps define the series, elevating the story with swelling musical cues that imbue Loki with foreboding and delicacy. Even the Miss Minutes design remains one of the more inventive decisions, this cartoon AI clock is threatening and off-putting despite the simplicity of the design. 

Despite Episode 3 being a chore to work through, Loki Season 2, especially the premiere and fourth episode helmed by Benson and Moorehead, is a stellar science-fiction adventure. With raised stakes, shocking darkness, and strong characters who continue to enlighten and engage with audiences beyond what’s expected of them, the second season is both better than the first as well as the best thing Marvel has put out in ages. 

Loki Season 2 is streaming now, exclusively on Disney+.

Loki Season 2
  • 8/10
    Rating - 8/10
8/10

TL;DR

Loki Season 2, especially the premiere and fourth episode helmed by Benson and Moorehead, is a stellar science-fiction adventure. With raised stakes, shocking darkness, and strong characters who continue to enlighten and engage with audiences beyond what’s expected of them, the second season is both better than the first as well as the best thing Marvel has put out in ages.

  • Watch Now With Our Affiliate Link

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleFANTASTIC FEST: ‘100 Yards’ Is Artful Politics
Next Article REVIEW: ‘Batman’ Issue #138
Allyson Johnson

Allyson Johnson is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of InBetweenDrafts. Former Editor-in-Chief at TheYoungFolks, she is a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and the Boston Online Film Critics Association. Her writing has also appeared at CambridgeDay, ThePlaylist, Pajiba, VagueVisages, RogerEbert, TheBostonGlobe, Inverse, Bustle, her Substack, and every scrap of paper within her reach.

Related Posts

Travis, Ned (Domnhall Gleeson), and Adelola in Season 1 of The Paper
6.0

REVIEW: ‘The Paper’ Season 1 Lacks Conviction

09/03/2025
Mitsuki Yamato Invasion Season 3 Episode 2 still from Apple TV+

RECAP: ‘Invasion’ Season 3 Episode 2 — “The Message”

09/02/2025
John Cena in Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 2

RECAP: ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 Episode 2 – “A Man Is Only As Good As His Bird”

08/29/2025
Foundation Season 3 Episode 8 promotional still from APple TV+
9.0

RECAP: ‘The Foundation’ Season 3 Episode 8 — “Skin In The Game”

08/29/2025
Ateez featured in KPOPPED
6.5

REVIEW: ‘KPOPPED’ Has Potential But Loses Its Spark

08/28/2025
Sydney Chandler in Alien Earth Episode 4
8.0

REVIEW: ‘Alien: Earth’ Episode 4 — “Observation”

08/26/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Cosmic Spider-Man card details Features

[EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW] The Spider-Man Set Gets A 5-Color Legendary Spider

By Kate Sánchez09/02/2025Updated:09/02/2025

An exclusive look at a new 5-Color Spider entering Magic: The Gathering’s Spider-Man set, and Cosmic Spider-Man is going to be a tough one to take on.

Hololive EN at Radio City Music Hall Events

Hololive EN At Radio City Music Hall Was A Pure Expression Of Fandom

By Adrian Ruiz08/31/2025Updated:09/03/2025

Hololive EN turned Radio City in New York City into the pure expression of fandom: chants, penlights, and community in perfect sync.

Foundation Season 3 Episode 8 promotional still from APple TV+
9.0
TV

RECAP: ‘The Foundation’ Season 3 Episode 8 — “Skin In The Game”

By Will Borger08/29/2025Updated:08/29/2025

Still barreling toward a knock-down, drag-out fight between Gaal and the Mule in Foundation Season 3 Episode 8 ups the stakes.

Karl Anthony Towns in NBA 2k26 But Why Tho
8.5
PS5

REVIEW: ‘NBA 2K26’ Brings Basketball To Life

By Kyle Foley09/03/2025

NBA 2K26 combines improved visuals with some important tweaks to keep the series feeling fresh in the latest yearly release.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here