First Impressions - Loki Season 1 (2021)

So yesterday we finally made it to the day where the first episode of Loki came to Disney+ and here are my thoughts on the episode and what it could mean for the future of the show and maybe the MCU as a whole. 

Tom Hiddleston is given the real chance to shine  

Tom Hiddleston has always been great as Loki and shined in the role he has been given as a villain, an anti-hero and hero but he has always been a supporting character, mainly for Thor. But finally the spotlight is on him and he shines once again, we learn more about the character and this is such an interesting point for the character. 

Hiddleston and Owen Wilson have great chemistry 

This episode basically revolves around an in depth conversation between Loki and Owen Wilson's character Mobius and it is fascinating. You see how much fun they are having together and how Wilson is basically critiquing the whole character of Loki to the point that they pick him up and it does seem to affect his future self. 

Loki isn't clear hero or clear villain 

As I said above this version of Loki might be the most interesting that we have seen in the MCU. The TVA picks him up after the events of the first Avengers where he was pretty much full villain, I mean he led an alien attack on Earth. But after he sees his future, it seems to affect him and is leading him to becoming a mixture of the more evil character and the one that would eventually die a heroic death. 

How are the TVA so powerful and what does this mean for the infinity stones? 

This episode did a really good job of building up the scope and power of the Time Variance Authority. It is clear they are one of the most powerful entities in the MCU, they keep infinity stones as coffee mats. I mean I am wondering if this scene was here for Loki to steal them and take over the world in his on timeline. 

What does the other Loki want

The end of the episode revealed that the variant the TVA are hunting is Loki himself. Now this has to bring up the question as to what version of Loki is this and how does he even exist. The question has to be what the motivations of the variant are, is it just survival? or are their greater ambitions to be had. 

Sets the building blocks for the next phase of the MCU 

This was also a crucial episode for the future of the MCU. It has been pretty much confirmed that upcoming projects are going to focus on multiverse and timelines which is established here and with The TVA introduced it sets up a clear direction. This gives a chance for Loki to connect to Wandavsion, Doctor Strange: Multiverse in Madness and Spider-Man: No Way home which is pretty exciting. 

Overall 

Overall, this was a great first episode for Loki. The cast do a great job and it builds such intrigue and routes to go down for the show's run. If it delivers on the promise that this episode sets up then this will be a special show.