Loki Season 2 Episode 1 Review - 7 Ups & 2 Downs
2. Up - A Meaningful Story
Ever since The Avengers brought together five movies' worth of storytelling in what was at the time the most ambitious crossover in movie history, every subsequent project has been a smaller part of the larger MCU puzzle.
One of the biggest criticisms of the franchise's Phase Four post-Avengers: Endgame, is that this feeling was lost. The MCU essentially went back to the start and very few of the movies and TV shows have seemed to share a single endgame, as it were, like the Infinity Saga did.
In fact, it feels as though too many different storylines have been introduced to keep track of, with too many new characters without a clear, natural path ahead. Loki however, feels very different. Though you could argue that the MCU could have moved forward without Secret Invasion and not much would really have changed, Loki appears to be integral to the wider storytelling of the franchise.
The Multiverse Saga will culminate with The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars, the latter of which is something that has already been referenced several times, as well as the fact that the series' big bad is a Kang Variant. Hopefully, this will start to feel more like the MCU of old where you could easily get excited for what was going to come off the back of each project.