The new, smaller-scale Marvel Cinematic Universe has one big inconsistency in its debut year on Disney+, but it isn't a bad one. Kevin Feige is committed to letting each new heroic tale determine how it paces its TV screen story, and that means each new series' length can seem pretty random. The number of episodes for Loki and their individual length has felt like yet another mystery for the mischief-maker's signature show.
Loki will consist of only six episodes, but Feige has announced that each episode will be roughly 40-50 minutes long, similar to The Falcon and the Winter SoldierUnlike WandaVision's sitcom-style 30-minute entries, this gives Loki plenty of uninterrupted time to unwind and share his time-hopping shenanigans with the audience.
Interestingly, all of Marvel's content on Disney's streaming service shares the same total runtime of about six hours. As Feige told the Television Critics Association in February, "Six hours is what we landed on as the best way to tell our story. Six hours, whether it’s six episodes, or nine shorter episodes like WandaVision. The shows aren’t inexpensive, so the per-episode cost is very high and to get that bar I was talking about."
With amazing setpieces and on-location shots showing off what Marvel can do on the small screen, there's hard proof that Feige is putting all that money to good use. For Loki, the cast alone screams big-budget, with Owen Wilson making his MCU debut alongside Richard E. Grant, Wunmi Mosaku and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. And that's not even mentioning the glimpses of extravagant locations like Loki's Asgardian home and a mysterious, neon-noir-styled future seen in the show's marketing.
Unlike WandaVision and TheFalcon and the Winter Soldier, however, the rumors of a second season for Loki are proving hard to shake. WandaVision's hopes for another round were dashed by Feige in April when he called the series a complete arc and the sort of story that can be only told once. As for Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes, the announcement of a new Captain America film put hopes of a follow-up on the backburner. But Loki's future remains in doubt, which is no surprise, as there's still a couple of weeks to go before fans get to discover the trickster's latest glorious purpose.
The lead-up to Loki has included a few shenanigans already, such as the series premiere being bumped up to Wednesday, June 9 from Friday, June 11 via a cheeky Tom Hiddleston announcement. But the clock is ticking and time is running out for Loki to meet his destiny, and so far, all that's known for certain is just how much everyone is looking forward to seeing the God of Mischief come home.
Loki stars Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Richard E. Grant. The series premieres June 9 on Disney+.
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