With its Disney+ premiere less than 24 hours away, the first review for Loki are pouring in, and the overwhelming consensus is clear: Critics love the dynamic between Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Owen Wilson’s Mobius. If fans felt short-changed on the banter between Sam Wilson and Bucky in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki will apparently scratch that exact itch while also over-delivering in the weirdness department that WandaVision flirted with so well.
While these reviews are based on the first two episodes that were provided to outlets, the latest Marvel series is shaping up to be the best Disney+ offering yet, thanks to Hiddleston and Wilson and the show’s uncanny ability to improve on its predecessors. Which is fitting for a series that’s based on trying to fix the past to make a better future. That is, unless the Trickster God has other plans.
Here’s what the critics have to say about Loki.
Mike Ryan, Uproxx:
God bless Owen Wilson. He plays Mobius M. Mobius, a lifer desk jockey for the Time Variance Authority (TVA). Wilson is tasked with explaining a lot to Loki (Tom Hiddleston) about how time travel, and alternate realities, and magic space timekeepers work, which means he’s explaining it to us, the viewer. He is Mr. Exposition, but also he’s Owen Wilson so of course he can make this entertaining. This really is inspired casting. Also, it’s really something to watch Wilson not playing a free spirit, drifting through life and the story we are watching.
Matt Webb Mitovich, TV Line:
The banter between Hiddleston and Wilson is electric and often hilarious — a significant upgrade from what Falcon and Winter Soldier believed it was doing — and I cannot stress how critical that is, since the two, roughly 50-minute episodes sent to critics (out of six total) revolves around their push me/pull you dynamic.
James Whitbrook, io9:
Loki is primarily driven by a manic, buddy-cop rapport between our titular anti-hero and Owen Wilson’s mysterious Agent Mobius M. Mobius—a TVA agent who is equal parts a company diehard and also a bit of a cool vagabond. He lackadaisically strolls about the TVA’s halls like he kind of owns the place, and Wilson is in fine form, a fitting foil to Loki’s peculiar new role as a master manipulator suddenly out of control. As it pushes and pulls between Loki’s ever-present desire to bite his thumb at authority and his attempts to prove himself to this man he’s just met that he’s capable of being a… loosely good person, their partnership is electric and comical in all the right ways.
Daniel Fienberg, THR:
It’s a classic odd-couple pairing of leads and a perfect play on the respective screen personae of Hiddleston, verbally dextrous and capable of making total nonsense sound Shakespearean, and Wilson, droll and precise, able to unravel with five words any tapestry of logorrhea Hiddleston might spin in 50. If The Falcon and the Winter Soldier led with soaring plot, but frustrated people simply wanting to watch Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan banter, Loki establishes Hiddleston and Wilson sitting across from each other at tables as its trademark set-up.
Richard Trenholm, CNET:
Loki takes WandaVision‘s weirdness and pushes even further into a whole new myth of the MCU that feels big enough to completely shake up the whole Marvel thing (unlike previous Marvel TV shows, which were precision-engineered to not affect the big screen story at all). After a decade, it’s thrilling to see there are still some surprises in the MCU.
Andrew Webster, The Verge:
The chemistry between Wilson and Hiddleston is great, with the pair able to seamlessly transition from throwing barbs to contemplating serious revelations. Mobius has spent a long time studying Loki, and he’s both unfazed and impressed by him. Early on, he shows Loki pivotal scenes from his life, asking questions like “Do you like to hurt people?” Eventually, Loki breaks down and starts to worry that he’s a villain. “That’s not how I see it,” Mobius tells him. It’s a touching moment that further complicates an already complicated character, as you can never really tell what side Loki’s on (aside from his own).
Alex Abad-Santos, Vox:
Based on what I’ve seen of Loki so far, the show is off to a great start. I’d even say it’s more promising than WandaVision at the outset: The show’s murder mystery coupled with Hiddleston and Wilson’s chemistry makes me want to watch more. With the time-jumping and the double-crossing and satirical bureaucracy, the show’s writers have a lot to play around with. I also hope that we see more of Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who plays the imposing authority and time judge Ravonna Renslayer, in upcoming episodes.
Loki starts streaming June 9 on Disney+.
