The series is over, but the story it has set up has just begun…
SPOILERS, DUH.
It was exactly who we thought it was going to be all along.
Except, also, it wasn’t.
In the same way that Thanos in Endgame wasn’t exactly the same Thanos that the heroes fought in Infinity War, we have finally been introduced to Loki’s big baddie, only given the name He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors), but who will be known to anyone with a passing knowledge of Marvel’s history as Kang The Conqueror.
Except this isn’t quite Kang The Conqueror, but one of his many variants. And, perhaps, the only good guy variant of Kang, attempting to keep the universe in check with a dictatorship rule rather than let it all run loose with free will and be immediately taken over by another, more-evil Kang.
He spelled out as much to Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), but she wasn’t in a trusting kind of mood, and proceeded to kill He Who Remains, allowing the Sacred Timeline to immediately fracture and branch off into an infinite number of possible realities.
On the sixth and final episode of TBR Spotlight: Loki [LISTEN from 12:55 below], Eoghan and Rory discuss the future implications of Sylvie’s actions in the MCU:
Previous to these actions, the running theory was that Wanda (Elisabeth Olsen) was going to cause a fracture within the Multiverse, but now we see that it was Sylvie’s actions that have set up the plots for three huge upcoming Marvel movies.
And now, we’re going to go through them in order of when they’re due to arrive in cinemas.
Spider-Man: No Way Home – 17 December 2021
While we’re sure the plot will pick up from Peter Parker’s “outing” at the end of Far From Home, the fact that some cast additions include actors who have appeared in Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man movies (Alfred Molina is back as Doctor Octopus) and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man movies (Jamie Foxx is also reportedly to return as Electro), it would indicate that the cracked multiverse will directly impact Tom Holland’s next Spidey adventure.
There are also rumours that both Maguire and Garfield will be back, although both actors have denied these claims.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – 25 March 2022
It is right there in the title, so no surprises here. The plot is said to involve Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) accidentally releasing an unspeakable evil while trying to fight against his friend-turned-enemy Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), which may or may not be some variant of Kang.
Also, it has already been confirmed that Wanda is part of the main cast of this movie, although how she and the events of WandaVision tie into the movie’s plot remain a secret.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – 17 February 2023
This will be Kang’s first movie outing following his appearance in Loki, or at least his first confirmed movie outing, as he might do a Thanos and pop up in a mid-credit sequence between now and then. He will be the primary antagonist against Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), with a lot of the action reported to take place within the Quantum Realm.
And as if those three movies weren’t enough, as the mid-credits teaser confirmed, we’ll also likely be seeing these events directly impact Loki’s return…
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
