Ouroboros Is The Breakout Star of 'Loki' Season 2 Episode 1
Image Source: Marvel Studios
He is not very high up in the hierarchy of the Time Variance Authority (in fact, his workshop seems to be at the lowest level) and he hasn't had a visitor in 400 years (time works differently inside the TVA). Still, he is the head of the "Repair and Advancement" department and its only employee at the same time.
The first episode of season two of Loki introduced Ouroboros or just OB. Played by Ke Huy Quan (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Goonies, Everything, Everywhere All at Once), he combines the time-travel knowledge of Doctor Emmett Brown, the strict and unforgiving logic of Mr. Spock, the disarming and sometimes frightening honesty of K-2SO with the naivete and unfiltered optimism of a child.
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Unlike many other characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Mr. OB doesn't seem to have a direct counterpart in the comics. She-Hulk Vol2 (2005) introduced the character of Mr. Ouroboros, but he was a judge for the TVA and not a technician, and there also was an Admiral Ouroboros (Silver Surfer Vol 7, 2015), who trapped the Silver Surfer in a time loop. Finally, there was an Oculus Oroboros, a conduit of elemental magic, which Dr. Doom once tried to harness until he was stopped by Doctor Strange.
But while none of these characters seem to be a direct match of the Loki Ouroboros, the term itself is very old: it describes a serpent or a dragon that is eating its tail (Ouroboros is Greek for tail-eating), forming a circle of eternal birth, death, and rebirth, or infinity.
The first depictions of Ouroboros date back to ancient Egypt nearly three and a half thousand years ago, but can also be found in China (in the form of tail-eating dragons).
Image Source: Wikipedia
In Norse Mythology, the Ouroboros is called Jörmungandr, aka Midgard Serpent or World Serpent, a snake living in the world sea and encircling the whole earth. According to these legends, when the snake releases its tail Ragnarök - the end of the world - is near.
What makes Jörmungandr so special is the fact, that it is one of Loki's three children, and Thor, Loki's brother, often battled with it.
Image Source: Worldhistory
Only time will tell if the MCU will adopt any of this mythology and if there is a deeper connection between Quan's character and Loki.
What is certain, however, is that Ouroboros will be part of the MCU for the long run. As Kevin Wright, producer of Loki, season two, puts it:
"Ke is, I think, about to become a lot of people’s new favorite Marvel character…The short synopsis is…The TVA has a lot of amazing production design and computers and tech and like all of this stuff. And it made us go, all right, if we’re expanding out the world, the TVA, where’s all that coming from? Who’s keeping all of this old, old stuff running and it, and it’s OB–Ouroboros.”
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Sources: Beebom, Screenrant
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