Thoughts On ‘Marvel Studios: Legends’ Episodes “Loki” and “The Tessaract”
Just in time for the upcoming premiere of Loki on June 9, Disney+ is now streaming the two newest of episodes of the Marvel Studios: Legends series titled "Loki" and "The Tesseract." The documentary series consisted of 6 to 8-minute long episodes, each focusing on the backstory of a particular character, and highlighting their story so far within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The episodes also featured scenes from the past films.
The series began with episodes focusing on Wanda Maximoff and Vision to coincide with the release of WandaVision, and the last three episodes focused on Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, Sharon Carter, leading into The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. They served as a great reminder of the characters' story thus far, and potentially hinted at things to come within the new show.
The two newest episodes tied into the upcoming Loki. It was no surprise there would be an episode focusing on the titular character. However, fans such as myself were caught a little off guard by the second episode. While it was inevitable that the Tesseract would feature in the show, especially since Loki used it to escape during the events of Endgame, most assumed it would be a mere cameo. Having an episode focusing on containment unit for the Space Stone seemed to suggest otherwise.
"Loki" opened with the beginning of Endgame when Loki gave Thanos the Tesseract in order to save Thor. We then went through some of Loki's scenes from past films, featuring voiceovers from Odin. The episode did a great job in taking us through some of Loki's "best bits," and then destroyed us by putting us through his demise in Endgame. It made us appreciate Tom Hiddleston's performance all the more especially since Loki was supposed to have died in the first Thor movie. The film series would have been very different had Hiddleston not smashed the performance.
We were also reminded of the journey the character Loki had taken. He was very much an antagonist in his first appearances, living up to his title as the God of Mischief. As the film series progressed, we would see him work with the good guys. This ultimate shift would lead to his death during his encounter with Thanos. The episode ended with onscreen writing confirming his story would "be continued in Loki."
One of the strangest things I personally noticed from the episode was that there was no scene depicting his escape from 2012 New York. It had already been confirmed that this Loki was an alternate one from the one who died at the hands of Thanos so it was strange to not even show the Loki who got away. Considering Marvel were known for their Easter eggs, having this episode focus on the "real" dead Loki, seemed out of place. Maybe I was just reading too much into it.
The next episode focused on the Tesseract, showing us its history throughout the MCU. It was interesting to see how often it had appeared in earlier films. The Tessaract practically drove the plot of the first Avengers and Captain America films. As the aptly titled Infinity Saga continued, we discovered that the Tesseract was actually housing one of the six Infinity Stones that Thanos sought, the Space Stone. It was the second Infinity Stone he retrieved after the Power Stone. Interestingly, since the Tesseract "died" when Thanos broke it to retrieve the Space Stone within residing inside, it was almost poetic that it went with Loki who also died. The episode again ended in the same format as the others, confirming that the story will continue in Loki. "Tesseract" suggested that the titular object will play an important part in the upcoming show, well enough to warrant a "previously on..." anyway. It was worth noting that this was also the first episode to focus on an object rather than a particular character.
There had been a ton of speculation around the plot of the new Loki, but with less than a week to go until the premiere, we would not have to wait long. I for one am looking forward to seeing just what he gets up to next.
Until then, definitely check out the Marvel Studios: Legends episodes to tide you over.