In the first episode of Loki, Marvel Studios started slowly pulling back the curtain on the Marvel Cinematic Universe's version of the Multiverse. Unfortunately, that's left us with more questions than answers, especially as this shared world appears to be playing fast and loose with the rules of time travel.
It's inevitable that answers are coming in the weeks ahead, but for the time being, we're taking a closer look at what the premiere, "Glorious Purpose," taught us about the Multiverse.
With that comes some big queries about where Kevin Feige and company plan to take this concept, especially with movies like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home on the horizon (both of which are expected to explore the idea of multiple timelines).
So, to take a look through this feature, all you guys need to do is click on that "Next" button below!
5. Did The Marvel Television Shows Take Place In A Branched Reality?
Well, this would certainly be one way to explain their place in the MCU.
Like it or not, we've really not seen anything to suggest that the likes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Daredevil are considered canon by Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios. In fact, if you look at the Darkhold, for example, the opposite is the case. Even in Loki, there was no mention of Agent Coulson's resurrection (which would have been a great way for Mobius to taunt the God of Mischief).
Using a throwaway Easter Egg to explain that those shows took place in branching timelines or even another part of the Multiverse would mean they did happen - which keeps fans happy - but not in a way that stops Feige from doing what he wants with the likes of Luke Cage, Ghost Rider, and the Inhumans.
So, Daredevil may have battled Wilson Fisk in one reset timeline, but in the actual MCU...he'll be Peter Parker's lawyer in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
4. What Really Happened During The "Multiversal War"?
Miss Minutes explains that there was once a Multiversal War that saw different timelines clash in an effort to become the dominant one. Had they not been controlled, the entire Multiverse would have been destroyed, and that was where the Time-Keepers came in.
As Loki points out, are we really meant to believe that these reptilian aliens somehow had the power to step in and create a "Sacred Timeline" they now dictate after dreaming up the Time Variance Authority? It feels like there's something we're not being told here, and it's likely the TVA are the unwilling puppets of a far more powerful force.
It's possible, for example, that Kang the Conqueror could be calling the shots, while we wouldn't put it past another Loki (Richard E. Grant's perhaps?) to be posing as the Time-Keepers, creating some sort of loop that ensures he lives forever.
Either way, this "Multiversal War" needs to be addressed, especially after that blatant Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness tease!
3. Is There Really Only One Timeline?
So, if the TVA is to be believed, there's one sacred timeline, and as soon as someone steps off their path, it creates a new one that they need to then step in and prune. If they don't, a new timeline will be created, and that runs the risks of there being another Multiversal War.
If they're telling the truth, though, does that mean there are no alternate realities with different versions of familiar faces? If that's the case, something is clearly going to happen in Loki that lays the groundwork for What If?, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel.
It's possible that while there is one sacred timeline that has to be kept on a set path, others do exist; they just exist completely separately and won't interfere with what's happening in the "main" one.
Different timelines may only pose a problem when they branch off the one the Time-Keepers control, but this is getting confusing, so here's hoping Marvel Studios has an explanation.
2. Why Was It Okay For The Avengers To Use Time-Travel?
Judge Renslayer makes it clear that The Avengers haven't been brought in front of the TVA because what they did by travelling back in time was actually supposed to happen.
That explains a lot, and the TVA stepping in to prune the timeline Loki escaped in means that the God of Mischief never escaped, Captain America didn't learn Bucky was still alive too soon, and so on and so forth. Taking that into account, it makes sense why it was okay for Steve Rogers to get his happy ending with Peggy Carter.
If Sam Wilson was always destined to become Captain America, then Steve needed to travel back in time, return to the present day as an old man, and then...well, we still don't know what happened to him even after The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.
Is it possible he was also brought up in front of the TVA? If so, that group could have de-aged him and tasked Steve with being an agent for them. That would be one way to bring Chris Evans back, anyway!
1. How Does All This Tie Into The Doctor Strange Sequel?
As we mentioned, there's a tease in the Loki premiere about "madness" ensuing if different timelines in the Multiverse were to erupt into war, and we can't help but think that this was meant to tease this sequel.
If the Scarlet Witch decides to tear through the Multiverse in a bid to find Tommy and Billy, she could create a myriad of alternate realities that not even the TVA can control (especially if they've been destroyed by the God of Mischief).
That could leave Strange caught in the midst of a war he needs to stop, something we're guessing Wanda Maximoff won't be too bothered by if she just wants her twins back. If Shuma-Gorath is indeed the lead villain, then his presence will likely complicate things, and this is a hard one to predict right now.
However, if the idea of multiple realities is cemented in Loki, it would certainly help better explain what we know about this movie and Spider-Man: No Way Home.