Disney's Ambitious 12-Episode Time Travel Series Is So Good, It's Even More Relevant Today

Disney+ is home to some of the best TV shows of the last decade, among them a 12-episode sci-fi show that is so good, it’s now more relevant than ever. Disney+ has expanded some of the studio’s biggest and most popular franchises with both new movies and TV shows, as has been the case for Alien, Star Wars, and Marvel. The latter has branched out to TV with shows that connect to the movies, though it has to be said that not all of them have succeeded.

The MCU’s TV branch started on the right foot with WandaVision in 2021, and after the not-so-successful miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the MCU had another major TV hit with Loki. Created by Michael Waldron, Loki debuted on Disney+ in 2021, and it brought Tom Hiddleston’s Loki back after the character’s death in Avengers: Infinity War and his variant’s escape in Avengers: Endgame during the Time Heist. Thanks to the latter, Loki gave its title character a bigger role in the MCU than he ever had in the movies.

Loki was a success with critics and general audiences, and it was renewed for a second season, which arrived in 2023 as part of the MCU’s Phase Five (with season 1 living in Phase Four). A lot has happened in the MCU, especially in its film branch, since Loki ended, but with Avengers: Doomsday arriving in December 2026, the show is now more relevant than ever.

Loki Represents The Pinnacle Of MCU TV Shows

Loki reunited the audience with the God of Mischief, though the 2012 version that escaped with the Tesseract when the Avengers messed up the timeline in Endgame. As a result, Loki is captured by the Time Variance Authority, an organization that oversees the Sacred Timeline and makes sure that no branches are created – and Loki created one by escaping. The TVA gives Loki a choice: being erased from existence as he’s a variant and thus shouldn’t exist, or helping the TVA fix the timeline.

Of course, Loki agrees to the latter, and with the help of TVA agent Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson), he sets out on a mission across time and space, during which he meets other variants of himself. In season 2, Loki’s mission takes a turn, and saving the timeline gets a lot more complicated than he could have anticipated, leading him to make a life-changing decision that also directly impacts the rest of the MCU.

Loki masterfully blended sci-fi, fantasy, action, drama, and MCU lore, with time travel that actually made sense and served to better understand the MCU’s multiverse. Loki also gives the title character the development and growth it needed and deserved, as well as depth and, most of all, a purpose within the MCU. Loki is exactly what the MCU’s TV shows should be like in terms of quality, world-building, and role in the MCU, but, unfortunately, Marvel didn’t quite learn from its success.

Avengers: Doomsday Proves Loki Is More Relevant Than Ever

The initial plan for the MCU’s Multiverse saga was very different from what it ended up being, as it was intended to have Kang the Conqueror as its main antagonist. However, behind-the-scenes issues led Marvel to rethink its plan and take the saga on a different path, resulting in the upcoming crossover event Avengers: Doomsday, which will introduce Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) as the big threat to defeat. Unfortunately, these changes also led to Loki being set aside for a long time, as some of Kang’s variants were key characters in it.

However, Doomsday is giving relevance to Loki again, with the character returning in it and being briefly shown in the trailers. Dr. Doom’s arrival is a threat to the MCU’s multiverse, and given Loki’s new role at the end of his solo TV show, he’s going to be key to keeping the balance of the multiverse. Thanks to this, Loki is now an essential watch before Avengers: Doomsday, as it explains the multiverse’s structure, rules, and current state – and, of course, it’s also a great watch for sci-fi fans.