The Loki TV series can rectify some of the plot holes and creative mistakes the Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced, through the use of time travel. Avengers: Endgame wrapped up the Infinity Saga last year with Spider-Man: Far From Home functioning as an epilogue and now Marvel Studios is looking to tread new narrative territories with a slate of big and small screen projects. However, that doesn't mean that the franchise can no longer revisit their history, especially with the concept of time travel now fully introduced.
Jumping through time and realities will be a big factor in MCU's Phase 4 with a string of films and TV shows dealing with alternate timelines and dimensions. That includes the new Disney+ series starring the God of Mischief. After swiping the Tesseract during the New York leg of Endgame's time heist, the fan-favorite character will be traveling through time for some new adventures in Loki. Specific details for the show are still firmly under wraps for now as a release date has yet to be confirmed. However, it's been previously revealed that Loki (Tom Hiddleston) will hop from one era to another and become an unlikely key figure in some historical events.
MCU Phase 4: Every Villain Who Could Be The New Loki
It's worth noting that the primary events of Loki will be set in a branched reality as per the rules of time travel laid out in Endgame, but the laws of time travel in the MCU already establish that it's possible that Loki's shenanigans in the past have already impacted the MCU. In essence, anything Loki already did in the past would be confirmed as already having happened in the mainline of the MCU: he's not changing events as the audience knows them, he's filling established gaps and fixing known MCU mistakes. The realities in which he didn't change anything would in fact be the alternative branches. Since the show is already focusing on how the God of Mischief can influence historical events, Marvel Studios can also utilize the series in addressing some of the franchise disappointing creative turns or even plot holes and offer better answers than they already have.
The Fake Infinity Gauntlet In Thor
Kenneth Branagh's Thor from 2011 officially opened the MCU's cosmic pocket by introducing the Asgardians and the Nine Realms. However, Marvel Studios had gotten ahead of themselves in of Easter eggs as the Infinity Gauntlet was spotted in Odin's (Anthony Hopkins) vault way before they confirmed the existence of the Infinity Stones. This issue plagued the franchise causing an issue later on when it explicitly created a plot hole via the Avengers: Age of Ultron post-credits scene in which Thanos (Josh Brolin) is seen putting the metal glove on despite not having any access to the Allfather's trove. Thor: Ragnarok attempted to rectify the issue by saying that the one in Odin's Vault was fake which begs the question of why Odin would have a counterfeit Infinity Gauntlet in the first place.
Loki can provide a fun answer to this question. Being true to his trickster nature, the God of Mischief can reveal that he had the fake Infinity Gauntlet in his adoptive father's storage as a prank or as a means to misdirect Odin from his own adventures in time during Loki's events. Combining the fake Gauntlet with Loki's powers of mental persuasion, Odin could be made to believe that he has the Infinity Stones. Considering how old the Allfather was, not to mention how many various trinkets he had in his possession, it's possible that he didn't even notice this.
Mysterio Knowing About The Multiverse
Before the multiverse is even properly established in the MCU through Phase 4, Quentin Beck/Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) was already running around, claiming that he's from an alternate dimension. Of course, he was lying about it as revealed in Spider-Man: Far From Home, only using it as a ruse to get close to Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and have access to Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr.) EDITH. While everything he claimed about being in a different reality turned out to be false, he was a little bit too close to what's actually set to happen in the MCU, causing some serious issues.
This is where Marvel Studios can utilize Loki to explain how Mysterio and his minions actually got the idea of the multiverse. The trickster can have a chance encounter with one of Beck's people, perhaps Peter Billingsley (William Ginter Riva) during the events of Iron Man, where he floats the idea that branched timelines exist. This sparks an idea for the former Stark Industries employees leading to their elaborate plan in Far From Home.
Lady Sif's Disappearance
One of the lingering questions left unanswered by the Infinity Saga is the disappearance of Lady Sif (Jamie Alexander). As Thor's (Chris Hemsworth) good friend, the warrior was always involved in the God of Thunder's early adventures in the MCU. Aside from appearing on the first two Thor films, she also guest-starred in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, appearing twice - the latter of which marked her last sighting in the universe. She was notably absent in Thor: Ragnarok and even when Thanos' threatened the universe in Avengers: Infinity War. It was then confirmed that she was among those who were snapped out of existence by the Mad Titan's decimation but when all the victims were brought back in Avengers: Endgame, however, she was still nowhere to be found.
Who knows if Marvel Studios has plans to address this mystery in future films like Taika Waititi's Thor: Love & Thunder, but they don't need to wait that long to provide some answers. Since it's possible that Loki will return to parts of Loki's own story, the show could reveal that as part of the God of Mischief's stint as fake Odin as seen in Ragnarok, he deliberately sent Lady Sif to an unknown mission. This made it easier for him to keep up with the charade and not be caught by Thor until he came back home to Asgard.
How The Tesseract Got To Earth
The Tesseract has been mostly on Earth in MCU's known history. It made its first appearance in Captain America: The First Avenger as it was sought by Johann Schmidt/Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) and was revealed to be originally from Odin's Vault. At that point, it was only known as the Cosmic Cube but was later revealed to be housing the Space Stone. Marvel Studios hasn't explicitly explained how and why the Tesseract made it to Earth, but the general idea is that it was moved from Asgard for protection.
Since the Loki TV series will heavily feature the Tesseract as its the titular character's means of jumping from one point to another, this mystery could be finally clarified. It can be revealed that instead of Odin bringing the Cosmic Cube to Earth, it was actually the God of Mischief impersonating the Allfather who was behind its move from Asgard. This makes much more sense than Odin supposedly believing that the Tesseract would be much safer on Earth than if it were in Asgard where he could personally keep an eye on it.
Why Doctor Strange Was On HYDRA/SHIELD's Watchlist
The discovery of HYDRA in Captain America: The Winter Soldier revealed what the villainous group had been up to; that included keeping a list of individuals who are under their list such as Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). At this point, the character has yet to become a sorcerer so it's a wonder why he drew the attention of HYDRA. MCU mastermind Kevin Feige attempted to explain this by saying that even before he became Doctor Strange, he already has a name recognition being one of the top surgeons. Still, some are skeptical about this reasoning, arguing that it's too much of a stretch.
Marvel Studios can be creative in how they can rectify this issue in Loki. The show can reveal the God of Mischief disguised as the brilliant surgeon for some unknown reason in his series as he time travels. Somehow, HYDRA caught wind of some of his unusual activities making him a target. However, since he was undercover as Strange, the group tails the real Strange instead, explaining why the future Sorcerer Supreme was in the list before he becomes a master of the mystic arts. This is also a nifty way to connect Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse as the MCU Phase 4 projects are confirmed to be narratively linked with each other.
Nick Fury's Eye
Since Nicky Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) made that intense remark about losing his eye after he trusted someone in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, fans had been wondering what actually happened to him. The former SHIELD director is not one to divulge any personal secrets and he made it sound as if he lost his eye after an intense encounter. Unfortunately, the real reason turned out to be a disappointment as revealed in Captain Marvel. Instead of Fury being in a cool encounter where a presumed ally crosses him causing him to be incapacitated, the Brie Larson-led prequel revealed that the badass operative simply got too close to Carol Danvers' alien cat, Goose, causing it to scratch his eye. Granted that the feline is actually a Flerken, but it was ultimately a let-down, particularly because of the way Fury described it.
Loki can somewhat offer a more acceptable reason for Fury's injury by revealing that Goose's scratch wasn't the sole reason he lost an eye. Perhaps something happened to him after the initial injury that could be better fit his story in The Winter Soldier and Fury merely guarded its secret. From there, the bruising became much more serious resulting in permanent damage.
