Why Loki Will Be The Most Impactful Marvel Disney Show Yet

When Marvel's TV lineup was spread across an array of streaming services and broadcast networks, the TV IP existed largely outside the vast, interconnected framework of the MCU. When "Daredevil" debuted on Netflix, there was a casual reference to a big, green guy (we know him as the Hulk), but not much else. Then Kevin Feige took over Marvel TV, began putting together a slate of Disney+ series, and everything started to change (via Digital Spy).

"WandaVision" debuted in late 2020 as an exploration not only of Wanda Maximoff's (Elizabeth Olsen) grief, but of the untapped potential of series both ongoing and limited with direct connections to the MCU. Heck, it even introduced Evan Peters in a cheeky, half-attempt to begin merging Fox's X-Men universe with the greater Marvel ecosystem. While Quicksilver (Peters) may have a been a fake out, the series ended on Wanda's transformation to the Scarlet Witch with potentially universe-breaking consequences. The X-Men are coming — it's just a matter of when.

"The Falcon and The Winter Soldier" may not have introduced the potential for magic-induced Armageddon, but it did use Sam Wilson's (Anthony Mackie) experience as a Black superhero to examine systemic racism, before finally giving Sam a chance to become Steve Rogers' (Chris Evans) true successor as Captain America.

Even with all that impact, it would appear that the forthcoming "Loki" series starring Tom Hiddleston may be even more significant than the other two Disney+ series — at least according to Kevin Feige, and he would know.

Loki, as a character, has universe-breaking in his DNA. This incarnation of Loki isn't just a god of mischief; he's not even the same Loki we've been dealing with across the Infinity Saga, which concluded with "Avengers: Endgame." The upcoming "Loki" series follows the version of Loki who escaped the clutches of the Avengers after the events of their first combined film thanks to some time-traveling shenanigans. In a way, this Loki is already a bit of a parallel-universe figure — we just don't know what, if anything, that means for the MCU.

While Kevin Feige may have his lips sealed on the particulars, he wants Marvel fans to know that "Loki" isn't some kind of isolated story — it's going to be important to the rest of the MCU in a way no other Marvel TV series has been before. "It's tremendously important," Feige said in an interview with Empire. "It perhaps will have more impact on the MCU than any of the shows thus far. What everybody thought about 'WandaVision,' and was sort of true, and 'The Falcon And The Winter Soldier,' which was sort of true, is even more sort of true for 'Loki.'"

Perhaps letting a little of his own inner Loki out, Feige continued, saying, "You want to see, after six hours or so, characters change and evolve. We don't make these shows to not be radical, right?"

Will the MCU still be the one we know after the six episodes of "Loki"? Or will we find ourselves in a world wholly unfamiliar by the time we truly return to the cinematic end of Marvel's universe?

"Loki" debuts on Disney+ June 9, 2021.