Loki Season 2 Release Date, Cast, Trailer, Plot And More Details

Everybody's favorite trickster god is coming back for more timey-wimey action. Played by the great Tom Hiddleston, Loki has long been a favorite in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, going from cold-blooded antagonist to reluctant antihero over the course of his MCU journey. And the god of mischief really got his chance to shine during his own solo show, "Loki," which aired in 2021 and found the shapeshifting rapscallion dealing with time-traveling cops, an all-powerful madman, and a bunch of his own variants.

Now, the "Loki" series is returning with Season 2, with the titular hero finding himself up against the forces of Kang. But what exactly do we know about Loki's upcoming adventures? Who's joining him on his quest to save time and reality as we know it? Which Kang variants might show up to cause all sorts of destruction? And who will be directing the show from behind the camera, crafting the story just like He Who Remains crafted the Sacred Timeline? Well, pull on your variant jacket, don your horned helmet, and get ready for everything you need to know about "Loki" Season 2.

The year 2023 was supposed to be a big one for Marvel's Disney+ offerings. Originally, we were going to get five series — including "X-Men '97" and "Agatha: Coven of Chaos" — but the studio has decided to scale things back. After Bob Iger returned to Disney as CEO, he slowed things down a bit with Disney+ in order to reduce costs, which means Marvel Studios had to cut back a bit on its ambitious 2023 release slate. Putting a more positive spin on this, Marvel boss Kevin Feige told Entertainment Weekly, "The pace at which we're putting out the Disney+ shows will change so they can each get a chance to shine."

However, never fear, Loki fans — your prayers to Odin have been answered. "Loki" is indeed one of the shows getting released in 2023, along with the already-aired "Secret Invasion" and the upcoming Season 2 of "What If...?" And now, we know exactly when the god of mischief will return to the small screen. "Loki" Season 2 will hit Disney+ on Thursday, October 5 at 6PM PT, and like most MCU shows, it will run for six episodes. "Loki" will also be sticking with the traditional Disney+ formula of dropping one episode a week, as opposed to "Echo," which will release all its episodes at once, Netflix-style. 

After getting strangled to death in "Avengers: Infinity War," Loki's life has been getting weirder and weirder. Thanks to the Avengers' time heist in "Endgame," the trickster god got his hands on the Tesseract and created a new timeline — thus drawing the attention of the Time Variance Authority (TVA). From there, our Norse hero befriended a jet ski-loving time cop named Mobius and fell head over heels for a vengeful Loki variant named Sylvie. Weirder still, he discovered time was being controlled by the mysterious He Who Remains, a god-like figure trying to keep his more violent variants (a la Kang the Conqueror) at bay.

Yeah — it's all a bit trippy, and it's going to get even trippier with Season 2. The first season ended with Sylvie running her sword through He Who Remains and sending Loki sprawling into another timeline ... where a Kang variant had already taken over. So what's next for our tricky protagonist? According to the official plot synopsis, "Along with Mobius, Hunter B-15, and a team of new and returning characters, Loki navigates an ever-expanding and increasingly dangerous Multiverse in search of Sylvie, Judge Renslayer, Miss Minutes, and the truth of what it means to possess free will and glorious purpose."

In addition to that, we know that Loki will be dealing with a serious case of time-slipping and that we'll see the incredibly eerie Victor Timely, a Thomas Edison-like Kang variant we first glimpsed at the end of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." We also know our characters will visit several different points in the past, including the 1893 World's Fair and a 1980s McDonalds.

The role of Loki turned Tom Hiddleston into an international superstar, so needless to say, the man is coming back for Season 2. Of course, Hiddleston isn't the only returning talent. We can also expect Sophia Di Martino in the role of Sylvie. Speaking with Marvel about where her character goes from here, Di Martino explained Sylvie is dealing with some pretty serious emotions after murdering He Who Remains.

"She finally kills the guy ... and feels nothing," the actress said. "Still feels sort of angry and bitter and sad, as she always has. But nothing, just emptiness, and that's really sad." As to how that might impact Sylvie in Season 2, Di Martino elaborated, "What she does with [that sadness] is yet to be seen. It's an interesting place to start another chapter."

Gugu Mbatha-Raw is also returning as Ravonna Renslayer, who we last saw leaving the Time Variance Authority in search of big answers to some heavy questions. Owen Wilson is also set to reprise the friendly TVA agent Mobius M. Mobius, Wunmi Mosaku is coming back as Hunter B-15, Tara Strong will voice Miss Minutes, Neil Ellice will return as Hunter D-90, and Eugene Cordero will play TVA employee Casey, the guy who doesn't know anything about fish.

Perhaps the most important (and most controversial) returning cast member is Jonathan Majors, who plays the many Kang variants across the MCU. While Majors is a phenomenal actor, he's been accused of physical assault and reportedly has multiple alleged victims. We're unsure of his status in the MCU going forward, but as "Loki" Season 2 wrapped before the initial accusation, Majors will still feature as the primary villain of the series.

In addition to the familiar faces we saw in Season 1, "Loki" Season 2 will feature some truly talented newcomers. We know that Rafael Casal of "Blindspotting" and "The Good Lord Bird" will most likely be playing movie star Brad Wolfe, and Liz Carr of "The Witcher" and "Good Omens" has also joined the cast. Plus, Katie Dickie of "Game of Thrones" and "The Witch" fame will reportedly star as some sort of villain.

Of course, the most exciting addition to the cast has got to be Ke Huy Quan. Originally famous for his turns in "The Goonies" and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," Quan found himself back in the spotlight thanks to his Oscar-winning performance in "Everything Everywhere All at Once." Here, Quan will be playing OB, the TVA's tech expert, and we're incredibly excited that he'll be bringing his amazing talents and upbeat energy to the MCU.

In fact, Kevin Feige himself called Quan up and offered him the gig. While on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Quan said, "When ['Everything Everywhere All at Once'] came out, the first phone call I got was from Kevin Feige, who graciously asked me if I wanted to join the MCU. And I called [producer Jonathan Wang] and the gang, and I said, 'You know what, nobody wants to hire me except Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, the Daniels, and Kevin Feige.' It's been incredible."

Michael Waldron has been incredibly busy in the MCU — writing the script for "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" and serving as head writer on "Loki" Season 1. However, he won't return for the show's second outing as lead scribe (although he will be producing). This time around, the head writing duties have gone to Eric Martin.

Like Waldron himself (and "Quantumania" screenwriter Jeff Loveness and "She-Hulk" creator Jessica Gao), Martin hails from the world of "Rick and Morty," and he actually worked with Waldron on that animated show. Additionally, Martin has written for the Stephen Amell wrestling show "Heels," and he worked on the final two episodes of "Loki" Season 1.

So what does Martin have in store for the second season? While we don't have any quotes regarding Martin's take on the new season, we do know his overall writing ethos. Speaking with The Cosmic Circus in October 2021, Martin revealed, "I just want to tell emotional stories, complicated human emotions portrayed in a way we can all expand our humanity and find the ways that we kind of interconnect and just explore the human condition. I mean, I know that all sounds pretty ridiculous, but that's what's so interesting to me about it all, just exploring humanity and people."

Every episode of "Loki" Season 1 was masterfully directed by Kate Herron. However, Herron won't be returning for Season 2, telling Variety, "I was on the show for like three years in total. I just felt like I poured everything into it. ... I felt like having someone new and with fresh eyes — that, for me, is what will make a good season."

So who do those fresh eyes belong to? Well, some of those brand new peepers belong to the dynamic duo of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, who will direct most of "Loki" Season 2. Benson and Moorhead are no stranger to the MCU, having previously helmed episodes of "Moon Knight." However, these two are incredibly exciting picks for "Loki" thanks to their eclectic film career. Working together, Benson and Moorhead have created some of the most interesting sci-fi and horror films of the past decade, such as "Spring," "Synchronic," and "The Endless." Benson and Moorhead specialize in tales that play with the nature of time and reality, so it's no wonder they were selected to take the god of mischief into Season 2.

Of course, they won't be the only ones helming the series. Benson and Moorhead will be joined by Dan Deleeuw and Kasra Farahani. Deleeuw is best known as the visual effects supervisor on MCU projects like "Infinity War," "Endgame," and "Loki" Season 1, and he's also served as the second unit director on "Eternals" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." As for Farahani, he directed the James Caan thriller "The Good Neighbor," and he's also served as art director and production designer for Marvel fare such as "Black Panther," "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2." and "Loki" Season 1.

The official trailer for "Loki" Season 2 kicks off with quite the sticky predicament. Loki just can't keep it together — one second he's standing in the TVA, the next he's forcibly yanked across time and space. Ke Huy Quan's archivist calls this time slipping, and despite his wealth of knowledge, he assures us there's no cure for this particular time-traveling ailment.

That's too bad, because Loki will need all his wits about him in Season 2. "If what I saw was true," the mischievous antihero says, "there's nothing that stands between this world and utter destruction." That something he saw is no doubt a reference to He Who Remains and his homicidal variants, and Mobius decides it's time for a bit of detective work. The trailer highlights the difference between their two investigative styles, with Mobius preferring to take his time, while Loki prefers a much more, um, forceful approach.

The trailer also gives us quick glimpses of Sylvie, Hunter B-15, and Ravonna Renslayer — all seemingly operating with their own agendas. We also see that Rafael Casa's character will be a key part in this, appearing as the star of a movie called "Zaniac!" which might be a reference to the demonic comic book character who's a servant of Dormammu. The trailer also promises some incredible retro-future set design and some really fun time-traveling set pieces, especially with Loki and Mobius visiting the 1893 World's Fair. 

Another trailer, which hit the internet on September 4, doubles down on many of these elements, and offers even more glimpses of the series' fantastical settings and characters. Peeks at the World's Fair's towering Ferris wheel and Victor Timely in action are especially impressive.

Look, there's going to be a whole lot going on in "Loki" Season 2. We've got the Multiverse, we've got variants, we've got time travel — it's a ton of wild stuff to wrap your head around. So if you need to go back and watch "Loki" Season 1, we don't blame you. Or maybe you're just now getting caught up on the trickster god's exploits and aren't sure where to find his solo series. Well, don't worry, we've got you covered. If you want to see what Loki as an alligator looks like, then all you need to do is visit Disney+.

Of course, that might not be the only MCU project you'll need to check out before Season 2. "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" is the first Marvel title post-"Loki" to deal with the Kang of it all. After Loki and Sylvie killed He Who Remains, they disrupted the Sacred Timeline, allowing for He Who Remain's variants to wreak havoc on the Multiverse. One of those variants happens to be Kang the Conqueror, who's the big baddie of Ant-Man's third installment. To see the most powerful man in the MCU take on the tiniest Avenger, you can also check out "Quantumania" on Disney+.

Multiple timelines? McDonald's is lovin' it. The famous fast-food chain was written into the "Loki" Season 2 script when Sophia Di Martino and executive producer Kevin Wright discussed where Sylvie might want to run to after throwing Loki into another dimension and maybe handing Kang his time war on a silver platter.

In fact, McDonald's might just be chicken nuggets for the soul. Weary rogue Asgardian gods: they're just like us! "You play a Little League game and go to McDonald's. You go to a kid's birthday party at McDonald's," Wright told Fast Company. "Someone like Sylvie would never have experienced that, and would be really taken by that." McDonald's was taken by the idea as well. The chain even revamped a Brooklyn restaurant to match the 1982 setting of "Loki" Season 2's McDonald's for a special promotion.

The NYC location has such lovingly throwback-crafted design, from the back-lit menus advertising the relatively "new" Chicken McNuggets to the stained-glass cafe lights that would make the nearest Pizza Hut wistful for the past. Nostalgia has never looked tastier. For a limited time, fans can snag the "Loki"-inspired "As Featured In" Meal. It comes with fries, a drink, nuggets, a QPC, and a specially packaged sweet & sour sauce that seems to be relevant to the plot of the show. Being a Loki Variant is a pretty sweet and sour experience, after all.

Miss Minutes is the adorably evil AI star of "Loki." She isn't out to replace jobs in the MCU — just anything that interferes with the Sacred Timeline. Miss Minutes spends most of "Loki" Season 1 seemingly helping Loki in his TVA research. But towards the end of the first season, Miss Minutes reveals she is working with her bestie-in-time-crimes, He Who Remains.

Miss Minutes will stop at nothing to stop Variants (and TVA top brass) who stand in her way. But does her appearance in the "Loki" Season 2 trailers mean she won't even stop at death? Miss Minutes roars over the World's Fair crowds in the "Loki" Season 2 trailers in an all-new form: That of a giant, glowing ghost. But why is Miss Minutes in this new shape? Did she die between "Loki" Season 1 and 2? Can AI die?

Her brief, spectral appearance inspires a host of ghost-related and existential questions that might be answered when Season 2 airs. While we can't feed you Miss Minutes answers, check out these Miss Minutes donuts. Not to be outdone by Loki and Sylvie's McDonald's tie-in, Miss Minutes took over a famous LA donut shop in celebration of "Loki" Season 2. In September 2023, a 32-foot Miss Minutes dominated the roof of Randy's Donuts. Tiny Miss Minutes-themed donuts were also on offer for a limited time — and they tasted deceptively sweet. Randy's is no stranger to the MCU, of course. It is also the site of an "Iron Man 2" scene that is both iconic and delicious.

The "Loki" Season 2 teasers and trailers sketch out the broad strokes of the season's plot. Loki and his friends (and Variants) are scattered across time, the multiverse is in danger, and time to save the world is running out. In some strands of the multiverse, time is clearly already controlled by Kang/He Who Remains — and maybe even the oddly-voiced and old-timey Victor Timely. But let's lose the plot, for a moment, and consider what "Loki" Season 2 is really about.

We see Sylvie and Loki going through serious depths of emotion in all of the "Loki" Season 2 promotional materials. Even their McDonald's commercial is wrought with unspoken pain, and it's only a minute long. "It felt like we had new emotional ground to cover with Loki," Michael Waldron told Deadline. "That's the only way into Season 2."

"Loki" Season 1 tackled themes of identity, redemption, family ties, and a sense of belonging. Season 2 seems ready to dig deeper into what it means to have a glorious purpose, and who gets to decide what that purpose is. "Whatever we do, we're playing God," a seemingly traumatized Sylvie warns Loki in the trailers. "We are gods," he assures her in a considered, but confident way. However, seconds later, an imprisoned Variant Loki asks an unseen scene partner: "But how do you choose?" Themes of regret, free will, and regeneration seem to be on the menu for "Loki" Season 2.

The "Loki" Season 2 trailers are a feast for the senses. You can watch the trailers like a true agent of chaos, and let waves of images from across time crash across the screen without investigating any further. Or, you can watch the trailer with the persnickety precision of the world's most thorough TVA agent, and hit pause every two seconds to scan the frame for Season 2 clues — and costumes. 

Many costumes pop up in the trailers that seem to match at least three major timelines. There's Loki's dark chocolate brown peacoat in the 1982 timeline, as well as Sylvie's orange-striped golden arches get-up. Most of the cast makes an appearance at the 1893 World's Fair, in period attire. Then there are scenes that seem set in the timeline from the final scenes of "Loki" Season 1, full of TVA jumpsuits and office clothes. But what about the costumes that can't be so easily tied to one of these timelines?

B-15 can be seen in a beautiful yellow evening gown, a doctor's white coat, and her hunter's jumpsuit. In the "As Featured In" commercial, Brad Wolfe wears a TVA Variant jumpsuit. Then there's Mobius's space suit. Multiple Lokis wear frilly-shirted tuxes in a trailer scene, and it makes us wonder: will Loki and Mobius get an '80s prom moment? And if so, can the soundtrack please include Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time"?

Loki is the god of mischief. "Always have been. Always will be." Admittedly, this is a very cool trailer line for Loki to spout before charging off to save the time-splintered days in "Loki" Season 2 — but is it really true?

In Norse mythology, Loki truly is the god of mischief. He's happy to cause chaos without aligning himself with any purely "good" or "evil" cause. But in the MCU, Loki came on the scene trying to, well, enslave the "mewling quim" of the world. Audiences loved him for it, even if his brother didn't. Loki started his anti-hero's journey as more self-serious and cruel than mischievous, and even comments on his destructive past to Mobius in "Loki" Season 1 by wryly calling himself a "mischievous scamp."

Though his growth started in the movies, "Loki" Season 1 really fleshed the character out — so much that Season 2's Mobius is still willing to help Loki even though he's forgotten him. The "Loki" Season 2 trailers also seem to show Loki continuing on his hero's journey, and further developing as a chaotic good god — one that isn't above committing actual mischief. Despite Season 2's obvious emotional territory, we anticipate more crime-caper mischief antics in "Loki" Season 2 — and wouldn't be surprised if Loki pulls a day-saving trick even better than "Get Help" from "Thor: Ragnarok." We suspect that trick has something to do with Mobius and those frilly-shirted tuxes.

The "Loki" Season 2 cast pops up in the 1893 World's Fair, aka The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, held in Chicago. As far as World's Fairs go, the 1893 one is kind of a big deal. So what — or who — might Loki encounter in Midway Plaisance, and the newly-electrified "City of Light"?

The Gilded Age event was full of technological innovations, a giant Ferris wheel built by George Ferris himself, architectural celebrities — as well as possibly providing a hunting ground for serial killer H.H. Holmes. You may recognize the name from the hit book and long-delayed film, "The Devil In the White City."

Does Loki have enough villainy on his hands with Victor Timely, a clear Variant of He Who Remains? Or might the show throw another villain into the multi-timelined mix? Maybe the stories of Holmes have been folded into the Zaniac character, also known in old "Thor" comics for his serial-killing ways. Parallels are always possible in "Loki" — Victor Timely is clearly styled after Nikola Tesla himself, who really did debut world-changing work at the 1893 fair, with his alternating current electricity. While Tesla's inventions were designed to light up the world, it seems like Timely's might be designed to set it on fire. Either way, we know Loki is destined to battle at least one monster of the Midway.

The last time audiences saw Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) in "Loki" Season 1, she was heading through the Time Door and after whoever made her look like a fool. Renslayer had been shaken by all kinds of information in Season 1, namely that her boss-gods were actually robotic decoys, her clock AI was stalling her on behalf of He Who Remains, and that Renslayer was once a lowly Variant herself.

"The idea that pretty much everyone in the TVA is a variant, and that there are other variants of Renslayer in different times, that was kind of mind-blowing to me," Mbatha-Raw tells Marvel.com, adding: "Ultimately, she wants revenge with whoever put this whole facade together." In the "Loki" Season 2 trailers, Renslayer seems hot on the trail for that revenge. She pops up in Gilded Age Chicago — and, judging from the purple light on her face in one scene, the Void.

If Renslayer has made it to the Void, how did she do it? And why is she wearing what looks like 1893-era clothes? There are also a few shots of Renslayer wielding what looks like a lightning-bolt flamethrower. The weapon looks like Renslayer means harm — but in the name of what cause? "She has the making of a very complex villain that has her own set of principles and beliefs that drive her," Michael Waldron explains in the same Marvel.com interview. In the comics, Renslayer is Kang's lover. In "Loki" Season 2, will she be his enemy?

The "Loki" Season 2 trailers give audiences a good look at the belly of the beast by showing off the TVA's equivalent of a help desk: The Repairs and Advancement Department. A windowless, submarine-like space with a color scheme that would make "The Life Aquatic" jealous, this department is stuffed with delightfully demented (and all analog) tech.

OB (Ke Huy Quan) heads up the Repairs and Advancement Department, and his appearance has already sparked an intense, spoiler-y theory about "Loki" Season 2. However, we're not concerned about that right now, just the toys, tech, and knowledge he possesses. OB's desk is covered in pneumatic tubes, towers of old-fashioned help tickets on spikes, computers that look straight out of the '80s, and even an old-school gumball machine. The surrounding shelves are filled with more of the same, and the equipment at his disposal seems to go on forever.

"The idea was that analog technology just never stopped and continued to get more and more sophisticated, and then they combined it with pieces of weird tech they found on different timelines throughout the multiverse," Season 2 director, Kasra Farahani, describes in an interview with Below the Line. Fan theories aside, OB has some serious low-tech tricks up his sleeve. We can't wait to see what unexpected power-ups they provide the cast in "Loki" Season 2.

There's a powerfully relatable moment in "Loki" Season 1 when TVA office-drone Mobius laments about never having a jet ski. To Mobius, the jet ski is a symbol of joy, freedom, and the outside world — a far cry from the monolithic, mind-numbing madness of working for the corporate overlords of time control.

While Mobius's jet ski dream doesn't come true by the end of "Loki" Season 1, the trailers for "Loki" Season 2 see Loki time-slipping to the parking lot of a Piranha Powersports. What's being advertised? You got it. Jet skis. While this could mean Mobius will finally get that jet ski he longs for — or, even cuter, Loki will get it for him — there's an unsettling emotional shadow over the moment. And, since this is Marvel, a deep-cut comics easter egg.

Piranha is an old-school Marvel character who has more than a little in common with Loki, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. On the other hand, piranhas are flesh-eating nightmare beasts of the sea. This sharp-edged possible metaphor also calls to mind the creepy, decayed look of the Citadel in Season 2. Might its appearance have anything to do with a multiversal war illustrated on those golden doors Loki stabs? If you're gonna stab a door, it might as well be one that teases "Avengers 5."