Ever since the Disney+ Loki series was announced, the fans were in a spell of extreme excitement, which was totally called for. We mean, it’s Loki. You just cannot hate this guy. If you remember Thor: Ragnarok, then we are sure that you still chuckle at that little story that Thor told Valkyrie and Doctor Banner about Loki when they were kids, “There was one time when we were children, he transformed himself into a snake, and he knows that I love snakes. So, I went to pick up the snake to admire it and he transformed back into himself and he was like, “Yeah, it’s me!” And he stabbed me. We were eight at the time.” We mean, can you ever hate this notorious guy who is so wicked with his ways?
In an interview with Collider, Marvel’s Chief Kevin Feige revealed how long each series will run for and what the episode length will be. Falcon and the Winter Soldier was originally conceived as nine to ten half-hour episodes, but will now be six 40-50 minute episodes. As for Moon Night and Loki, they, too, will each have six 40-50 minute long episodes. Feige did not give episode lengths or amounts for other upcoming Marvel shows like Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye. Moreover, he did reveal that She-Hulk will be ten half-hour long episodes. Episode lengths have varied wildly since the beginning of streaming, but they used to be quite consistent.
The trailer for Loki makes it clear that the God of Mischief will be exploring and dealing with variant timelines on behalf of the Time Variance Authority. Loki may not have all of the experiences of the version of himself from the mainline MCU, but the Time Variance Authority seems dedicated to catching him up on the missing memories. To that end, Loki’s experience with finessing the Grandmaster, the Collector’s brother, could grant valuable insight into how the minds of the Elders of the Universe work.
Combined with Loki’s experiences with the Mind Stone and the Power Stone, Loki would be a leading candidate for dealing with a variant Collector empowered by all of the Infinity Stones, at least giving him better than average odds of success. The Collector, clearly knowledgeable about the infinity stones per his lecture in Guardians of the Galaxy, would have some idea of this cost.
The fact that he expressed a desire to collect the stones in spite of this suggests that he has a desire to use the stones – after all, if all of his interest was in keeping the stones safe, their existing defenses were already daunting. The Collector is shown in the franchise to be capricious and cruel, keeping sentient beings like Howard the Duck and Cosmo the Spacedog in glass cases, while his slave Carina sacrificed her life in a vain attempt to kill him and escape the servitude that she was enduring. This bodes poorly for the Collector’s intentions in using the Infinity Stones; since the radiation from the stones can give humans superpowers, he might seek to create new ‘pieces’ for his collection.
Alternately, with the ability to teleport, create ‘real’ illusions, and read the minds of those around him, he could expand his collection immensely through an unmatched power-set for simple theft. If Loki does touch on this potential reality as a storyline, it would likely be a significant part of a season arc, with the Collector as a recurring antagonist. Even if this is not explored initially, Loki has already been renewed for a second season – with plenty of time to touch on this possibility.
Although Ronan takes the Power Stone for his hammer after the Collector’s slave Carina causes an explosion with it, the Accuser would not have been in Knowhere were it not for Drax announcing the Guardians’ presence. Drax met up with the other Guardians of the Galaxy in the Kyln prison, where they were being held because Gamora and Quill fought in the middle of a crowded square. With Gamora gone from the timeline – and Thanos not offering Ronan the ships and assistance of his daughters – none of this would have been able to happen. Quill’s sale of the Power Stone would have personally enriched him, and would likely have gone unchallenged, as the stone quietly made its way to the Collector.
Since the universe from which Thanos has been removed is unquestionably a time variance, and a degree of cleverness and cunning may be required to finesse a solution to an out-of-control Collector, this timeline seems like an intuitive place for Loki to be sent. Moreover, if another timeline requires an infinity stone solution, the Collector can usually be bargained or reasoned with, to a point – among Loki’s best character traits for such a position are pronounced moral flexibility and a charismatic patter second to none.
