Loki: How the timeline and multiverse works in Marvel Comics
By Mark Lynch
Loki explains how the timeline works in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but does the fact that it works differently in Marvel Comics suggest that all is not what it seems?
The first episode of Loki didn’t disappoint. In fact, some might say the Marvel Cinematic Universe series exceeded expectations – seeing as they were already high, that’s a lot of praise. It gave us everything we loved about Loki, Owen Wilson rocked, and Wunmi Mosaku was fantastic as Hunter b-15. And that’s on top of setting the stage for the rest of what looks like a very interesting season. Who is this mysterious Loki that’s running amok? And what do they want? And also, is it Lady Loki?
Then there’s the Timekeepers. We’re told that there aren’t timeline anomalies because they protect against them. However, the Marvel Comics universe works a little bit different and, in a way, this could falsify MCU Timekeepers’ claims.
Comic book fans know how annoying the concept of time travel can be. It can be confusing and sometimes the stories contradict everything that’s happening in the series or issue. For example, everything that happens after X-Men: Days of Future Past.
The funny thing is we usually just shrug and say, “That’s comic book time travel for you.” One of the easiest ways to explain time travel are alternate timelines. It shows where the temporal anomaly happened and what it leads to. According to Loki, however, these alternate timelines are stopped by the Timekeepers and the TVA. Allow this writer to show a couple of examples of how that’s not the case in the comics.