Loki variants explained: What are variants and why are they important?

Marvel’s Mischief 101: Welcome to the universe of variants and why are they important in the chaotic world of Loki and the MCU.

If you’re scratching your heads over the wild world of variants in the MCU – or if you’re just here for the God of Mischief – this one’s for you. With the excitement over Loki‘s second season returning this week, this would be a good time to talk about what variants are, and why they’re such a huge part of the fabric of the MCU.

We’ve heard the term on the show Loki, and seen them on the show as well as In Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Avengers: Endgame (Thanos, of course). But what exactly are variants? Are they your alter-ego? A Doppelgänger? A clone? Well… kind of all three at once.

What’s a variant?

Imagine you’re running late for work. One day, you decide to skip that second cup of coffee, while in a distant parallel universe, you gulped it down instead. The decision to skip (or not skip) that cup is a branching point in your timelines, which could potentially lead to two different realities. In the MCU, these branches are often caused by major deviations from the “sacred timeline.”

A variant would be you in that other reality where you made a different decision. A variant is basically a version of a person or thing from a different timeline. And in the Loki series, we get to see this concept in full, chaotic swing – and it’s beautiful.

Lokis, Lokis everywhere

Loki dives deep into the pool of variants. But instead of dealing with cups of coffee, we’re dealing with versions of Loki who made different choices or lived under different circumstances. With different experiences come different races, species, and genders of the same person. Different personalities, with the same basic foundation but their resolve is shaped differently by their unique paths in life.

We got to see a nice representation of Loki variants in the first season of Loki:

Classic Loki: Dressed in old-school comic garb, this Loki is older and wiser. He faked his death (classic Loki move) and lived in isolation until the TVA (Time Variance Authority) found him.

Kid Loki: A pint-sized powerhouse, the boss in the Void? He did what no Loki did before: he killed Thor.

Boastful Loki: This Loki sports a hammer, hinting that he might have taken a page out of Thor’s book. He boasts about his grand achievements and, in true Loki fashion, can’t really be trusted.

Alligator Loki: He’s an alligator but still very much a Loki. Why? Because. The MCU doesn’t always need a reason.

Sylvie: Sylvie, while initially introduced as another Loki variant, has carved a unique identity for herself. She’s been on the run from the TVA for a long time and has a vendetta against them.

Why all these variants matter

The multiple Lokis underline the series’ central themes of identity, change, and destiny. Can someone truly change who they are and what they’re supposed to do? Are we bound by our past, or can we choose our path? Each Loki variant offers different answers to these questions.

Plus, let’s admit, it’s just a whole lot of fun to see Loki interact with himself, except not himself.

The Loki series not only expanded the MCU’s multiverse concept but also gave us a closer look at what it means to be the God of Mischief. Every variant added depth to the character we’ve come to love (and occasionally roll our eyes at). And with the multiverse now in full swing, who knows which variants we’ll meet next?

So, the next time you skip that cup of coffee, just remember: in another timeline, you totally sipped it and went on a potentially totally different path. Season 2 of Loki arrives on Disney+ this Thursday, October 5. Don’t miss it!