Loki is one of those shows that can’t quite fit into one genre. Yes, it’s a Disney Plus series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it is so much more than that.
The TV series includes time travel, alternate worlds, saving universes, and so much character development that it’s hard to find something just as good. This is a story where the villain becomes the hero, continuing a journey started before his death (or, well, the death of the original Loki in the MCU movies).
With the series now seemingly at an end, there’s no doubt that you want to find something else to watch. Here are five great shows to check out next, and not all of them are Marvel!
Timeless
I want to start with one that is as far away from Marvel as you can get while still sticking to sci-fi. Timeless was an NBC series created by Eric Kripke, and it followed a group of people who traveled through time. Each episode took us to a different time period, where the three would attempt to stop a man who was hellbent on changing the past to get rid of a company called Rittenhouse.
Changing the timeline has consequences, though, as we learn in the first episode. Is there a way to change things back? What will happen if Rittenhouse is destroyed? And what’s to say that the perceived antagonist is the real villain? Like Loki, there is a lot to figure out and understand about the “villain.”
Timeless is available to stream on Hulu.
The Power
Based on a book of the same name, The Power follows a world where women suddenly develop electrical superpowers. They can control electricity around them, and it leads to the balance of power shifting from men to women. Of course, some men are terrified of what this means, and it leads to them attempting to prevent girls and women from developing these abilities.
We follow the story through the eyes of a few women, who develop the abilities slowly. These abilities aren’t magical, either. They’re a genetic formation from the natural electrical system within the body. Some of the women decide to take control in a bad way, but does that make them villains? Do they just need some help figuring out how to use their powers for good?
The Power is available to stream on Prime Video.
Quantum Leap
It’s worth watching both the original series and then the revival straight afterward. Quantum Leap focuses on time travel and attempting to actually change the past. Yes, it means potentially causing problems in the future, but sometimes, people need more time to learn who they are and how to right some wrongs.
The OG series focused on Sam Beckett, who was caught in the leaps. As soon as he succeeded to change one, he would leap into another person, becoming that person while Alan, his hologram best friend in the present day, would help figure out who the person was and what event was supposed to change. However, Sam got stuck, which was brought up in the revival.
The OG Quantum Leap is on The Roku Channel, and the revival is on Peacock.
The Umbrella Academy
No matter how much you try to do the right thing, sometimes, you just need to stop! And sometimes, you need to think twice about how your actions can affect the future. It’s even harder when there is someone working against you at all times. The Umbrella Academy looks into this and much more.
It follows seven siblings who all have an ability each. Well, at first, six of them do. When their father dies, the seven siblings are brought back together, only to find out that they need to save the world from an impending apocalypse happening in just days. What happens when they find out one of their own may be responsible for said apocalypse?
The Umbrella Academy is available to stream on Netflix.
What If…
Loki brings us a story of alternate timelines. Well, how about diving further into some of them? What If…? is set in the world of Marvel, and it brings us individual stories of what could have been. We get things like Doctor Strange taking over the world, and Agent Carter being the guinea pig for the Super Soldier Serum rather than Steve Rogers.
The series is great because it’s an anthology. You can watch the storylines that interest you the most at first, and then you can work through other ones as you see fit. It opens up the world of Marvel without having any effect on the current main universe, making it as important to the franchise's Multiverse Saga as its live-action counterparts.
What If… is available to stream on Disney+.