Marvel Studios' move into television hasn't been without its flaws, but the positives vastly outweigh the negatives. It's true: The Marvel Cinematic Universe's arrival on Disney Plus with multiple TV shows has certainly had its ups and downs, but for every Secret Invasion, there has been a WandaVision, a Loki, an Agatha All Along to thrill us all. And that's really what the MCU is all about.
But the franchise is evolving as the studio has changed its approach to TV going forward, opting to produce multi-episode TV shows instead of standalone cinematic miniseries. With that, its TV arm relaunched as Marvel Television, enjoying a great deal of success with both Agatha and Daredevil: Born Again. It looks to do the same with upcoming titles Ironheart and Wonder Man.
That said, this MCU TV rebrand has come at a cost as the studio has confirmed that its new way of doing television will do away with the old one, meaning that certain shows fans have hoped might return in the future won't. It particularly highlights that one that could have returned no longer will.
Marvel TV's new approach confirms Loki season 3 will never happen
Marvel's Head of Television, Streaming and Animation Brad Winderbaum recently spoke about the studio's new small screen focus at the Disney Upfronts. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Studios is currently in recalibrating mode, shifting the way that it makes television and approaching projects as if they are ongoing TV shows with potential for multiple seasons - not six-part movies. And part of this change will mean no big Avengers stars leading them going forward.
"Producing shows with marquee names, it made it really challenging to produce second seasons; the margins on TV are smaller... Looking to the future, does it mean that we won’t have big Avengers names? No. They may not be the titular character of the show, but they can still make appearances."
This has essentially confirmed that none of the original wave of MCU shows will return for another season after years of rumors that some of them might. That includes Loki, which went on become the biggest success of all the Disney Plus shows. The Tom Hiddleston-led series was a critical and commercial success for both Marvel Studios and the Disney Plus streaming platform, and fans have been longing for it to return with another season at some point in the future. Although it had something of a definitive ending, the door was also extremely open for future stories.
The show's first season streamed in the summer of 2021, showcasing what the variant of Tom Hiddleston's Trickster got up to after he absconded with the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame. It made history at the time as the first and only live-action MCU TV show to return for a second season, which premiered in fall 2023. It was an even bigger success story, airing in primetime hours and generating a lot of buzz. Season 2 also received praise for being a huge improvement over season 1 and one of the most important titles in the Multiverse Saga. Its finale was critically-acclaimed as one of the best MCU outings on any platform.
Ever since it concluded, there have been question marks around whether a third season could happen. It's a valid question given that Loki was the only MCU show at the time to return for a second season, so it realistically could have returned for a third. And it was also a valid question as no one ever gave a definitive answer as to whether the God of Mischief's story had truly come to an end.
The good news is that we know this isn't the case, as Hiddleston will reprise the role in next yea'rs MCU movie Avengers: Doomsday, which will unite characters from all across the MCU to battle Doctor Doom. As the season 2 finale of the show revealed, Loki has now become the God of Stories, saving all of the timelines and protecting them on his throne at the End of Time. A return in the conclusion of the Multiverse Saga was inevitable.
While there could have been scope for Loki season 3 after the Multiverse Saga, it's clear that the story that Marvel wanted to tell in that show has either finished or will come to an end in Avengers: Doomsday or its 2027 sequel Avengers: Secret Wars. And that could suggest that these two movies will mark the final appearances of Tom Hiddleston's iconic Trickster.
For All Time Loki. Always.