Loki has always been the wildest card in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The lovable trickster has gone through a number of transformations in the six films he has been featured in, from a villain set on conquering Asgard to a mercurial antihero whose motivations and ambitions are sketchy at best.
But now, Loki is spearheading his own Marvel project in a eponymously titled Disney+ TV series, and fans can intimate themselves with the God of Mischief like never before. It is an opportunity the character has been yearning for since appearing in the 2011 film Thor to shine outside of his brother's shadow.
The Loki pilot episode was released on Wednesday. The show, available to watch in the UAE on OSN Streaming, is set after the events of Avengers: Endgame. It features an alternate version of Loki, who is brought to the Time Variance Authority, an organisation that exists out of time and space.
Being a "time variant", Loki faces erasure at the hands of the TVA, which promises to spare him if he helps fix the frayed timeline. Tom Hiddleston reprises his role as the Prince of Asgard in the show, which also stars Owen Wilson and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Loki comes at the heels of Marvel's newest TV offerings, WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, both of which were received (mostly) warmly by fans. Expectations have been high for the new show and, if online reactions to the first episode are anything to go by, Loki is off to a stellar start.
On the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the show has amassed a 95 per cent rating and an average audience score of 94 per cent. These numbers will almost certainly change as the show progresses, but it is a promising start.
On IMDb, the show has, so far, scored a rating of 9.3 out of 10. A swift scroll down the Loki reviews shows the list is teeming with accolades. "The God of Mischief is back again with a glorious and epic first episode," one user wrote.
"A first episode and it is already shaping up to be a really good show. Not without some very minor problems however," another IMDb user added. "Though I'm not going to rate the series yet based on one episode. Hopefully it doesn't turn out like Wandavision or The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and keeps up the high quality."
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User DiCaprio-Hardyfan wrote: “What more can be said about Tom Hiddleston that hasn't already been said? He's such a great actor and does his best work as Loki. Also, this is one of the best performances of Owen Wilson's career, he was just fantastic! I can not recommend this incredible series enough!”
There were also a few disappointed reviews, with some pointing out that the time travel concept can cause messy plot holes in the otherwise meticulously tied together Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“Time travel always screws everything up,” user korpake wrote, rating the show five out of 10. “I'll continue to watch to see where things go, but this was a disappointing start.”
On Twitter, the reaction to Loki seems overwhelmingly positive, with plenty of memes and cheeky one-liners dedicated to the show and its protagonist.
"Best Marvel series pilot episode so far!" Jeremy Rodriguez wrote. "Loki is going to be a game changer."
"I did love Thor more but after watching Loki, I have gone to the dark side and love me some Loki," wrote Twitter user Duchesshastings.
"I adored the Loki premiere," Jason Sidious Gibson wrote. "I am officially freaking out at having to wait a week for the next episode. Totally love Owen Wilson in this."
