How Loki Is Changing Sylvie’s Comics Story

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Loki episode 3, “Lamentis”

The MCU is making various changes to the character of Sylvie, introduced in the Loki Disney+ series as a female variant of the God of Mischief. The TVA has named Sophia Di Martino’s Sylvie their biggest threat, as she supposedly seeks to attack the Sacred Timeline and unleash chaos on the multiverse. As an alleged variant of Loki, she was initially thought to be Marvel’s “Lady Loki”, one of the many forms Laufeyson takes in the comics. However, the MCU seems to be merging Lady Loki with Sylvie Lushton, the second character to take the name of “Enchantress.”

In the comics, Sylvie Lushton is led to believe she used to be an ordinary human who suddenly develops magical abilities after the Asgardians move to Earth. Eventually, Sylvie learns that she was actually created by Loki to infiltrate and sabotage the Young Avengers. After Loki’s plans are foiled, Sylvie keeps trying to prove herself as a hero, but is turned away by the Young Avengers and transported by Amora — the original Enchantress — to a different realm, where she remains to this day.

Loki‘s timeline-hopping antics offer the possibility to introduce different variants of the God of Mischief, and Loki episode 2 confirmed they actually can exist. While the introduction of Old Loki and Kid Loki is still a possibility, Sophia Di Martino’s Sylvie doesn’t appear to be a direct mirror to the main Loki. Her stronger enchantments, her refusal to be called “Loki,” and her short blond hair suggest she’s an amalgamation of Lady Loki and Sylvie Lushton.

But unlike the second Enchantress, Loki‘s Sylvie is the one who has control over the situation: she knows more about the TVA and the Sacred Timeline than Loki. She also chose the name “Sylvie” for herself, instead of believing it was her birth name. Besides Sylvie’s long-distance relationship with an unnamed postman, she doesn’t seem to have any connection to Earth, either.

The few anecdotes Sylvie shared with Loki and her surname, Laufeydottir, indicate she has the same basic backstory as him, or at least the same Frost Giant origins and Asgardian upbringing. While not a direct parallel to Lady Loki from the comics, Sylvie might be an actual alternate version of Loki. But if Evan Peters’ portrayal of Ralph Bohner in WandaVision is anything to go by, such assumptions can only be confirmed once the entire series has been released.

Furthermore, Sylvie’s ability to enter the minds of her opponents and manipulate their grasp on their own past can tie into her comic book backstory. Perhaps she is enchanted as well, and Sylvie was never a Loki variant to begin with, despite believing she was. Another possibility is that she has been lying to Loki, or at least manipulating the truth. Either way, Sylvie’s similarities and differences to both Enchantress and Lady Loki in the Disney+ Loki series are already enough to conclude that she isn’t a direct adaptation of either comic book character.

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.

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