WARNING: The following contains SPOILERS for Loki episode 1.

Loki stars a past version of the title character who didn’t have to go through the horrors of the destruction of Asgard, confronting Thanos, and more, and who presents himself as Loki Laufeyson – but why isn’t he Odinson like his brother, Thor? Although the Infinity Saga is now over after the big events of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, that doesn’t mean it was also the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is now moving forward with its Phase 4. This new wave began with WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and before it jumps back to the movie side of this universe, it will reunite fans with the God of Mischief in Loki.

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The time heist in Avengers: Endgame made it possible for Loki to return for more adventures, as his 2012 version escaped with the Tesseract, thus creating a new branch in the timeline. Loki, then, sees the title character being brought to the Time Variance Authority (TVA), an organization that monitors the timeline and which will use Loki’s abilities to its advantage by sending him on a mission to face one of its biggest threats. The first episode of Loki was all about the God of Mischief (and viewers) getting acquainted with the TVA and what it does, and during that process, Loki is introduced as Loki Laufeyson.

Loki made his MCU debut in 2011 alongside his brother, Thor, in the movie simply titled Thor, where it was revealed that Loki isn’t Odin’s biological son. Loki is actually the son of Laufey, the Frost Giant King, but as he was born small and weak for a Frost Giant, Laufey abandoned him to die. During the war between the Giants and the Asgardians, Odin found baby Loki and adopted him, raising him as his son. Loki eventually found out and his resentment against Odin and Thor only grew, making way for the antagonist character everyone now knows.

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Although Loki continued to introduce himself as “Loki of Asgard” on some occasions (as happened in The Avengers and also Loki, as he has been reusing some of his quotes), in the first episode of Loki he is introduced as Loki Laufeyson, which is his real name. “Odinson” and “Laufeyson” aren’t family names, and instead, Nordic names like these consist of a first name – Loki – and the name of the parent, in this case Laufey, making way for “Laufeyson”. Thor, on the other hand, is the biological child of Odin, thus he uses “Odinson” as his last name, while Hela, also Odin’s biological child, uses “Odinsdottir”, with “dottir” standing for “daughter”.

It’s also important to remember that this is Loki from the past, one who hasn’t gone through his redemption and who still has a difficult relationship with Odin, giving him more reasons to use his real last name rather than the one related to his adopted father. Whether or not Loki will be redeemed at some point in this timeline and make peace with his past and his relationship with Odin (especially after seeing how he died, courtesy of the TVA) remains to be seen, so he will continue being Loki Laufeyson for a while.

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday, only on Disney+.

Key Release Dates
  • Black Widow (2021)Release date: Jul 09, 2021
  • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)Release date: Sep 03, 2021
  • Eternals (2021)Release date: Nov 05, 2021
  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)Release date: May 06, 2022
  • Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)Release date: Jul 08, 2022
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever/Black Panther 2 (2022)Release date: Nov 11, 2022
  • The Marvels/Captain Marvel 2 (2023)Release date: Feb 17, 2023
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)Release date: Jul 28, 2023
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)Release date: May 05, 2023
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About The Author


Adrienne Tyler
(3269 Articles Published)

Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). Prior to Screen Rant, she wrote for Pop Wrapped, 4 Your Excitement (4YE), and D20Crit, where she was also a regular guest at Netfreaks podcast. She was also a contributor for FanSided’s BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Adrienne is very into films and she enjoys a bit of everything: from superhero films to heartbreaking dramas, to low-budget horror films. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings.

When she’s not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs!), or wondering what life would have been like had Pushing Daisies, Firefly, and Limitless not been cancelled. Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round.

Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. It was great.

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