The MCU Just Made Loki Way Less Powerful Than Phase 1

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for Loki episode 2.

Episode 2 of Disney+’s Loki has just made the God of Mischief far weaker than he was in the MCU’s Phase 1. Faced with a new unknown nemesis in the shape of the so-called “evil Variant” – whose identity was revealed at the end of Loki episode 2 – the original Loki will need all of his powers and wits about him. So it’s unfortunate that he seems to be starting from a losing position, given the major change in his powerset suggested by the newest episode.

As Loki and the TVA close in on the mysterious Loki variant after his discovery of how key global catastrophes are as a hiding place for the Variant, they come face to face with their new enemy in a Roxxcart superstore. There’s even a riff on the consumerist impulses behind George Romero’s zombie movies in there as Roxxcart customers are still drawn in by hurricane sales on plants. Unfortunately for Loki, that means that The Variant has bodies she can snatch as cannon fodder to avoid fighting Loki herself.

It’s in one of those fights – with an imposing Roxxcart patron who goes more for violence over verbal taunting unlike the two before him – that it becomes clear that Loki is not the impressive combatant he was particularly back at the end of Phase 1. The Avengers showed Loki to be a formidable fighter, even though he’s smaller than Thor and ends up almost comically smashed by Hulk at the end. There is no doubt – as he single-handedly infiltrates the S.H.I.E.L.D. – base that he is more than a match for several humans at once. Loki, meanwhile, sees him beaten up by one average joe superstore shopper. Yes, he might be big and his kicks may come with some force, but Loki’s Frost Giant biology and Asgardian breeding should mean the battle was hilariously mismatched and over hilariously quickly. That Loki loses the fight suggests something has gone wrong.

It’s not just Loki’s invasion of Earth that overpowers him compared to this version, so it’s not as if Joss Whedon’s version of the God of Mischief is simply retconned in Phase 2. Thor: Ragnarok also offered a big reminder that Loki is a warrior of some repute as he joined Thor’s Revengers – initially at least – to escape Sakaar. To see him knocked down so easily by the Variant’s heavy is something of a betrayal of his past prowess. But then, that’s not a new thing for Marvel releases, as several MCU characters have seen their powers nerfed for the purposes of preserving dramatic tension. Vision’s power change was probably the most egregious example as he was downgraded from what amounted to a robo-God with the MCU’s most fearsome power-set to a love-sick, polo-neck-wearing robot butler who almost killed a team-mate in the space of one movie.

Loki’s power downgrade is not quite as bad as Vision’s – or indeed Bucky’s, since he suffered a similar fate – but it speaks to the MCU’s continued problem with introducing characters who are too powerful for their own narrative framework. With The Eternals set to join Phase 4 soon that may be even more of a problem, but there has to be hope that Loki will see some form of restorative redemption before they arrive. Because while Loki continues to paint him as something of a fool – at least in comparison to the near god-like power of the Time-Keepers and the TVA – he is still a God and he deserves to be able to flex his proverbial muscles to their full potential. If he’s to take on the Time-Keepers alongside his new Variant, that might be even more important.

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.

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Simon Gallagher
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Simon is a veteran editor who has been writing online since 2010 – long before anyone wanted to read his work. He loves Clueless. Like, a lot.

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