The Original Idea for Episode 5 Was To Create A Loki Variance Authority

Michael Waldron, the head writer for Loki, has revealed that the original plan for Episode 5 of the Marvel/Disney+ series, “Journey Into Mystery,” included a Loki Variance Authority.

Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is pruned and sent to the Void at the End of Time, where he meets a group of rogue variants, including Classic Loki (Richard E. Grant), Boastful Loki (Deobia Oparei), Kid Loki (Jack Veal), and Alligator Loki. They eventually band together to escape the clutches of Alioth, a powerful cloud-like demon who is also a deep cut in the comics.

The Void uncovered the mystery of where variants go when they are pruned by the Time Variance Authority (TVA) to preserve the Sacred Timeline. The Void at the End of Time is a chaotic wasteland scattered with MCU easter eggs, a far cry from the TVA’s orderly bureaucracy and retro-futuristic aesthetics.

The setting for “Journey Into Mystery” was critical in revealing He Who Remains’ hiding place and allowing fans to meet some of Loki’s more abnormal variants.

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“Loki Variance Authority”

Waldron has now revealed that Loki’s Episode 5 was not always set in The Void, but instead featured an alternate version of the TVA known as the “Loki Variance Authority.”

In an interview with CinemaBlend, the showrunner praised Tom Kauffman’s work as the episode’s writer and spoke about the “amazing stuff” in Episode 5’s first document. Waldron also mentions Kauffman’s work on Rick and Morty and his hilarious idea for a so-called “LVA.”

The concept of multiple Lokis forming their own rival Variance Authority has a lot of potential, and it’s a shame it didn’t make it into the final show. That said, it’s not out of the question that something similar could happen in Loki season 2 as the characters deal with the consequences of the multiverse’s creation.

Even if they weren’t directly mocking the TVA, Episode 5 of Loki introduced fans to a wide range of Loki variants in a humorous and exciting way – as the show has demonstrated, a Loki is far more likely to destroy democracy than thrive in it.

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