Glorious Purpose (Loki season 1)

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"Glorious Purpose"
Loki episode
Promotional poster
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 1
Directed byKate Herron
Written byMichael Waldron
Produced byMichael Waldron
Cinematography byAutumn Durald Arkapaw
Editing byPaul Zucker
Original release dateJune 9, 2021 (2021-06-09)
Running time52 minutes
Cast
Episode chronology
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"Glorious Purpose" is the first episode of the

Time Variance Authority (TVA) after creating a new timeline during the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019). The episode is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. It was written by head writer Michael Waldron and directed by Kate Herron
.

Atlanta metropolitan area
.

"Glorious Purpose" was released on Disney+ on June 9, 2021. It became the most-watched Disney+ premiere and received critical acclaim, with praise in particular going to Hiddleston and Wilson's on-screen chemistry together.

Plot

During the

Time-Keepers
by establishing a singular timeline and that to prevent another such war, the Time-Keepers created the TVA and its employees to maintain this timeline, the "Sacred Timeline". The TVA does this by "resetting" branched timelines and the "variants" that cause them.

Loki faces trial for "crimes against the Sacred Timeline", with

Frigga.[c]

Loki attempts to escape but discovers that the TVA has amassed numerous

Odin,[d] and his own death at the hands of Thanos.[e]
Loki realizes that he cannot return to his timeline and despondently confesses to Mobius his wrongdoings are born from desperation for control over his life. Hearing Loki's self-reflection, Mobius convinces him to help hunt the killer of several TVA officers, who has been stealing the technology they use to reset timelines, and reveals that this fugitive is another variant of Loki.

Production

Development

By September 2018,

Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Stephen Broussard.[5] The first episode is titled "Glorious Purpose",[6] which is taken from a phrase that Loki says in the episode as well as in his MCU film appearances.[7]

Writing

This episode picks up with the

Odin saying "I love you my sons". The goal was to also show Loki having "some wins and show that he had room for change and growth".[9] Waldron and his writers room felt that Loki's realization of his overall purpose in his life was reminiscent to Buzz Lightyear's realization of him being a toy and not a space ranger in Toy Story (1995).[10]

Herron called the episode's

Time Variance Authority (TVA) would have intervened in his life but did not.[8] Herron had envisioned the episode as the prologue of the series, with the second episode more of the first chapter.[13]

Casting

The episode stars Tom Hiddleston as Loki,

Mobius M. Mobius.[14][15]: 46:57–47:36  Also appearing are Derek Russo as Hunter U-92 and comedian Josh Fadem as Martin.[15]: 48:23  Additionally, members of the Avengers appear in archive footage from Avengers: Endgame,[9][additional citation(s) needed] with other MCU cast members appearing in footage from different films such as Rene Russo as Frigga, Anthony Hopkins as Odin,[9] Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson,[16] and Josh Brolin as Thanos.[17] Herron, a comedy fan, was looking to find comedians who would be fun to include in the series, and called casting Fadem in the episode "a miracle".[18]

Filming

Filming took place at

Atlanta metropolitan area.[22] A practical set was utilized for when Loki and Mobius step out of the elevator and walk down a long hallway, which was done so Herron and Arkapaw could film it with long takes. Herron felt having this set gave a "level of reality" to the TVA to make it "feel like a real, living space".[11]

The opening sequence features footage from Avengers: Endgame shot by directors

Anthony and Joe Russo. Herron chose different takes and angles of the footage from those used in the film and also filmed some new material for the sequence, such as Loki waving to the Hulk in the elevator, so the sequence would be told more from Loki's point of view than the version in Endgame was. Despite these changes, which reminded her of the point of view use in Rashomon (1950), Herron felt the sequence would have a familiar cadence for the audience.[9][23] When Loki is arrested by the TVA, Hunter B-15 hits him with a Time Stick which knocks Loki into slow-motion. The scene was filmed multiple times, including once with the two characters together, once each for the characters separately, and at least once with Hiddleston filmed at slow motion. The different elements were then combined using visual effects. For the later scene when Loki forces B-15 to jump around in time, Mosaku had to film around 25 takes in different locations that were later combined with visual effects.[24]

The stack of paper that Loki is asked to sign when he arrives at the TVA includes everything that he has ever said. There was a lot of debate among the creative team over how big the stack should be, with the props department taking everything that Loki says in the MCU films and extrapolating that using mathematics to create a stack that seemed like it could realistically be everything the character has ever said. Herron acknowledged that there would be "much-heated debate on

Throg.[25][26] Herron found the scene "quite funny" and "beautifully written", but it was cut from the episodes because the D. B. Cooper scene was already a funny flashback and having another one did not fit with the tone of the overall sequence which was leading to Loki witnessing Frigga's death.[26][27] Footage of this scene was used in the series' marketing, with some commentators referring to the version of Loki in the footage as "King Loki".[26][27]

Arkapaw enjoyed working on the Time Theater set, one of her favorite sets for the series, because it created the "opportunity to feel textural and moody, and create symmetry". The set featured a

gaffer and key grip figured out how to move the lights without causing shadows between each of the sections of lighting to make it appear as if the lights were moving at the same time, which resulted in a "very subtle" effect. She noted these movements were timed to the dialogue, mostly noticeable while the actors are sitting.[28]

Animation and visual effects

Magic Highway U.S.A., while it has similar character designs, tone, and narration style to Your Safety First produced by Automobile Manufacturers of America);[31] the 1950s Disney space documentaries created by Ward Kimball; the "mid-century modern" animation pioneered by United Productions of America; and the Warner Bros. Cartoons Merrie Melodies cartoon Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (1953).[29]

Visual effects for the episode were created by

Cantina Creative, Industrial Light & Magic (who also provided animation), Luma Pictures, and Rise.[32][15]
: 49:34–49:56 

Music

The music of the Miss Minutes information video, like its visuals, was also inspired by the

Wonderful World of Disney videos, with composer Natalie Holt expanding her "creepy theremin layers" of the TVA themes when the Time-Keepers are shown in the video;[33] Holt created the music in the style of Bernard Herrmann.[34] Holt was "really keen" to write the music for this as well as the D. B. Cooper scene, noting these moments would normally be left to the series' music supervisor to source existing music cues.[33]

Marketing

After the episode's release, Marvel announced merchandise inspired by the episode as part of its weekly "Marvel Must Haves" promotion for each episode of the series, including

young adult novel Loki: Where Mischief Lies, and posters. The merchandise was centered on the TVA, Mobius, and Miss Minutes.[35] Marvel also released a promotional poster for "Glorious Purpose", which featured a quote from the episode.[36]

Release

"Glorious Purpose" was released on

Throg.[39]

Reception

Audience viewership

Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced that "Glorious Purpose" was the most-watched series premiere for the streaming service in its opening week.[40] Viewer tracking application Samba TV reported that "Glorious Purpose" was the most-watched Marvel Disney+ series premiere in its first day in the United States with 890,000 households watching the episode, as well as the best five-day viewership for Disney+ with 2.5 million household views. These were ahead of the premieres for WandaVision (759,000 households first day; 1.6 million five-day) and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (655,000; 1.8 million).[41][42] Nielsen Media Research, who measure the number of minutes watched by United States audiences on television sets, listed Loki as the third-most watched original series across streaming services for the week of June 7–13, with 731 million minutes viewed, which was equated to over 14 million Disney+ accounts watching the premiere. The minutes viewed were more than the premieres of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (495 million minutes) and WandaVision (434 million).[43]

Critical response

Critics highlighted the chemistry between Tom Hiddleston (L) and Owen Wilson (R) in the episode

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 97% approval rating with an average score of 7.7/10 based on 36 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "Though "Glorious Purpose" bears the burden of a tremendous amount of exposition, there's no denying the joy of Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson's budding chemistry."[44]

Giving "Glorious Purpose" an "A−", Caroline Siede at The A.V. Club felt the series was going to be "a hell of a fun ride" based on the humor of the episode which she felt was better than the "strained attempts" in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Though she felt the episode was mostly exposition with not much to the story, including clips from past MCU films, Siede never felt like the episode dragged since "part of the fun is in watching the franchise revisit and recontextualize its own past". She felt the premiere combined the "tactile worldbuilding of Guardians of the Galaxy with the offbeat humor of Ant-Man and the meaty character reflections of Iron Man 3".[45] Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone felt the premiere struggled to "shoulder the burden" of everything that Waldron and Herron were trying to accomplish, but found the performances of Hiddleston and Wilson prevented the episode from "collaps[ing] under the weight" of all its exposition. Overall, he felt "Glorious Purpose" was "as good a starting place as any for Loki's first adventure as an MCU protagonist" and believed the series was "starting off to be more entertaining, and weirder" than The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's early episodes.[14]

Siddhant Adlakha, writing for IGN, felt the episode had "a number of laughs and fun concepts, [but was] one where the drama doesn't always neatly fit together". Adlakha enjoyed Hiddleston and Wilson's "classic two-man act", but felt the dramatic segments that broke up their banter were "far less compelling" and made the episode feel like a clip show. Praise was also given to Holt's music that "adds a sense of strangeness and possibility" and Kasra Farahani's production design, with Adlakha giving "Glorious Purpose" a 7 out of 10.[6] In her recap of the episode for Entertainment Weekly, Lauren Morgan said, "the first episode shows that there is a lot of life left in Loki and the new Disney+ series promises to examine aspects of the God of Mischief that we never saw in the films". She believed Hiddleston was "having a blast" in the role and the pairing of him with Wilson was "nothing short of inspired", since she was never sure who had the upper hand or was telling the truth in their exchanges. Additionally, Morgan called the TVA sets a "visual feast".[17]

Accolades

Kasra Farahani won for Excellence in Production Design for a One-Hour Period or Fantasy Single-Camera Series at the 2022 Art Directors Guild Awards.[46] Waldron was nominated for Best Writing in a Streaming Series, Drama at the 2nd Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards for his work on the episode.[47] For the 74th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Farahani, Natasha Gerasimova, and Claudia Bonfe were nominated for Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Program (One Hour or More); Christine Wada, Nora Pederson, Tamsin Costello, and Carol Beadle were nominated for Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes; and Holt was nominated for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score).[48]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ As depicted in the film Avengers: Endgame (2019).
  2. ^ As depicted in the film The Avengers (2012).
  3. ^ As depicted in the film Thor: The Dark World (2013).
  4. ^ As depicted in the film Thor: Ragnarok (2017).
  5. ^ As depicted in the film Avengers: Infinity War (2018).

References

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External links

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