The first season finale of Loki revealed that the Kang variant He Who Remains was the mastermind behind the TVA. Jonathan Majors also made his MCU debut in that episode prior to his official introduction as Kang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
The reveal surprised a lot of fans as it marked the first time that the MCU has introduced a variant of Kang the Conqueror and it began the multiversal dilemma that Loki and the TVA gang are now experiencing in the second season.
However, as it turns out, He Who Remains wasn't originally planned to be a Kang variant and Marvel Studios had a different idea for the character that could have also been a massive game-changer.
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Loki Originally Considered He Who Remains as a Loki Variant
In an interview with Den of Geek, Loki executive producer Kevin Wright revealed that they originally considered the idea of He Who Remains to be a Loki variant, instead of Kang.
"In the writers’ room, all ideas are on the table, and there were conversations about what if Loki was He Who Remains," he shared.
"Those conversations didn’t get very far; I don’t think it even got to Tom [Hiddleston] because while there is something fun about that, and there are compelling aspects to it, it makes the universe feel small. So, it was always going to be He Who Remains, always a version of Kang."
While the idea of He Who Remains to be a Loki variant is intriguing, it may not have been as effective as the Kang variant since Loki is not the type of character who could get too involved in the multiverse even if he is a trickster.
It won't also be impactful since, as Wright pointed out, it will make the MCU feel too small. Having the character as a Kang variant made the reveal more interesting for fans and it makes sense in the context of the Multiverse Saga, especially since he is set to be the big baddie.
It could have been fun to see Hiddleston play a He Who Remains version of Loki and there's no doubt that it would have been a great performance as well, but what we ended up getting felt more appropriate than any other idea.
New episodes of the second season of Loki premiere every Thursday night on Disney+.
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