We’re on a short Marvel Cinematic Universe break now that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier finale has come and gone, and we’ve learned how Sam Wilson becomes the new Captain America. The next MCU adventure to air is Loki, the debut episode of which is coming to Disney+ on June 9th. The pandemic is responsible for this extended pause between stories, as Black Widow should have been released in May. Marvel delayed the Black Widow release to July 9th a few months ago, as opening theaters did not look safe at the time.
While we wait for more MCU content, we’ve been treated to more Loki and Black Widow footage, which
Loki
The 70-second Introducing Agent Mobius clip below will immediately seem familiar, as we get to see a dialogue that we experienced before in Loki trailers. This is probably one of the first interactions between Agent Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Loki (Todd Hiddleston). The clip shows us the full scene this time around, and it’s hilarious.
Mobius, fully aware of who Loki is, tries to explain the Time Variance Authority (TVA) where Loki is currently being held prisoner — notice the jumper. Loki is skeptical of this authority for managing the timeline, and Hiddleston is just amazing, tapping into the infamous Loki wit that we nearly forgot.
As a reminder, this Loki isn’t “our” Loki. He’s not the God of Mischief whose arc we’ve been watching since he first attacked planet Earth in Thor, and he’s not the Loki who died in space on the Asgardian ship in Infinity War after trying to save his brother. That Loki came a long way and we’ve loved every bit of his evolution. He’s gone from being a villain to a likable anti-hero, and then he became a true Avenger. But his death was final. Thanos killed him before snapping his fingers, so Hulk could not have brought him back.
The Loki we’ll get to see in the series is the Loki who escaped imprisonment in Endgame after he got a hold of the Tesseract. That happened in 2012 in a different timeline, and Loki’s actions might have upset the TVA. We’ll have to wait for the series to see how Loki connects to the remainder of the MCU.
Black Widow
Black Widow
is the movie that we’ve waited a decade to see. Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) started her journey in Iron Man, Captain America, and Avengers movies, but
Black Widow is the adventure that should have opened the MCU Phase 4 in early May 2020, but the pandemic derailed those plans. It’ll still be the first Phase 4 film to be released in theaters, but it’s no longer the first Phase 4 story, as that title goes to WandaVision.
The film is a sort of origin story for the hero, although the main action happens between Civil War and Infinity War. We’ll get to see Natasha in Budapest, we’ll meet her family, and we’ll learn why and how she switched sides and leaves her Russian past behind.
The new Black Widow clip below shows us brand new footage from the film, an action-packed scene in which sisters Natasha and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) are running for their lives in a high-speed car chase. The clip captures a part of what we’ll see on the screen, this sisterhood relationship between the two Black Widows. It also shows us some of the action scenes we can expect from this MCU spy movie. Pugh, of course, is expected to continue as the new Black Widow in future MCU stories.
