Unless we find a variant, Kate Herron is done with Loki. In a new interview, the director of all six episodes of the show’s first season revealed that she won’t be back for season two. “I always planned to be just on for this and to be honest, season two wasn’t in the — that’s something that just came out and I’m so excited,” Herron said in an interview with Deadline. “I’m really happy to watch it as a fan next season, but I just think I’m so proud of what we did here and I’ve given it my all.”
That she did. Loki was one of Disney+’s most popular shows to date and this week’s season finale has everyone excited, not just for more Loki, but for what’s coming in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at large.
In the same interview, Herron discussed the implications of the episode’s ending, where Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) killed He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) even though he warned her that by doing so, she’d unlock some very bad things. “My interpretation is that it’s this good and bad thing,” Herron said of the incident. “I believe him when he says, ‘Wait till you meet my variants’, and you see the fear in his eyes. The TVA has done terrible things, but is it to a good end? Probably. It’s not a good thing that Sylvie kills him and opens up this multiverse, because we’re going to meet these other variants of him.”
The director also confirmed that while this version of Majors’ character is “He Who Remains,” he is in fact a variant of Immortus, who is a version of Kang the Conquerer, the character Majors is expected to play in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. “Kang is the variant, but he’s also not technically Immortus,” Herron said. “It’s a bit like Sylvie, right? She’s a unique character in relation to our story. He Who Remains is in the comics, but the version in our show was very different. He’s closer to Immortus, but he’s a unique character for our story. But Kang is a variant of that character.”
When you read answers like that, and think back to the show’s excellent performances and set pieces, it’s easy to be bummed Herron won’t be back. However, while her next project won’t be with Marvel she would, potentially, return. “I love Marvel and I’d love to work with them again, but my outing with Loki is what I’ve done with them,” she said.
All six episodes of Loki season one are now on Disney+.