As Marvel reportedly prepares to revamp its approach to television programming, “Loki” remains the only one of the nine series to get a second season. But, according to executive producer Kevin Wright, there wasn’t pressure in that fact — it was more like a responsibility.
“I could see how you could go that way. I think we found it as really freeing and exciting,” Wright told TheWrap. “Because it was like, we’re getting it because people liked it, and they were excited, and they’re super stoked. And also, because we end on the cliffhanger we end on, it would be cruel to not come back and pay that off.”
That said, Wright notes that he and his team made a concerted effort not to take fan enthusiasm for granted when crafting these six episodes.
“I think, for the team, there was a seriousness in the undertaking of it though, of: people liked it, we probably can’t just come back and play the hits and try to recapture the magic,” he explained. “Because that wouldn’t be fulfilling, even if we succeeded at it.”
He continued, “And so I think it was like, we established the world, it was a crazy world about time travel, and multiverse, but people bought in and they liked that world. And they liked these characters. And so, for us, it was like, OK, we can like really dive in deeper to this now. And hopefully people will come along with us on that ride.”
That said, like most of the other Marvel TV shows, “Loki” had shifts in its creative team. As a result, Wright and Tom Hiddleston, who executive produces the series as well as stars in it, were tasked with making sure there was a smooth transition.
“Because Kate Herron left at the end of season one, she kind of handed the reins over and said ‘I told my story, you guys run with it,’” Wright said. “It left a little bit of like a ship for us.”
According to Wright, Hiddleston was invaluable in keeping that ship afloat and moving, and has been since the show went into development almost five years ago. Wright touted Hiddleston’s devotion to the show, joking that sharing an adjoining office with him was often “like Kramer bursting into Jerry’s apartment on ‘Seinfeld’” when Hiddleston would get an idea.
“He has always been a true driving force behind the scenes of this. He’s my true producing partner, which, I can’t oversell that,” Wright said. “Truly, he’s there in the writers room. He is there as we start shooting. On weekends, we’re going in, we’re having meetings about, like, adjusting scripts so that we can find ways to get more money, and move it to build different sets and he’s involved in all those conversations.”
He continued, “And because of the shift between seasons — Kate stepping away, [Michael] Waldron stepping away to go and take on more responsibility of other Marvel projects — he and I kind of had to pick up more slack and be the continuity as we added pieces to our team, with like Justin [Benson] and Aaron [Moorehead], and Isaac, [Bauman] our cinematographer coming in, and kind of building and elevating people who are from our season one team into higher positions.”
Wright argues that the show wouldn’t be “nearly as great as it is” without Hiddleston specifically producing it.
“You know he’s going to give everything on screen. But as soon as we’re not shooting, he’s behind the scenes, making all of this work,” Wright said.
At this point, it’s unclear whether “Loki” will get, or even really need a third season, but Marvel is reportedly focused on their approach to TV going forward.
“We’re trying to marry the Marvel culture with the traditional television culture,” Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s head of streaming, television and animation told THR. “It comes down to, ‘How can we tell stories in television that honor what’s so great about the source material?’”
New episodes of “Loki” premiere on Thursdays at 6 p.m. PT on Disney+.