Who, or what, is Alioth in the MCU?

Alioth, the mysterious entity, made an appearance in the recent MCU film, Deadpool & Wolverine. Now everyone’s trying to figure out if this entity has a larger significance in the MCU’s overarching storyline.

Alioth appears primarily in the fifth episode of the Disney Plus series Loki, titled “Journey into Mystery.” It is shown as an all-consuming force that engulfs pruned realities and everything within them. The entity is described as the first being capable of consuming time and space itself, acting as a guard dog for the Void at the end of time. The Void is where all pruned timelines are dumped, and Alioth ensures that they cannot escape or reform. It absorbs the temporal energy of anything it consumes, growing larger and more powerful with each conquest.

This entity first appeared in the comic series Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective in 1993 and has since been a point of intrigue among fans of Marvel’s time-travel narratives. In this storyline, Ravonna, also known as Terminatrix, accidentally unleashes Alioth after attempting to use its power for her own ends. The entity then threatens to consume all realities, forcing the Avengers and Kang the Conqueror to intervene. Kang’s containment of Alioth was a critical part of his strategy to maintain control over his empire. By keeping Alioth at bay, Kang prevented it from devouring timelines that were crucial to his rule and strategic ambitions.

Alioth gained more mainstream recognition in the MCU through  Loki, where it was portrayed somewhat differently from the comics. Alioth acts as the custodian of this purgatory, ensuring that nothing escapes and the secrets of the TVA and the timeline remain hidden.

Loki and his variants, including Classic Loki, Kid Loki, and Sylvie, among others, confront Alioth after being pruned themselves. The climax of their interaction with Alioth comes when Sylvie decides to enchant the creature, theorizing that it is guarding the way to the true mastermind behind the TVA. This scene is pivotal as it showcases Sylvie’s unique abilities and growing partnership with Loki. The enchantment scene is particularly dramatic, underscored by Classic Loki’s sacrifice to create a distraction, allowing the duo to connect with Alioth’s mind.

The successful enchantment of Alioth by Loki and Sylvie reveals a pathway to a mysterious citadel at the end of time. This leads them directly to He Who Remains, the true architect of the TVA and the one responsible for maintaining the Sacred Timeline to prevent a multiversal war. He Who Remains explains that by controlling Alioth and using it to destroy divergent timelines, he has kept much more dangerous variants of himself and other threats at bay.

As an entity with ties to the Void, Alioth could serve as a gateway to introduce other cosmic beings and realms that have yet to be explored in the MCU. And its menacing presence in Deadpool 3, even at a distance, confirms the Kevin Feige and team have a lot in store for the entity’s future.