After much deliberation, Marvel Studios finally confirmed the long-awaited second season of Loki will premiere on Disney Plus on October 6, although it’ll be sticking to the weekly release model unlike Echo, which has already opened a can of worms in and of itself.
There’s a lot riding on Tom Hiddleston’s next batch of small screen adventures, not least of all because it marks the first and so far only one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s streaming exclusives to be renewed for a sophomore run. There’s also the notable Jonathan Majors-shaped elephant in the room, but there’s still five months to go until that particular bridge needs to be crossed.
One notable caveat is that fans of all things Marvel are going to be forced into making their priorities clear on that fateful day, because October 6 also marks the theatrical debut of Kraven the Hunter. Sure, Sony’s own stab at a shared superhero sandbox hasn’t exactly been dripping in widespread acclaim and excitement, but the promise of Aaron Taylor-Johnson headlining a seriously hard R-rated comic book adaptation definitely got pulses racing when the footage dropped at CinemaCon.
Of course, a family-friendly TV show and an adult-skewing feature aren’t direct competitors by any usual metrics, but knowing how the Marvel sphere works, Loki will no doubt end up taking the blame should Kraven the Hunter end up disappointing in its opening weekend. Conversely, Marvel has a ready-made excuse should the second season fail to live up to expectations in terms of viewing numbers.
Never mind Barbie versus Oppenheimer; where will you be heading first when Loki and Kraven the Hunter go head-to-head?
