It’s not ideal for Marvel Studios that Loki is gearing up to return for its second season this week at the same time Jonathan Majors is preparing to head to trial on assault charges following several delays to the court proceedings, but there was never any intention of recasting, reshooting, or minimizing his part.
The actor returns as another Kang the Conqueror variant this time around, with Victor Timely set to cause even more multiversal chaos. The knee-jerk reaction among many was for Marvel to simply recast the overarching big bad of the franchise’s latest saga or work around his involvement in Tom Hiddleston’s return, but producer Kevin Wright explained to Variety that it was never under consideration.
In fact, he even dropped the bombshell when addressing the Majors situation that Season 2 of Loki is the very first series – and perhaps project, period – in Marvel Cinematic Universe history that didn’t require any reshoots whatsoever, a remarkable feat considering the long-running series is into its 15th year.
“No. This is maybe — not maybe — this is the first Marvel series to never have any additional photography. The story that is on screen is the story we set out to make. We went out there with a very specific idea of what we wanted this to be, and we found a way to tell it in that production period. It’s very much what’s on screen on Disney Plus. No. And that mainly came from — I know as much as you do at the moment. It felt hasty to do anything without knowing how all of this plays out.”
It remains to be seen what happens to Majors when he finally has his day in court, but we can at least sleep soundly in the knowledge that Loki hasn’t been plagued by extensive additional shooting, something that heavily contributed to the downfall of the dismal Secret Invasion.