With season two of Loki underway, many fans getting acquainted with Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan‘s hyped-up appearance in the series. The trailer for season two premiered earlier this year and already had Marvel fans eagerly awaiting the season premiere. With that said, Quan plays a character integral to Loki’s time-traveling exploits.
Who is Quan’s character, exactly?
Prior to the season premiere, official information regarding Quan’s character was a big mystery, left to whatever was released in Marvel blogs, press releases, and social media posts. It was only information to be fleshed out episode-by-episode once they streamed. Well, all the rumors and speculation are no more…
Marvel’s newest TVA worker
One clear thing though is that Quan’s character is called “OB,” a nickname that Owen Wilson‘s Mobius calls Quan’s character in the trailer. Rumors have swirled for months now that Quan’s character is called Ouroboros. Hollywood scoop-gatherer Daniel Richtman even said as much on his Patreon account, equating Ouroboros to Q from the James Bond franchise in that he is “in charge of all the tech” at the TVA (via The Direct). Again, this hasn’t been officially confirmed by Marvel, but the presence of the nickname OB and the shelves of what looks like gadgets seen in the trailer indeed points to these rumors being confirmed.
And if that weren’t enough, there is also a character called Mr. Orobourous in Marvel comics. He is one of many variations and clones of Mobius that make up the middle management of the TVA, alongside other examples like Mr. Tesseract and Mr. Paradox, according to She-Hulk #3.
Anyway, Mobius and Tom Hiddleston‘s Loki are trying to get help from OB due to the God of Mischief’s time slipping. Just as they walk up to OB’s desk, Loki once again blinks away. When Mobius asks OB if there is anything to do about time slipping, he says it’s futile to attempt repairs; “It’s impossible to time slip in the TVA”, he explains.
Given OB’s knowledge about how the Time Variance Authority works and that he is standing behind a desk labeled “Repairs and Advancements,” it’s a safe assumption to make that OB is a TVA worker himself. Again, his specific role is still up for debate, despite speculation suggesting everything from technician to archivist (per Collider).
What can Ouroboros do for Loki, the God of Mischief?
Ouroboros can be seen in a warehouse-type setting with what looks like a number of gadgets on shelves behind him. He is also wearing a mechanic’s jumpsuit, which a technician would certainly wear, so if anything, he’s at least dressed like someone who can help solve a problem.
The “Temporal Loom”, created by “He Who Remains”, is at the center of the TVA. The Loom processes raw time into physical realities. And thanks to Sylvie’s actions in season one, new timelines – on top of already-existing ones – began to form and attempt to weave into existence, which is something the Loom cannot handle.
What’s resulting is Loki’s time slipping and also potentially, a chance for OB to help fix the universe-sized issue at hand.
It’s believed that to do this, OB crafts a “Temporal Aura Extractor”, a machine designed to extract Loki from the timestream, as it is struggling with the aforementioned excess of timelines. In theory, the extractor should send Loki back to the present day, but if not, he’ll be lost in time for eternity.
Will it work? We shall see indeed as season two of Loki continues streaming on Disney Plus.