‘Loki’ introduces Owen Wilson as Agent Mobius and the Time Variance Authority – here’s who they are and what they do

Tom Hiddleston returns as the God of Mischief, Loki. Disney Platform Distribution

With their newest slate of projects, Marvel Studios continues to expand and explore the weirder corners of the Marvel Universe. “Eternals” brings together an immortal alien race created by the Celestials who have quietly lived on Earth for thousands of years; “What If…?” introduces Uatu the Watcher, an omniscient being; and “WandaVision” was the MCU’s most avant-garde project yet.

Disney Plus’ latest MCU series “Loki” continues that trend, and introduces possibly the most mind-bending thing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet: the Time Variance Authority (or TVA for short).

The series follows Loki’s experience with the TVA, who arrest the 2012-version of the God of Mischief after he stole the tesseract during the events of “Avengers: Endgame” and inadvertently caused a branch (or alternate reality) in the timeline.

But most non-comic book fans will probably have never heard of the TVA and what it is the organization do.

What is the Time Variance Authority?

Owen Wilson plays Agent Mobius in “Loki.” Disney Platform Distribution

In the comics, the TVA is an expansive, bureaucratic-like organization that exists outside of time and space and monitors all realities across the multiverse in the Marvel universe. The TVA tracks all of these realities and attempts to keep time-related interference to a minimum.

They also have the power to halt, reset, prune, and erase realities completely should they deem that reality too dangerous to the main timeline.

While the multiverse isn’t yet official in the MCU, it has been strongly hinted at before in “Spider-Man: Far From Home” and “WandaVision.” The multiverse will be explored further in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”

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The multiverse was mentioned in “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” but it turned out to be a red herring. Marvel Studios

However, we could see the multiverse introduced officially in “Loki” first. In the MCU, the TVA erase branches in the timeline to stop the creation of other realities and timelines, so if they fail to do this, the multiverse could be created as a result.

In this series, the TVA are, simply put, the keepers and protectors of the main timeline. They take action to eliminate any branches in the timeline, which is why they arrest Loki who is what they call a “variant.”

What is a variant?

A variant is somebody who causes a branch in the timeline.

Loki is recruited by the TVA after they arrest him for causing a branch in the timeline following his 2012 escape when the Avengers’ time heist went wrong in “Avengers: Endgame.”

The TVA tasks Loki with helping them eliminate another variant that is wreaking havoc on the main timeline. If Loki helps them and stops the variant, they will correct and protect the main timeline and Loki will be allowed to live.

Who works at the Time Variance Authority?

All employees of the Time Variance Authority are created specifically to work at the organisation, and they work for their entire lives. In the comics, the lowest-ranked employees are literally faceless entities called chronomonitors.

They are created automatically whenever a new reality appears in order to monitor said reality.

The beings in charge of the TVA in “Loki” are the Time-Keepers, mysterious, God-like beings who create and control the timeline. In the comics, however, the Time-Keepers were actually created by He Who Remains, the last director of the TVA, just before the death of the universe. The Time-Keepers were created to protect and maintain time.

Also in the comics, all of the upper management at the TVA are “cloned” from long-time Marvel Comics writer and editor Mark Gruenwald, who is known as Marvel’s continuity expert.

One of these clones is Agent Mobius, who Owen Wilson plays. This is why Wilson sports the short hair and mustache in “Loki” – he’s matching the look of Gruenwald.

Who does Owen Wilson play in ‘Loki?’

Agent Mobius M. Mobius is the most prominent TVA manager in the comics, and once had a run-in with the Fantastic Four after he tried to punish them for violating the TVA’s time laws. This suggests we could be introduced to the MCU’s version of the Fantastic Four in “Loki” before the official movie comes out.

In the show, Wilson’s Mobius is an agent who specializes in capturing particularly dangerous time criminals, and he heads up the investigation to find the mysterious time variant causing issues on the main timeline. Mobius is also the one who recruits Loki, who has just been confirmed by Marvel Studios to be gender fluid.

Wilson’s Mobius seems to be a little less bureaucratic and a little more charismatic in the series, while Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Mobius could form a bromance-style partnership similar to Bucky and Sam Wilson in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.”

The first episode of “Loki” was released on Disney Plus on June 9. A new episode will be released every week on Wednesday.

Watch the trailer for “Loki” below:

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