Marvel Brings Back MCU Fan-Favorite (And Might Have Killed Them Off)

A Möbius strip is, essentially, an infinite loop. For Time Variance Authority Agent Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson), the TVA is much the same. Although the Loki series season 2 finale ended with Mobius retiring from the timeline-monitoring organization following the revelation that he was a temporal variant of Don, an Ohio jet-ski salesman, Marvel’s TVA comic book series began with a sense of déjà vu: Mobius is back working at the all-new TVA, and a mysterious green-cloaked killer is targeting their ranks.

Videos by ComicBook.com

The five-issue series, from Loki writer and executive story editor Katharyn Blair and Edge of Spider-Verse artist Pere Perez, reveals some changes have occurred since we saw the TVA last in Deadpool & Wolverine.

After Loki (Tom Hiddleston) destroyed the Temporal Loom to free the multiverse, putting a stop to the TVA’s pruning of entire timelines existing outside of the Sacred Timeline lorded over by He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors), B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) and a reprogrammed Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) have been recruiting timeline strays to their ranks. It was Loki’s sacrifice that gave B-15 and Mobius the idea to have other castoffs join the storied halls of the TVA (which are adorned with a framed portrait of Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool).

The team includes Gwen Stacy/Ghost-Spider, who has been hiding out in the TVA after she was recruited by O.B. (Ke Huy Quan); Jimmy Hudson/Poison, Wolverine’s son from the old Ultimate Universe; Peggy Carter/Captain Carter; and Remy LeBeau, a.k.a. Gambit, the former X-Man who has been brooding in a TVA cell since the death of his chère: fellow mutant Rogue.

The TVA has discovered that people from across different timelines are seeing glimpses of the TVA and a growing “Madness” making them experience their worst fears (a Multiverse of Madness, if you will). O.B. suggests this could be a symptom of the universe-destroying incursions caused by tangled timelines, except Loki ensured that all of the timelines were allowed to flourish (for all time, always) when he disappeared.

Because people are seeing the TVA, Jimmy wonders whether this “horrific fear spell” is a breach in reality: someone breaking in from another dimension. The TVA had protections against such breaches when they policed the Sacred Timeline, but accommodating infinite timelines meant lapses in their security measures.

The TVA are sent to investigate an outbreak of the Madness on Earth-93, where the “fear flu” makes each member of the team experience their worst fears and personal demons that manifest as tangible hallucinations. Once they’re patched up by Doc Clock, the TVA determines that the Madness isn’t a flu or an incursion, but demonic. They travel to the Hell-adjacent Bagalia, a.k.a. Hell Town on Earth-616, to consult with Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan: Mephisto.

With the Madness spreading like a virus between multiple timelines at once, Carter asks about Dox (Kate Dickie), who used pruning chargers to prune several timelines at once (in Loki season 2). Mobius notes that this level of speed is unprecedented, so O.B. asks B-15 if “that guy with the unstable, subpar Time Ripper” is still in holding. Ruling out Deadpool & Wolverine villain Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen), who tried to accelerate the destruction of Wade Wilson’s (Ryan Reynolds) home universe, B-15 confirms he’s still in custody.

As the group questions whether the Madness is being caused by an Omega-Level mutant, Mobius spots a glimpse of a green cloak. Meanwhile, while investigating Hellstrom Manor, Gwen and Gambit find they’re being tailed by the Loki variant Sylvie Laufeydottir (Sophia Di Martino). She’s been looking into the Madness herself, and warns “it’s worse than we thought.”

Back at the TVA, Mobius follows the cloaked person he thinks might be Loki. In Hell, the book An Exhaustive Guide to Celestial Bureaucracies — a remnant from He Who Remains’ reign as ruler of the TVA — reveals hidden wings directly beneath the TVA’s Research & Development division.

As Mobius follows “Loki” through the halls of the TVA, he recalls what he recently told Miss Minutes: “A while back, I left the TVA. I needed to see what we were protecting, so I visited the timelines. And I saw. And it was beautiful. But this place is beautiful too. And I want to fight for it. Because he did. And I don’t know where he is, or what he’s doing, but I just know it’s important that I’m here. That I keep fighting for this place.”

Before Mobius can uncover their identity, he’s stabbed by an unseen assassin’s blade and collapses to the floor in a pool of blood. Mobius’ fate is left unknown as the issue ends on a cliffhanger, but solicitations for future issues (below) may reveal the shocking identity of who is behind the “Madness”:

The Scarlet Witch, who seemingly died destroying all copies of the Darkhold across the multiverse in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

TVA #3

A KILLER OUTSIDE TIME?! A murderer stalks the halls of the TVA! Is anyone safe? Or perhaps more importantly, can anyone be trusted? The answers could lie in the secret floors below the R&D department. But with the TVA denying their existence, the field team has to question: Are they simply rumor? Hallucination? Or is the TVA hiding something far darker than any of them could possibly imagine?

On sale: Feb. 26

TVA #4

A TIME TO FIGHT! The R&D Team is circling in on the cause of the Madness and its connection to the TVA’s not-so-nonexistent Department of Deferment. But as they dig deeper into the TVA’s secrets, they’ll find that some dangers should never be uncovered.

On sale: March 19