How 'Avengers: Endgame' Sets up Disney+ Loki Series

While Avengers: Endgame is the end of the Infinity Saga -- the 21 film, decade plus story told by the first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe -- it's certainly not the end of things when it comes to the popular world of superhero characters. Not only are there more movies on the way, such as the upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home, but the upcoming Disney+ streaming service will also expand the MCU even further with new television series -- including a series for everyone's favorite trickster god, Loki.

But, with Loki having died in the early moments of last year's Avengers: Infinity War, how will the Loki series work? Turns out, Avengers: Endgame didn't just wrap up an epic story. It set the table for much, much more. So, how does Endgame set up for the Loki television series? Before we get too much into that, just a warning: there are MAJOR SPOILERS for Avengers: Endgame below. Read on at your own risk.

As we all know Loki is dead and while many fans had hoped it was a trick -- there were even extensive theories devoted to this idea -- that did not turn out to be the case. Loki was really and truly dead, murdered by Thanos early in Infinity War. However, while Loki remains dead as he wasn't able to be brought back by the heroes, he did get set up for more adventures thanks to the Avengers making a mistake.

Endgame functions around one ambitious plan by the surviving heroes to go back in time and collect the Infinity Stones from various places in their own histories, then use them to undo the Snap. One of those past locations visited is the Battle of New York in 2012 as there were technically three Infinity Stones in New York at that time: Mind, Space, and Time. Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, along with Scott Lang, show up there and split up to collect them. Tony, Steve, and Scott go after Mind and Space while Bruce goes after the Time stone. To get their two, Tony, Steve, and Scott arrive at the end of the battle and slip into place to take the scepter and the stone as things are being sorted out with the fighting over. Steve gets the scepter with few problems. But the Space stone doesn't quite work out.

After managing to make off with the case holding the Space stone, Tony ends up being knocked down by 2012 Hulk. It causes the stone to tumble out of the case and to the feet of a bound Loki. In the ensuing chaos, Loki does what any trickster god might do. He quickly bends down, snatches it up, and vanishes.

It's bad news for the heroes, but excellent for Loki fans because Loki getting the Space stone after the Battle of New York essentially creates a whole new timeline from that moment in addition to the "main" continuity. It's a concept that the Ancient One explains to Bruce, that removing an Infinity Stone from its place in the timeline and not returning it creates an alternate reality from that point. While Loki taking the stone doesn't remove it from time, it does remove it from where it was physically located meaning Thor won't take it back to Asger as happened in the movie. Instead, Loki can now adventure in what is essentially uncharted territory, offering up new adventures for the fan-favorite character both in the past and potentially in a contemporary manner. After all, that new timeline may not have a Snap to start with.

It's an interesting and exciting prospect, one that fans will get to fully explore when Loki hits Disney+

Avengers: Endgame is in theaters now.

What did you think about Loki's surprising acquisition of the Space stone? Let us know in the comments below.

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