Marvel Revealed the First Doomsday Building Block 3 Years Ago When It Gave 1 Character a God-like Upgrade

Avengers: Doomsday is just over a month away, and with the film fast approaching, many fans are well into their MCU rewatches. Tons of projects will be important to the upcoming film, with them setting up character arcs and superhero teams ahead of Doom’s arrival.

However, one project is clearly more important than the rest based on what we know about Doomsday. Since so many Multiverse Saga films were committed to setting up Kang, the Jonathan Majors supervillain who Marvel Studios pivoted away from, very few had time to set up Doom. Despite this, one of these projects wound up perfectly setting the stage for Doomsday.

Loki Became The New He Who Remains 3 Years Ago, Today

On October 5, 2023, Loki season 2 began, directly continuing one of the weirdest MCU Disney+ projects. The first season of Loki took what seemed like a throwaway joke from Avengers: Endgame and turned it into one of the franchise’s most significant stories. Season 1 ended with Loki and Sylvie killing He Who Remains, a Kang variant who held together the Sacred Timeline. This action sent the multiverse into madness, spawning all kinds of new branches and potentially unleashing an infinite number of deadly Kangs.

Season 2 of Loki dealt with the fallout of this, highlighting the TVA’s response to the multiversal chaos and further interrogating Loki’s moral positions regarding the situation. Throughout the season, Loki was forced to reckon with the destruction that would be caused by letting the multiverse flow freely without anyone overseeing it. So, when the Loki season 2 finale aired on November 9, 2023, Loki decided to reshape the multiverse at the End of Time, turning him into the new He Who Remains.

We haven’t seen this Loki variant since the end of Loki season 2, but he has presumably been overseeing the multiverse throughout the Multiverse Saga. This upgrade turned Loki into arguably the MCU’s most powerful character, as he is the one holding everything together. Based on where this Loki variant started, this is one of the MCU’s most fascinating character arcs, and basically none of the franchise’s protagonists know about it.

The Loki Show May Be The Most Important MCU Setup For Avengers: Doomsday

Despite Avengers: Doomsday being only a few weeks away, we still know very little about its story. However, we do know that the Loki variant will be appearing in the film, as the trailers feature Tom Hiddleston’s iconic character. Considering that Doomsday is all about the issues with the multiverse, it isn’t surprising that one of the MCU’s most popular multiversal characters is here.

Fans who are heading into Doomsday without having seen Loki may be completely lost. After all, the last they saw of Loki was his variant teleporting away during Avengers: Endgame‘s time travel sequence. To them, this may have seemed like nothing more than a throwaway joke, so to hear that this character has turned into the god of the multiverse between projects may be a bit confusing.

However, a simple recap of what Loki has been up to may not be enough for Doomsday, as there is far too much to explain. Characters like Captain America, Shang-Chi, or the Wakandans will be important to Doomsday, but their previous films likely won’t have much bearing on the crossover’s plot outside of explaining who the characters are. For Loki, however, elements like the TVA, the multiverse, and the battle to control it will likely be integral to Doom’s plan in Doomsday. This is a lot to catch viewers up on, and I can’t think of another MCU project as important to understanding the upcoming film as Loki.

In retrospect, it is fascinating to see how important Loki has become to the MCU. The niche Disney+ spinoff has directly set up the successor to Avengers: Endgame, one of the biggest movies of all time. Meanwhile, movies that were expected to be massively important, like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania or Captain America: Brave New World, have been mostly forgotten. Scott’s journey into the Quantum Realm or Sam’s fight against The Leader likely won’t have any bearing on their conflict with Doom. Meanwhile, almost every step of Loki’s journey is expected to be important.

So, here is your final warning: watch Loki before Doomsday. While we can’t promise that Loki will wind up being essential viewing, based on what the trailers have shown and what we know about the MCU, I can’t imagine the film ignoring the ending of the Disney+ show.

What MCU project are you most excited to rewatch before Avengers: Doomsday? Let us know on the ComicBook Forum!

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