2022 is nearly upon us, which means it’s time to look back on the biggest surprises and hits of the past year. For genre storytelling, the world of television hit a fever pitch in 2021, with a number of new and returning programs dominating the conversation. Part of what made those shows excel were their approach to their characters, bringing performances and characterizations that quickly charmed audiences. That’s why this year’s ComicBook.com’s Golden Issue Awards — which celebrate our favorites from 2021 — decided to add an entirely new category in the form of Best First TV Appearance. The award aims to honor a new character who first made their appearance in the world of television this year, but whose blockbuster appearance hopefully won’t be their last.
And the winner of the 2021 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Best First TV Appearance is…
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Mobius M. Mobius, from Loki!
Portrayed by Owen Wilson, Mobius made his debut in the pilot episode of Loki, after the titular God of Mischief was apprehended by the Time Variance Authority. Mobius, who had worked for the TVA for as long as he could remember, was tasked with confronting Loki about his crimes against the “Sacred Timeline” that the organization sets out to protect. Along the way, Mobius developed a bit of a fondness for Loki and partnered up with him in the field, a decision that led to betrayal, surprising revelations, and some genuinely great character moments for both.
As Loki stretches along, it becomes clear how essential a character like Mobius is, both within the series’ storytelling and within the larger MCU. Not only is Mobius a proverbial straight man to Loki’s antics, but his own emotions and relationship with the TVA begins to spin out into one of the series’ most fascinating storylines. To an extent, Mobius represents the ultimate audience proxy of the viewer or reader of a superhero story — he is an incredibly ordinary person stuck within a world of gods and monsters and Kang the Conquerors, one who isn’t afraid to call out Loki on some of his shortcomings. The TVA technology allows him to know the best and worst parts of Loki’s past and future (not unlike a reader jumping around through different eras and comics), but he still finds himself drawn to the God of Mischief anyway.
The emotional pathos Mobius brings, both to Loki’s story and to his own, is excellent in every way, with Wilson bringing a charisma and salt-of-the-earth charm that both plays into and completely counteracts the pop-culture assumptions that have become associated with the actor over the years. I mean, come on — when the most heartbreaking moment of the season finale is Loki being thrown into a timeline where Mobius doesn’t recognize him, and when the first season can get fans deeply invested in the possibility of Mobius riding a jet ski, you know that the show is doing something right.
That’s doubly the case when you consider Mobius’ Marvel Comics roots — as a Fantastic Four and She-Hulk supporting character with only a small handful of previous appearances to his name. Mobius got his start as a frequently-cloned middle manager of the TVA, whose visual aesthetic and penchant for continuity were based on Mark Gruenwald, a real-life Marvel writer and editor whose passion was maintaining the franchise’s continuity. Unless a comic story needed to dip into the inner workings of the TVA, or a particular created team wanted to pay tribute to Gruenwald, Mobius wasn’t a character who was guaranteed to appear in any story or get any sort of significant development. To be able to go from that status quo to Mobius now being somewhat of a household name — one who provokes cosplays and other IRL forms of fan love — is surreal to witness on a lot of levels.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe still has a lot of big-name characters it needs to introduce in future movies, including the Fantastic Four and countless members of the X-Men — but in the meantime, it turned Mobius M. Mobius into a big-name character in his own right. If that doesn’t showcase the storytelling potential of the MCU, and its ability to make narrative magic with any degree of comic character, I don’t know what does.
Congrats to Owen Wilson and the Loki team on their Golden Issues win!
The nominees for Best First TV Appearance are:
Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), WandaVision
Bart Allen (Jordan Fisher), The Flash
Gus (Christian Convery), Sweet Tooth
Maya Lopez / Echo (Alaqua Cox), Hawkeye
Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson), Loki — WINNER
