As 2023 comes to a close, it’s more apparent than ever that TV is as important a lane for premium content as movies are. In fact, outside some major cultural events like the Barbie and Oppenheimer dual release, TV arguably had an even bigger moment this year than theatrical movies did – despite the slate of film releases being the thickest it’s been since the pandemic. This year, television had a mix of thrilling new releases like Gen V and highly-anticipated returning series like Marvel’s Loki, making it harder than ever for our team to choose a list of nominees – let alone a winner. But the job had to be done – so we got it done.
Videos by ComicBook.com
And the winner for the 2023 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Best Comic Book TV Show” is…
Marvel’s Loki season 2!
Yes, Loki Season 2 is this year’s winner for “Best Comic Book TV Show” – and it shouldn’t be hard to understand why. Between our coverage on ComicBook.com and our Phase Zero MCU show, it’s been well-established that we saw Loki Season 2 as not only a triumph of a second season – but a triumph of MCU content and TV show storytelling, as a whole.
If you look at Loki Seasons 1 and 2 as being one singular piece of content, it’s hard to argue that Tom Hiddleston’s god of mischief hasn’t been on one of the most dynamic and complete character arcs in the entire franchise. Much of Loki Season 2 fell squarely on Hiddleston’s shoulders, and he carried from a wild, time-hopping beginning to a game-changing epic ending, which brought Loki full circle to the throne he so desired – just not in the way he ever expected to get there.
Beyond Hiddleston’s journey as Loki, the sophomore season also allowed the larger ensemble cast to cook. Oscar-winning actor Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once) has already become an MCU fan-favorite as Ouroboros; Owen Wilson’s Mobius, Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Renslayer, and even more peripheral season 1 characters like Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) and Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) got bigger spotlights and didn’t waste the opportunity. Even in a somewhat reduced role, Sophia Di Martino’s Sylvie still anchored the seasonal themes by offering a much-needed counterpoint to Loki’s views.
The Loki Season 2 finale brought it all home with one of the most unexpected, creative, and well-written installments of MCU content to date. Loki‘s Groundhog Day-style journey of trying to fix the MCU timestream was at once one of the most heady and ambitious sci-fi tales the MCU has attempted, while still being one of its most personal and character-focused stories of the franchise. Finally, Loki Season 2’s ending got Marvel fans interested and excited in the larger Multiverse Saga storyline like few movies or shows have in Phases 4 and 5, making it a much-needed win for Marvel Studios in one of its most turbulent years.
Congratulations to the cast and crew of Marvel’s Loki season 2 on their Golden Issues Award win!
The nominees for Best Comic Book TV Show include:
- American Born Chinese (Disney+)
- Gen V (Prime Video)
- Loki (Disney+) – WINNER
- Riverdale (The CW)
- Sweet Tooth (Netflix)
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