Avoid Being Loki'd With This Handy Guide to the God of Mischief and His Disney+ Show

There are two things Loki is really good at: betraying people and escaping. That pretty much sums up how Loki fits into the MCU. Loki's first appearance is in Thor, where he tries to destroy Jotunheim with the Bifröst to gain his father's approval. After being rejected by Odin, Loki encounters Thanos who offers him an army in exchange for the Tesseract. This leads to Loki causing absolute mayhem in The Avengers as a result of stealing the Tesseract and opening a portal for the Chitauri. Eventually, the Avengers defeat Loki, and Hulk smashes him into submission.

Imprisoned on Asgard for his crimes in the previous films, Thor: The Dark World sees Loki's release after the invasion of the Dark Elves. He avenges the death of his mother Frigga by killing the dark elf responsible. Loki then fakes his death to take his place on the throne of Asgard as Odin. Thor: Ragnarok has Thor take Loki back to Earth after he's discovered impersonating Odin. The brothers team up to defeat their sister Hela but end up witnessing the destruction of Asgard in the process. Avengers: Endgame starts shortly after where Ragnarok ends, with Thanos destroying half the life on the Asgardians' ship, including Loki.

Well, technically no. Loki dies in Thor after falling from the crystal bridge, although he survives thanks to Thanos. However, in Thor: The Dark World, he fakes his own death, and in Avengers: Infinity War, his death really seems to stick. After telling Thanos he can act as a guide, Loki tries to kill him. Thanos gets the upper hand, grabs Loki by the neck, and chokes him to death. Endgame takes us back to 2012, where a very alive Loki has just been defeated by the Avengers. During the commotion caused by an angry Hulk, 2012 Loki steals the Tesseract, seemingly avoiding his Infinity War fate.

Despite what Loki may say in the trailer, the Time-Keepers are not actually "space lizards." They are, however, semi-humanoid beings created by the last director of the Time Variance Authority at the literal end of time. Oddly enough, Loki's brother Thor was instrumental in the trio's creation by intervening and splitting the reality of their precursors, the Time-Twisters, in two. To ensure their survival and domination over the other, both the Time-Keepers and the Time-Twisters continuously manipulate events in the multiverse. Of course, all of the above has to do with the Time-Keepers' role in the comics. However, it's safe to say that the Time-Keepers are still the watchers of time and have a vested interest in keeping the "sacred timeline" intact, so long as it ensures their prosperity.

The Time Variance Authority oversees time itself, making sure that the various realities in the multiverse are in line with the "sacred timeline." Supposedly created by the Time-Keepers, the TVA protects the proper flow of time by tracking down variants and deleting or resetting timelines deemed too dangerous to exist. A good way to think of the TVA is as both time police and a bureaucratic nightmare.

Their comic counterparts really play up the idea of a faceless bureaucracy, filled with employees who are born into their roles and who never leave. Like any of the organizations seen in the world of Marvel, including SHIELD and SWORD, certain members do play larger parts, like Owen Wilson's Mobius.

Loki picks up shortly after the events of Endgame, as the God of Mischief is arrested for "crimes against the sacred timeline." But what exactly is the "sacred timeline" and why is it so important? In the comics, the term "sacred timeline" is used by Clan Askani, a group of mutants dedicated to fighting Apocalypse while upholding the beliefs of the X-Men. Much like the TVA, Clan Askani time travels when necessary to preserve the sanctity of the timeline.

The MCU has previously toyed with the idea of a "sacred timeline" with the Endgame time heist. When explaining why she can't give Hulk the Time Stone, the Ancient One discusses how the Avengers could accidentally alter time, resulting in the "main" line splintering off into new timelines.