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Loki has been dropping some major plot twists on fans in every episode, and now that we're getting close to the last two installments of this fantastically enjoyable Marvel series, fans have tons of questions about what's going on and just how far-reaching the answers will be when it comes to the larger MCU. Loki's director, Kate Herron, has now opened up about her secret inspiration for both the TVA and everyone's favorite potential Big Bad, Miss Minutes.
The most recent episode of Loki revealed that, as many fans thought, the TVA isn't quite all that it's been reported to be. With that massive info being dropped into our laps, there are several big questions left for the show to answer, including whether or not what we (and Loki) were shown in that Miss Minutes introductory video was true in any fashion.
CinemaBlend's own Nick Venable had an opportunity to speak with Kate Herron about Loki, and when he asked her that very question, she replied:
Well, I think that's a big part of it, right? Because now it's like, what is actually true at the TVA, and what's not? Because two of my references, I've never been able to talk about until now. One of my references, for example, was Starship Troopers. Mostly in the TVA are villains, but they don't necessarily realize that they are or what they could be doing. And it's also like, are they villains? Are they not? I mean that's the whole question across the whole show, right? It even just comes down to Loki, like is he a villain? Is he an antihero? I mean our Loki specifically, not obviously the Loki that we've seen go on to be an antihero. But I think that's kind of the fun of the TVA, having these little [hints].I mean, people picked up on them, but like the 1984 aspects of our posters, and as you said, the kind of propaganda-style video. And I think that definitely, it's good for people to question, but again, I think as it unfolds, people can see what is true and what's not true. And then beyond that, where they fall on 'is the TVA good or are they bad, or are they more gray area?' Yeah, I think that kind of falls into the whole meaning of the show.
Many viewers were likely clued in to the fact that the Time Variance Authority would end up potentially not being the best simply by the Miss Minutes-filled video which Loki was forced to watch after they found the escaped variant. As Kate Herron noted, that cute, mid-century-style informational video had the definite look of something filled to the brim with propaganda meant to keep TVA workers focused on their mission and how supposedly necessary it is.
That, along with all of the propaganda littering the halls, lockers and work spaces in the TVA, is also meant to keep them from questioning what they do, why they do it, and for whom. All of which totally tracks with Herron's 1984 inspiration, and makes the "are they villains or not" theme, which was something seen in Starship Troopers, fit even more.
Not only were the Time-Keepers not the all-powerful, all-knowing supernatural beings we had been told they were, but they were also just relatively flimsy robots without any artificial intelligence, even. Seeing as how Miss Minutes is the only non-variant representative of the TVA we've seen so far (as far as we know), this has led to some questions about whether or not she's as innocent as she appears.
Herron was asked about the thought put into that propaganda video, and whether or not Miss Minutes would have any further impact on the show, and she said:
Yeah, I thought it was really fun. I like the little tag at the end where it says when they made it and who made it. I like the idea of them having sort of a little AV club. I would say that she's definitely a part of the TVA. And yeah, we'll see more of her character.
It should also be noted that Herron put an emphasis on the word "character" when talking about Miss Minutes which made it sound as though she's got a much bigger part to play in everything going on at the TVA, and that we'll get more on that in the last two episodes. Which is great, because I basically think she's evil just because she seems too cute not to be.
Loki continues, Wednesdays, on Disney+, but for more to watch in the coming weeks, check out our guide to 2021 summer TV!
