The new Loki series will have a surprising “ally.”
The latest poster for the Marvel TV show features Tom Hiddleston as the conniving trickster ready for his new adventures.
It also showcases Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer, whose presence may play a part in bringing a huge Marvel villain into the MCU.
Who is Ravonna?
Debuting in 1965’s Avengers vol 1 #23, Ravonna was the daughter of the king of a 40th-century land who was one of the many eras ruled by the tyrannical Kang the Conqueror. The usually cold-hearted time-traveler actually loved Ravonna, but she dismissed him as a cruel figure.
To try and impress her, Kang brought the Avengers to the 40th century for a battle. This led to one of his own generals turning on him and Kang and the Avengers working together to defeat him.
Seeing Kang prepared to give up his armies to save her convinced Ravonna she truly loved him. Tragically, she took a fatal laser blast, and she died in his arms.
Placing her body in stasis, Kang tried to find ways to bring Ravaonna back to life. This included a competition with the cosmic Grandmaster where he was given a choice to restore Ravonna or kill the Avengers. Overwhelmed by anger and pride, Kang chose the latter only for the Avengers to be restored.
An alternate timeline version of Ravonna would join with Immortus, a divergent future version of Kang, to battle him. It turned out this was the real Ravonna, secretly revived by the Grandmaster and seeking revenge for Kang failing to save her.
Taking on the guise of Avengers foe Nebula, Ravonna seduced Doctor Druid to her side in a scheme to eliminate various divergent Kangs and take control of time itself. She later became Terminatrix to rule the futuristic city of Chronopolis.
Since then, Ravonna and Kang have continued their complex relationship, literally stabbing the other in the back yet sharing an odd respect as equals. Ravonna was supposedly wiped out of existence, yet, like Kang, she is tough to destroy.
Is Kang coming?
Given her complicated history, it’s perhaps best that the Loki TV show has Ravonna as simply an agent of the Time Variance Authority.
The trailers showcase her as being put in charge of handling Loki’s antics which naturally are very difficult given his scheming.
The big tease is that if Ravonna is coming into the show, that means Kang himself couldn’t be far behind. The posters do show a mysterious cloaked figure in the background that could be Kang.
On the one hand, it would be difficult given Kang’s incredibly convoluted history as multiple writers have tried (and failed) to have it make sense (especially when his future self Immortus is involved). Yet, the idea of the time-traveling conqueror becoming a major foe in the MCU would be great.
Rumors abound that Kang may play a role in the coming Ant-Man and Wasp: Quantumania film and Avengers: Endgame already established how time travel exists in the MCU.
It could be another of the MCU’s fakeouts, but adding a key time-travel character such as Ravonna may indicate the Loki TV show is the MCU’s way of pulling Kang into the mix.
Loki premieres on Disney+ June 9.