Loki season 2 is coming out earlier than planned on Disney+

The God of Mischief will be returning a little sooner than expected. Disney announced yesterday that the premiere of Loki season 2 will drop at 6:00 p.m. PST on Thursday, October 5. That’s a few hours earlier than its originally scheduled time of midnight on Friday the 6th. Leave it to Loki and the members of the Time Variance Authority to mess with the schedule.

This move is consistent with Disney’s strategy lately. Ever since The Mandalorian season 1, Disney+ has released new episodes of its shows at midnight. But with Star Wars: Ahsoka, they decided to try something different by releasing it earlier in the evening. Streaming providers are notoriously cagey about disclosing viewership numbers, but Disney was happy enough with the audience for Ahsoka’s two-episode premiere to talk up how many people tuned in to watch; around “14 million views” by their estimate.

It turns out if you release a show when people are actually awake, they’re more likely to watch it. Go figure.

Loki season 2 will see the God of Mischief tap into his heroic side

Marvel Studios has been having a bit of a rough time of late, but Loki could be the show to turn the tide. It was one of the studio’s first big hits on Disney+, and the first Marvel show on the platform to get a second season order.

Loki stars Tom Hiddelston as the titular God of Mischief, Owen Wilson as his TVA buddy Mobius M. Mobius, Sophia DiMartino as the Loki variant Sylvie, Wunmi Mosaku as B-15, and Jonathan Majors as the villainous Kang the Conqueror. Everything, Everywhere All At Once star Ke Huy Quan is also joining the show.

Season 1 left on a huge cliffhanger when Sylvie killed He Who Remains (Majors), a variant of Kang the Conquerer who was keeping the timeline in order. We’ve seen a lot of multiversal hijinks in the MCU since then. How will Loki, Sylvie and Mobius deal with the fallout of their actions?

One thing we can glean from the “Amazing Loki” featurette that Marvel Studios just released: Loki will have to tap into his heroic side, not for the greater good, but to keep his friends safe.

The first week of October is going to be insane for genre TV

I just need to note that this schedule change for Loki makes the first week of October even crazier than it already was. Ahsoka drops its finale on Tuesday, October 3, and now the season 2 premieres for both Loki and HBO’s pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death fall on October 5. Oh, and The Wheel of Time season 2 finale also drops on the evening of October 5. We’ll have an embarrassment of television riches that week.

Mark your calendars for all those shows now, and remember: Loki season 2 drops at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9 p.m. EST on Thursday, October 5. New episodes of the series will release at that same time on Thursday nights.

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h/t Collider