Warning: This article contains spoilers about the first two episodes ofLoki.
Below, EW chats with Herron about the seasons' first two episodes.
What details from your own experience did you put into the show?
Director Kate Herron on ‘Loki’ episode 2.Chuck Zlotnick/©Marvel Studios 2021; Inset: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
KATE HERRON:A big factor was the retro-futuristic-style technology.
I love that the people at the top of the tree wouldn’t necessarily have the most futuristic tech.
I thought there was something quite funny in that.
Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
you might see that in TVA, like the robot that Loki encounters in that first [episode].
You said you and Tom weren’t sure if anyone else knew what was going on.
What scene was that?
Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
They’re his memories and his life.
I think having these 3D projections on stage allowed me to capture that.
It’s all kind of building up to this climax of when Loki sees his mom.
Essentially, I just DJ’d these scenes for the actors so that they had something to react to.
So me and Tom were just laughing because they must have just thought, “What is this project?
What is this?”
It was quite a technically complicated scene, but I’m happy with how it all came together.
What movies and TV shows were at the front of your mind as references for episode 2?
It reads like a detective story."
I always thought of episode 1 as the prologue and episode 2 as our chapter 1 for Loki.
Mobius is like a detective in the way that he works with Loki.
So, that really informs the way I wanted to approach filming it.
It’s not like just episode 2 will have this look.
We carry it across the show.
Obviously, there’s a reference to Se7en in episode 2 I’m sure people spotted.
Whereas it was important to me when they go to Roxxcart to remind the audience these are real apocalypses.
But beyond that, global warming had reached Alabama in 2050.
I never wanted the time travel to feel glossy.
Did anything change in the first two episodes?
There were bits from the TVA, like the chat about religion.
For example, even tonal stuff.
I didn’t have the composer at this point.
For Theremin And Piano)"] is in episode 2.
That’s the song that plays when we first go to Renslayer’s office.
But I didn’t have my composer.
Is it accurate to refer to her as Lady Loki?
I would say that next week’s episode we dig more into that.
I don’t want to spoil anything for people tuning in next week.
You’ve worked with Sophia before.
What made her the right person for this role based on your past experiences with her?
I worked with her on quite a few of my short films and I thought she was fantastic.
But she’s also on a show calledFlowers, which I strongly recommend people go watch.
you could watch it onNetflix.
And we were all very excited about what she did.
Can we expect later episodes to dive into what’s going on with Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Ravonna Renslayer?
There’s obviously a lot to dig into, but it’s definitely a unique story for her.
Will the season dig into that kind of minutiae?
Or do you and Michael at least have an idea of all of those details of its inner workings?
It was definitely something I was looking into through building out the world of the TVA.
New episodes ofLokiare available Wednesdays on Disney+.
This post has been updated.
