Now that the Marvel magic has been declared far from dead with the return of Loki for its second season on Disney Plus, let’s take a look at the show’s budget to see how it stacks up to other recent MCU shows.
Unlike the unmitigated disappointment of this summer’s Secret Invasion, Loki season 2 has so far proven to steer clear of the murky waters of being “rotten” on Rotten Tomatoes. Indeed, the review aggregate site has honored Loki season 2 as “Certified Fresh,” scoring 84 percent so far, based on 55 reviews. Leaping over the hurdle of critical acclaim is one thing, but did the show fall into Secret Invasion‘s same trap of having an over-inflated budget?
Loki season 2’s production cost, revealed
It turns out Loki season 2 kept a tighter ship than Secret Invasion in the budgetary department, too. At $141.3 million, the sophomore season of the show centering on everyone’s favorite trickster god is certainly nothing to scoff at, as reported by Forbes. But even still, that’s a hefty $70 million cheaper than Secret Invasion‘s $211.6 million.
How do we know the budgets for these shows even though such information is traditionally kept from public view? It has to do with the fact that both shows were filmed in the U.K. to take advantage of a tax incentive that provided a kickback of 25 percent of their budgets. So long as at least 10 percent of the core spending was done in the U.K., each show is eligible, but the caveat is Disney must publicly report the budgetary information.
This tax incentive lowered the net cost of each show’s budget by tens of millions. For instance, Secret Invasion‘s $41.3 million reimbursement decreased the net budget from $211.6 million to $170.3 million. In Loki season 2’s case, its $27.9 million reimbursement lowered the net cost from $141.3 million to $113.4 million.
You can judge for yourself if the production value for Loki season 2 is clearly visible on screen when it debuts on Disney Plus on Thursday, Oct. 5 at 6 pm PT/9 pm ET.