There was surprise ringing around the Marvel Cinematic Universe fandom when Loki debuted with a decidedly underwhelming 74 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, but the good news is that Tom Hiddleston’s God of Mischief has been slowly clambering up the ranks of acclaim.
Just hours later the first live-action Disney Plus series to be renewed for a second season had improved to 79 percent, and at the time of writing it’s currently Certified Fresh with an 84 percent approval rate. A nine-point jump in the space of a couple of days is impressive, but the downside is that it still ranks as the third lowest-rated MCU show yet behind only the polarizing She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and the diabolical Secret Invasion.
Of course, those numbers are guaranteed to fluctuate yet again considering the long-awaited return of the Asgardian trickster is lurking just over the horizon, but at this point it’s impossible to tell whether or not it’ll move higher up or lower down the historical MCU rankings.
Audiences have been burned by the Multiverse Saga several times over already, but if there’s one upcoming project capable of dragging it out of its ongoing funk, then you’d be hard-pressed to find a better candidate than the solo comeback of a certifiable franchise legend that’s been part of the furniture for a dozen years and counting.
Either way, Loki has returned to acclaim, it just isn’t as unanimous as many would have expected, hoped, or wanted. On that front at least, we can all breathe a sigh of relief that Marvel Studios hasn’t dropped the ball yet again.