Spoilers for the latest episode of Loki, “1893,” lie ahead, so read on at your own discretion.
Loki Season 2 was highly anticipated for a few reasons, and one of them was the fact that it would introduce yet another variant of Kang the Conqueror. Fans met the witty and unpredictable He Who Remains in Season 1 and a more tyrannical version of the villain in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Now, Disney+ subscribers are becoming acquainted with the warlord’s latest counterpart – 19th century scientist Victor Timely. All variations of the villain have been played by Jonathan Majors, who’s known to ad lib during a scene or two. And as it so happens, CinemaBlend learned that the actor found some “inspired” ways to improvise while filming his debut as Timely.
The wily intellectual made his debut in the third episode of the Marvel Cinematic Universe show’s second season, which was directed by Kasra Farahani. During the installment, Loki and Mobius traveled to the Chicago World’s Fair in order to track down Timely, who they needed to help fix their chaos at the Time Variance Authority. Simultaneously, former TVA operative Ravonna Renslayer and sneaky A.I. assistant Miss Minutes were also pursuing Victor, for their own purposes. Chaos ensued and, amid all of that, Jonathan Majors had a few moments to shine. During our conversation, Farahani, who also serves as the series’ production designer, commended a couple of off-the-cuff moments Majors had:
I mean, there's so many that come to mind. Like when Jonathan did… so many ideas within the [Temporal Loom] presentation – when he's dancing, almost to kind of personify the chaos of particles. The escape from the Robber Baron character, who's pursuing him, and he gets the orange from the orange juice vendor and throws it at his pursuer is like… [There were] so many really inspired, fun ideas and lots of other ideas that were super emotional and had a lot of pathos.
Jonathan Majors certainly had plenty of space to play around during the third episode. The formally trained actor’s decision to add the dance-like movements and throw the orange organically added to Timely’s eccentric nature. Those moments actually don’t constitute the first instances of Majors adding an extra flourish to his work on the MCU series. Season 1 director Kate Herron previously revealed that Majors improvised the moment He Who Remains jumped on his desk while talking to Loki and Sylvie during the finale. These may seem like small additions, but they certainly add to an actor’s performance and in some cases, the narrative.
The Creed III actor wasn’t the only actor Kasra Farahani had praise for during our interview. He shouted out most of his ensemble while speaking about improvisation and sent some particularly kind sentiments Owen Wilson’s way:
I mean, [there were] so many really inspired ideas from Jonathan, but [also] from Tom from Sophia [Di Martino], from Ke [Huy Quan], from Wunmi [Mosaku], from Eugene [Cordero]. I mean, it was like a conversation between like, a really dynamic, beautiful creative… From Owen [Wilson], constantly. I mean Owen is an idea machine. I don't know [there was] this, like beautiful dynamism and creative synergy from this cast.
It’s no surprise this cast has received such acclaim since the show began its run in 2021. There’s no weak link in the chain, and Tom Hiddleston expertly sets the tone for the impeccable ensemble. One would hope that they’ll keep their pitch-perfect energy going as Season 2 continues. They, along with the devoted cast and crew, have been putting in serious work, and you can get a sense of that from the featurette below:
Moving forward, fans are surely curious to see what lies ahead for Victor Timely as well as Jonathan Majors, who’s been ensnared in legal complications. The star was arrested for alleged assault and harassment earlier this year and is currently awaiting trial. In regard to his Loki work, it’s been confirmed that his arrest did not impact Season 2. So at this point, viewers will see more of him as Timely on the show, and said appearances could feature more of his improv skills.
Stream new episodes of Loki Season 2 on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT as it continues its run amid the 2023 TV schedule.
