The culmination of events in Loki has been a pivotal part of setting the stage for the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars which introduces complex concepts such as incursions and multiple timelines. Luckily, the Season 2 finale didn't disappoint as it featured key moments that directly addressed and paved the way for the impending Secret Wars.
In Loki Season 2 Episode 6, the God of Mischief finally managed to control his time-slipping in an effort to prevent the Temporal Loom from exploding. After learning that the Loom cannot accommodate the infinite branches, Loki confronted He Who Remains, the Kang variant tasked with maintaining the Sacred Timeline.
The Variant revealed that he had implemented a failsafe mechanism designed to perpetually create additional timelines, preserving the integrity of the Sacred Timeline. Additionally, HWR argued that without his intervention at the End of Time, the multiverse would descend into chaos. The proliferation of additional timelines needed to be curtailed, or else a cataclysmic war would erupt between the various realities—a "Secret War," one might say.
This is the first time that the Secret Wars has been referenced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and although it is subtle, it is clear that there is no sure way to stop it. When Loki destroys the Temporal Loom and creates a Life Tree to manage the timelines, the branches remain and can eventually lead to war. The only question is, when will the Secret Wars finally happen?
What we know so far about Avengers: Secret Wars
Avengers: Secret Wars was first announced at the San Diego Comic-Con in July 2022. Michael Waldron, who previously served as the head writer for the first season of Loki and the writer of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, was revealed as the screenwriter. Jonathan Majors is set to reprise his role as Kang the Conqueror (and probably other Variants), and he remains to be the only star attached to the project.
The premise of the upcoming Marvel film has not yet been revealed but the title is based on the 2015 Jonathan Hickman comic storyline that follows the destruction of the Marvel Universe and various other alternate universes. In the Secret Wars storyline, each universe's respective Earth combines with each other into Battleworld, a planet that features the aspects of the various universes. Sounds just like what HWR described it to be in the Loki Season 2 finale.
Avengers: Secret Wars is slated for release on May 7, 2027. In the meantime, all six episodes of Loki Season 2 are now streaming on Disney+.
