Loki appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. A native 4K production, the shows largely looked positive, though the nature of the cinematography held back the end results.
That stemmed from the series’ lighting – or lack thereof. Loki offered a dimly-lit show the majority of the time, and this tended to make the visuals less than stellar.
Still, they displayed good overall delineation. The murkiness meant some softness but this never became a real problem.
No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws remained absent.
In terms of palette, we got some of the usual orange and teal along with greens, reds and purples as well. These occasionally showed vibrant range – and HDR helped – but again, the murky nature of the cinematography held back their impact.
Unsurprisingly, blacks tended to feel a bit inky, while shadows leaned dense. Also unsurprisingly, HDR couldn’t add a lot to whites and contrast given the swampy vibe of the photography.
Loki became tough to judge in terms of visuals because it often looked moderately unappealing but that was what the crew wanted to do. I settled on a “B” to note that the show often looked kind of blah but it accomplished its goals.
Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the series’ Dolby Atmos audio came with less equivocal pleasures. Though not the most action-packed MCU enterprise, the mixes still came with plenty of room to shine.
The shows boasted a nice sense of space and environment, and as expected, action scenes used the spectrum in a dynamic and involving manner. The tracks managed to place us in the action well.
Audio quality seemed strong, with speech that remained consistently concise and natural. Music was vivid and full.
Effects seemed accurate and impactful as well. The episodes offered high-quality soundtracks.
As we shift to extras, Disc One opens with Designing the TVA. In this five-minute, 43-second reel, we hear from production designer Kasra Farahani and actor Tom Hiddleston.
Like the title implies, we get info about the series’ sets and hints at Season Two. It becomes a short but informative program.
Official TVA Training Video runs one minute, 46 seconds and shows a longer version of the cartoon featured in the series’ pilot. I like this better look at the short.
A Gag Reel lasts one minute, 21 seconds and presents the standard array of silliness and mistakes. Nothing particularly fascinating arises, but the segment occupies so little time that it doesn’t wear out its welcome.
Disc One finishes with two Deleted Scenes. We get “Loki’s Coronation” (2:34) and “The Standoff” (2:24).
“Coronation” offers more between Loki and Mobius from the first episode, while “Standoff” involves Loki’s attempts to capture Sylvie. Both seem decent but not especially necessary.
Disc Two comes with a documentary entitled Assembled. It spans one hour, three minutes, one second and provides comments from Hiddleston, Farahani, executive producer Stephen Broussard, co-executive producer Kevin R. Wright, head writer Michael Waldron, director Kate Herron, costume designer Christine Wada, director of photography Autumn Durald Arkapaw, additoinal VFX supervisor Luke McDonald, and actors Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wunmi Mosaku, Sophia Di Martino, Richard E. Grant, DeObia Oparei, and Jonathan Majors.
The show looks at Hiddleston’s casting for 2011’s Thor and the development of Loki, story/characters, cast and performances, costumes and hair, sets and production design, cinematography, various effects, stunts and action.
Don’t expect much fat in this tight, brisk program. It comes with lots of good footage – like Hiddleston’s auditions for Thor - and plenty of solid information, all wrapped in a highly enjoyable show.
An extension of the Thor universe, Season One of Loki usually works well. It sputters at times but it mostly delivers an engaging series. The 4K UHD discs come with murky but accurately rendered visuals as well as good audio and some useful bonus materials. Loki never turns into a great series but it does enough to satisfy MCU fans.
