Loki was influenced by David Fincher, director Kate Herron has revealed.
"Se7en is a very heavy influence," she said at a virtual press conference (via Deadline). Fincher's Se7en sees Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt play detectives investigating a serial killer who models his murders on the seven deadly sins.
"I think Fincher for sure, I think Zodiac… was a big influence in the writers' room," head writer Michael Waldron added. Zodiac, also directed by Fincher, is also about a serial killer – the infamous Zodiac Killer, who left cryptic messages and has never been caught. The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo.
Waldron also talked about another unlikely source of inspiration – DB Cooper, the mystery man who jumped from a plane with a bagful of cash and vanished without a trace.
"I was just thinking Loki is DB Cooper, that's all I was thinking," Waldron said of his initial thoughts about a Loki series. "Just the opportunity for chaos and fun within that just seemed like it would be a great time … so I went after it." A similar scene involving Loki has been featured in trailers, though in this version of the story, the rainbow-colored Bifröst transports Loki away after his leap from the plane.
Loki will see the titular God of Mischief working with the Time Variance Authority, who are tasked with protecting the proper flow of time in the MCU. The version of Loki that we'll be seeing in the Disney Plus series isn't the one killed by Thanos in Infinity War, though – this will be the Avengers-era version that grabbed the Tesseract and vanished, as seen in Endgame.
It seems the series will be a bit of a murder mystery, based on Herron and Waldron's comments – and Deadline mention a search for someone (or something) taking out TVA hunters.
Loki lands this June 9 on Disney Plus, and will release its six episodes weekly. The premiere will be followed a month later by the long-awaited (and much delayed) Black Widow, which hits theaters and Disney Plus Premier Access on July 9. Until then, check out how to watch Marvel movies in order to get up to speed on the MCU – and find the best Disney Plus prices and deals.
