Richard E. Grant to join the Loki Disney Plus series in unknown role

Richard E. Grant is heading to the MCU. The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker actor is set to join the cast of the Loki Disney Plus series in an unknown role.

Variety reports that Grant is jumping on board, though – as is the Marvel way – his role is clouded in total secrecy. Expect Kevin Feige and his army of ninjas to keep spoiler-filled deets at bay until then, even if Grant is apparently only set to appear "in a single episode of the series." Which is... interesting. Could he become a future villain? Or perhaps his role is being relegated to purely a post-credits scene, given his late arrival compared to the rest of his castmates?

Loki, meanwhile, has seen its release window shift slightly from Spring 2021 to "early 2021" as per outgoing Disney CEO Bob Iger (via ComicBook.com). Tomato, to-mato. Still, it indicates a general narrowing of the wait for much of Disney Plus' original content. WandaVision, for example, leapt from early 2021 to December 2020 earlier this year, while Falcon and the Winter Soldier was also moved up slightly from its fall window into August.

Grant will appear alongside Tom Hiddleston in the Loki series, while Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and possible Lady Loki (if you believe these set photos) Sophia Di Martino round out the main cast.

Marvel Phase 4, of which Loki is part, begins on May 1 with Black Widow and continues later this year with Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The Eternals, and WandaVision.

Catch up on 2020-in-film with our movie release dates calendar.