• The second episode of the new Loki series is online this Wednesday on Disney +.

  • Michael Waldron, chief screenwriter, and Kate Herron, director, unveiled all the references that allowed them to create this strange and captivating new universe.

  • From David Fincher to Ridley Scott via Spielberg, many nods to the 7th art have slipped into the pilot.

A series full of nods to the cinema!

After

WandaVision

, Disney + has made an impression again with its new Marvel Studios series,

Loki

, worn by Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson.

MCU fans were able to discover, along with the God of Malice, a whole new universe, that of the Tribunal des Variations Anachroniques (or TVA, Time Variance Authority in English), an organization in charge of resolving temporal anomalies.

Before the second episode goes online this Wednesday, Michael Waldron,

Loki's

chief writer

and director Kate Herron, spoke to

20 Minutes

about all the references that allowed them to create this strange and captivating new universe.

"Brazil" by Terry Gilliam for offbeat comedy

The first episode follows Loki's arrival at TVA, an organization that doesn't mess around with bureaucracy. The opportunity for Tom Hiddleston to show us his comedy talents and for director Kate Herron to pay a small tribute to a masterpiece of black science fiction comedy,

Brazil

by Terry Gilliam.

In 1985, this dystopia staged a retrofuturist world governed by a Kafkaesque bureaucracy, alienating and totalitarian.

“I love this movie and I think I was inspired by it,” says Kate Herron.

I like this kind of retrofuturism, this technological twist.

I was also inspired by when I was working in offices on old computers that needed updating.

I thought it was fun to put people in control of our destiny into technology that didn't have the most futuristic aspect.

"

Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" for science fiction

“ 

Metropolis, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,

but also the cartoon

Les Jetsons

… I drew on many science fiction references to create this new part of the MCU”, continues the director. The large futuristic city with its flying cars that Loki sees through the picture windows of the TVA evokes the silent classic by Fritz Lang from 1927, itself inspired by the silent Soviet science fiction film by Yakov Protazanov, released in 1924. One urban aesthetic that we also find in

Blade Runner

by Ridley Scott in 1982, or in

The 5th element

of Luc Besson in 1997. The doors of time of the TVA are inspired by

Dune

by David Lynch, released in 1984. The font used by computers and the VAT logo was borrowed from another

sci-fi

classic,

Ridley Scott's

Alien

released in 1979, and more specifically from the Weyland-Yutani company, owner of the famous USCSS spacecraft.

"Seven" by David Fincher for the black side

The thriller scenes in the series owe a lot to David Fincher. “We were inspired by many black films. It shows in the way we approached lighting.

Se7en

had a very strong influence. There is a small reference to

Se7en

in the second episode, in the form of a small needle drop, that fans of the film will immediately spot, I'm sure, ”announces Kate Herron, during the conference. hurry. "Yes, we thought about Fincher, that's for sure! 

Zodiac

and

The Silence of the Lambs

are the two films that we watched a lot in the author's room, ”adds Michael Waldron. It's impossible not to think of Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins in Jonathan Demme's feature film released in 1991 when we see the interrogation scenes between the God of Malice and Mobius. “It's very interesting to see Loki interacting with Mobius because the latter is patient with him like no one has been before. And honestly, that drives Loki crazy. He got into the habit of using the fact that people were losing their patience with him as a weapon. They're both different, but they're very intelligent characters, with a kind of philosophy, a soul in them. They ask themselves the big questions. I like these scenes between them, ”comments Michael Waldron.

Steven Spielberg's "Catch Me If You Can" for the mischief

“I imagined Loki in DB Cooper, so I kept that in mind,” says Michael Waldron.

In the first episode, it is discovered that the unidentified man who hijacked a Boeing 727 to extort a ton of money, called DB Cooper was none other than Loki who lost a bet against Thor.

As Loki flirts with the flight attendant before revealing he has a bomb, one can't help but think of Frank Abagnale, Jr., the crook camped in 2002 by Leonardo DiCaprio in

Catch Me If You Can

by Steven Spielberg.

"Defending Your Life" by Albert Brooks for the tragicomic

In the first episode, Loki watches his life go by before his eyes, and he, TVA and the viewer judge every moment he lives.

This is literally the starting point of

Defending Your Life

, Albert Brooks' 1991 tragicomedy about a recently deceased individual whose entire existence is judged in the afterlife.

If he can stand up for the rationale and necessity of his life well enough, he will be granted the chance to reincarnate, and therefore a fresh start.

So, does Loki deserve a fresh start?

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