Alligator Loki is the MCU’s newest, most amazing obsession – For The Win

Im late to the party. But thats the way Loki would like it. He strikes me as someone who arrives fashionably late, if at all. The internet is celebrating Alligator Loki, the darling of Loki on Disney+.

If youre reading this, you already knew that. You love Gator Loki. I love Gator Loki. Lets talk about it.

In the fifth episode of Loki, Journey into Mystery, Gator Loki was one of the weirdest things in a show that clearly prided itself on being Marvels version of the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour. Its totally different and psychedelic and better for it. Gator Loki is the physical personification of Lokis eccentricities. In a show where weve seen Frog Thor (Throg), Lokis in love and a sentimental speech about a jet ski, Gator Loki might be the strangest thing the show has gotten away with. The show-runners tried it. And my goodness, did it work.

The gator is an enigma who inspires so many questions. Does it come from an alternate timeline where ALL the Avengers are animals? Can it enchant? Can it wield a dagger? Can he lie? Will we ever see it again? And, the biggest mystery: Is he even a Loki?

I know, but I want people to wonder,Loki head writer Michael Waldron told Marvel.com. I want that to be the next great Marvel debate. Is Alligator Loki really a Loki or not?

Oh, you cunning member of the Crocodilia. You demi-god and demi-dinosaur. You ridiculous, RoxxiWine-drinking reptile.

We see you. Respect.

And we get that if we dont show respect, well lose a hand. So seriously: respect.

Id respect Gator Loki even more if he wasnt actually a Loki. His biggest common threads are survivalism and the color green. Otherwise, he has shown no powers. He cant even speak unless Classic Loki is translating Alligator Lokis unamused looks. But thats helped him deliver high comedy in his supporting role. The muted cutaways to his (non) reactions are perfect. And then there are the cutups of Gator Lokis appearances set to music, which are #art.

Want to get even more weird? Check out what the actors had to look at when they were in his company on stage. The actors were working with a googly-eyed stuffed animal.

It sounds like director Kate Herron genuinely grappled with how Gator Loki should look: Cute, cartoonish and cuddly or cold and calculated? Its Loki. Gotta be the latter.

We had some early versions when we were doing visual effects that probably were a bit too cute, in the sense of it was a bit more like a cartoony kind of alligator, Herron told Marvel.com. But it just became funnier and funnier the more it looked like a real alligator that just happened to be wearing the horns. That was the sweet spot. Once we landed in that spot where it felt like a real alligator, but with a kind of slightly jaunty horns on, thats where we were like, Oh, there he is.

Brilliant.

Now I know you want me to say Gator Loki is better than Baby Yoda from Star Wars universe and Mandalorian on Disney+. The conversation is raging on Twitter, Reddit and Facebook. Lets not turn this into an episode of ESPNs First Take. Im not here to be Stephen A. Smith with an anger-invoking opinion. Thats not what Gator Loki is about. Thats not what Baby Yoda is about. My nuanced take is theyre both wonderful and different.

Apples and oranges. Lokis and Yodas.

Am I right? (I am.)

Its likely weve seen the last of Gator Loki. He will live forever in The Void and in our hearts. Farewell, sweet prince(ss).

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Alligator Loki is the MCU's newest, most amazing obsession - For The Win