Loki unveils a massive new character in major episode 2 twist

Exactly how this lady Loki came to be is slightly unclear – how far back does the change to the ‘Sacred Timeline’ go if she’s a fully adult, completely different version? – and at the moment, we can’t be sure whether she’ll be friend or foe to "our" familiar Loki as he follows her into the unknown.

Still, we can definitely say she’s important – and head writer Michael Waldron exclusively talked to us about why casting the role was so important to the series.

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“Her role, like all of them is an important one,” Waldron told RadioTimes.com. “And I think we wanted somebody who would match [Tom’s] energy.”

And according to di Martino herself, Hiddleston was a great source of information about her new role.

“Tom is like a Loki encyclopaedia on legs,” she told the crowd at an exclusive Loki screening. “If you want to know anything about Loki he's your guy, obviously. Lots of advice. And yeah, he just really looked after me - so thanks!”

“I have, for 18 months, been keeping a secret and I haven't been allowed to talk about it at all,” Hiddleston added. “Finally, I can introduce you to someone. And this person...I have worked alongside, and we have gone on this experience together on parallel tracks.

“And I'm so pleased I can finally bring this person out to say hello. This person is playing a character who may be familiar to you. Or so you might think.”

Whether Hiddleston was just referring to the new gender twist on Loki, or whether he meant there were more surprises still to come is unclear – but either way, we’re sure fans will be racking their brains about what to expect from Di Martino’s character, as well as digging out any information about the actor herself.

Like Hiddleston, Di Martino is British, and has racked up a long CV with roles in Friday Night Dinner, Silent Witness, Flowers, Casualty and many more – but Waldron is hoping that her new role in Loki will launch her in the US, where she’s less known than the UK.

“The exciting thing about Sofia is she's a really accomplished actress over in the UK – I was blown away when I when I started seeing her stuff – but in the States, I don't think people were as familiar with her,” Waldron told RadioTimes.com.

“And so I think it's going to be a thrill for American audiences to kind of discover her and just become huge fans.”

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Was this the biggest, most unexpected twist in Marvel history? Well, no – fans had speculated that Di Martino could be playing Lady Loki for months, and after her casting in the series was confirmed last week it seemed all but certain – but exactly how she’ll factor into the continuing world of Loki is still something of a mystery.

Why is she bombing the Sacred Timeline? Is she trying to create the multiverse, and will she succeed? And if that is her plan, will "our" Loki join her or help the TVA? In the next four episodes, it looks like it's everything to play for in a test of Loki variant supremacy, with all of reality in the balance.

Two magical ne’er-do-wells battling over the concept of time? What could possibly go wrong…

Loki episode two is streaming now on Disney Plus – for more information see our Loki release schedule guide. To watch, you can sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 a month or £79.90 a year now.

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