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INTRODUCTION
Marvel Studios approached us to collaborate on the highly anticipated series Loki on Disney+. This show captures the journey of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his involvement with the Time Variance Authority following his escape with the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame. In this tale through time, we get to see Loki take on new challenges, utilize incredible powers, and discover what makes Loki a Loki.
For this series, our team designed the Main on End title sequence, the opening title, the custom Marvel Studios logo, and more. Loki has been a character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a decade and now that he is finally leading his own series, we wanted our designs to match the epic nature of this more than memorable character.
Loki Main On End Title Sequence
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MAIN ON END
In preparation for Loki, our team sat down with Marvel Studios to discuss in great detail what this series wanted to portray. This included an in-depth conversation on what themes, mood, emotions, and messages Loki aimed to deliver to the audience. Since we have collaborated with Marvel Studios many times on both their feature films and Disney+ series, we knew exactly what we felt depicted this show the best. We decided to focus on the TVA rather than on Loki himself, since the audience is so immersed in the world of the TVA throughout this show.
EARLY LOOK DEVELOPMENT
Our design for the Main on End title sequence was based on the bureaucracy of the TVA and seeing Loki through their eyes. This sequence depicts what life is like within the TVA, specifically within the offices. Since Loki focuses so heavily on the TVA, we wanted the audience to take an even greater step into this unique and strange world that we are only just meeting, despite its hidden existence in the background of the MCU.
The sequence is filled with mundane depictions of imagery within a typical office. However, each of these elements is paired with something magical to showcase the other-worldly existence of the TVA. Some examples of these include stacks of files being held down by Infinity Stones used as paperweights, a water cooler with a “Tidy Timeline” poster behind it, and a clock with more than the traditional amount of hands.
The text within the sequence was designed as a nod towards the jumping through time motif we see throughout the series. Loki and the TVA travel through time, shifting from period to period. The text jumps around the screen before settling in place, depicting scattering through time.
The Main on End also includes subtle changes within sequence as the series goes on. New pictures are added to files of the characters as we see updated footage throughout the progressing episodes. For certain episodes that end on a more solemn note, the sequence slows down and shifts to pair with the tone of the episode.
Designing the Main on End title sequence was a very hands-on project, built from physical material and filmed to give it a truly realistic and in-office feel. All of the files and documents were custom designed by our team, supported by sets built by our team. Since these titles were developed during the pandemic shut down, a majority of the sequence was filmed by Perception’s Creative Director, Greg Herman, in his home studio.
CUSTOM MADE TVA DOCUMENTS BY PERCEPTION
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OPENING TITLE
One of Loki’s most notable tricks is that he is a shapeshifter. In previous films, we have seen him turn into Odin, an Asgardian guard, and even Captain America. Within this series, we get to see even more versions of Loki and how different he can appear.
Because of this, we designed the opening title for this series to pay homage to Loki’s shapeshifting nature. The letters of the title shift through different fonts and text, all of which are symbolic and representative of Loki. Text from previous films' title sequences and comic books that Loki has appeared in, alien typography from the series, and even Norse runes can be seen flickering throughout logo until it finally settles on the main title.
The grayscale logo provides unity for this title, showing that even throughout all of Loki’s appearances, variations, and shapeshifting, one thing remains the same – he is still Loki.
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MARVEL STUDIOS LOGO
We designed the custom Marvel Studios logo for this series to reflect who Loki is as a character. Loki is known for his regal gold and green armor that he wears in nearly every film, so we knew that we wanted the custom logo to include these colors.
For this logo, we transformed the “Marvel Studios” into a deep green, reminiscent of the symbolic shade of green that represents Loki. Within the letters of “Marvel”, the clips of characters from previous films play in gold. As the logo shifts, we can see a shining gold cast itself over the logo. These colors have always belonged to Loki in the MCU, and once the viewer sees them, they are immediately pulled into Loki’s world and the fact that this story revolves around him.
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LOCATOR CARDS
Since Loki is a series that focuses heavily on time travel and jumping through timelines, designing detailed and clear locator cards was crucial to help the audience understand where and when the characters are currently located. Our greatest inspiration for our locator cards were split-flaps, often seen in train stations to depict the arrival and departure times of trains. The text of the locator cards subtly flips in the same style of a split-flap.
Along with the physical destination, we also designed a timeline to indicate what year the characters have traveled to. Without giving a starting date, since the TVA isn’t meant to exist in a designated year, a timeline slides across the screen paired with the year the characters have landed in. If the characters are moving back in time, the timeline slides to the right, and if the characters are moving forward in time, the timeline slides to the left. This element adds more depth and detail, honoring the importance of time travel in Loki.
Loki_ Locator Card Moving Backward in Time - Salina, Oklahoma
Loki_ Locator Card Moving Forward in Time - Lamentis-1
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LOKI WILL RETURN
After the Main on End plays at the end of episode 6, the audience is treated with a surprise - Loki will be getting a second season. Since this news is so exciting, we wanted to design a special announcement for it. Within the TVA, an agent can be seen looking through files and paperwork. Then, the agent stamps something on the file, “Loki will return in season 2”. This announcement not only reveals a second season, but it also keeps the audience within the universe of the TVA until the very last moment of the show.
Loki Will Return In Season 2 Post Credit Scene
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CONCLUSION
It is always an honor to work with our friends at Marvel Studios, especially when it comes to a series starring such an iconic character like Loki. This series offers awesome action, memorable emotions, and a deeper look into the God of Mischief, and it was incredible to be part of Loki’s journey. We are thrilled to also collaborate with Marvel Studios on Loki Season 2 - coming soon!
Look further into our work in Loki’s world with our Thor: Ragnarok Technology case study and our Thor: Ragnarok Titles case study.
