'Loki' Director Hints at Same-Sex Love Interest for Season 2

MCU television series "Loki" – which follows the iconic MCU movie character into a sidebar adventure of his own – has honored the trickster god's mythological sources by acknowledging him as bisexual and gender fluid.

Now, series director Kate Herron has – kinda-sorta – hinted at the possibility that the Marvel fan-favorite could meet a male someone special in the show's second season.

In an interview with Collider, Herron, who is openly bisexual, spoke to Loki's gender fluidity and pansexuality. Saying it was "very important to me" that the character's identity be properly presented, Herron noted that Loki being bi and fluid is "canon in the comics, he's being written as bi and also pan, and I just wanted to make sure that we were acknowledging that aspect of his personality.

"Because the whole show is about Loki's identity," she added.

Herron went on to say, "I'm very proud that we got it in there and we got to acknowledge that."

In the show's first six-episode season, Loki comes up against an alternate-reality female version of himself – again, a canonical detail, since Loki has been depicted as shape-shifting to a female form in the comics, sometimes for years at a stretch. Called Sylvie, the female version of Loki shared a scene with the male anti-hero in which they touch upon their respective sexualities and both come out as bi.

In a subsequent episode, though, the two seemed to be experiencing a romantic attraction, which prompted accusations of queerbaiting from fans – not surprisingly, given how the MCU's promise of a "major gay character" in "Avengers: Endgame" turned out to be an unnamed superhero who was only fleetingly in the film. Similarly, another television property that saw film characters brought to the TV screen, "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," was hinted to include bisexuality on the part of Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier – only for fans' raised hopes to be dashed.

When asked by Collider whether the second season of "Loki" might "have a sequence where [Loki actor] Tom Hiddleston actually has a romantic connection with a man?" Herron was largely noncommittal – though, she did tell the publication: "I would say that part of my thinking was, well, if it's canon and it's acknowledged, then yeah I hope there's obviously more road to travel with that aspect of his personality. And I hope it has opened the door to more stories, definitely."

In other words, stay tuned.

Meanwhile, the MCU has whetted LGBTQ fans' hopes yet again with the inclusion of an openly gay superhero in the forthcoming "Eternals" film. Named Phastos (played by Brian Tyree Henry), the character is not only gay but also married to a non-superpowered man. However, how large a part Phastos will play in the upcoming film remains to be seen.