'Loki' makes a new kind of mischief as Marvel's latest 'variant' for Disney+

The slow wind-up has characterized all three of Marvel's Disney+ series, but the pacing feels particularly sluggish — and the endgame, pardon the expression, elusive — watching the first two episodes of "Loki."

Part of the difference between this latest Marvel show and predecessors "WandaVision" and "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," which offered similar promotions to supporting players, stems from the lack of a clearly mapped direction. In the former's case, it was Wanda working through her grief, while consciously satirizing the long history of sitcoms. In the latter, the story built toward the transfer of Captain America's shield into new and deserving hands.