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#Michael waldron
emys-123 · 2 years
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missathlete31 · 1 month
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OKAY THIS SYNOPSIS = 🔥🔥🔥
Glen was MADE for this type of role! He’s going to rock this!
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zylice · 6 months
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So it seems like Sylvie and the TVA have robbed Loki of everything that he was: Witty, charismatic, powerful. It’s like they’ve erased his memories and instead planted this gormless and witless idiot in his place! 😡🤬
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stdeeoftheknife · 5 months
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two WHOLE seasons of loki and owen wilson didn’t get to say a SINGLE wow 💔
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galaxythreads · 1 year
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i literally don't understand the mcu script writes who've bragged about never having seen the previous movies, like bro??? how do you expect that script to be consistent with the rest of the canon?????????
normally I'd laugh and be like Yeah, anon, these guys are insane, but you have bypassed Mental Breakdown part of my brain and now I am deeply, deeply curious.
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Why is it that mcu script writers are so proud to be arrogant?
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Warning for minor language.
So anyway, the person I thought of specifically as being Generally Terrible to the Franchise Lately was Michael Waldron, who wrote Loki, Dr. Strange 2, AND is currently working on Avengers: Secret Wars. (Yay)
So I did a lot of research about where this guy CAME from and how he's impacted everything because I swear to God I'd never heard of him before Loki. And now I see him everywhere, but usually only in loathing.
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Michael Waldron, according to Wikipedia, is currently 35 as of 2022 and graduated from some Film School i haven't heard of and can't be bothered to remember. He is unmarried(?) and has been active in the film industry since 2014. (8 years, for those of you counting.) He started work on Loki in 2020(? unconfirmed).
The thing that struck me the most was how incredibly short his project list is.
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My man has six (6) completed projects. He had three before he started on Loki. And while this doesn't necessarily mean that he's bad, it does show a level of inexperience that baffles me personally.
For comparison, Kenneth Brangah, one of four screenwriters for Thor 1's list is this:
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And again, it's not like Brangah's list is enormous, but I do see a lot more experience under their belt before they were approached by MCU rather than Waldron, who had done three projects. Brangah had 20 years in sceenwriting when he went to work for Thor. Waldron had six.
And the amazing thing to me is that even the shows Waldron's executive producer on, he wrote like, two episodes for it? Then he handed it off to other writers. So he doesn't, as far as I can tell and I found, seem to have a lot of experience actually working the writing process, just supervising it.
(I could be wrong)
But here is his latest series Heels, for reference.
the section says "Written by" above the names, I cropped it weirdly.
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So we have a man who has, at this point, worked six years in the industry. He has worked on three shows. He was the assistant for one show, he did not write in the other one, and he has written for ONE show, total. Produced one show, was the executive producer for ONE show.
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What I am seeing here, is, from what I can see, a lack of experience. And it shows. Badly.
So why did Marvel hire him?
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According to an interview Waldron did, where I'm drawing a great deal of this information, he has always wanted to work for the Big Leagues. He wanted to work on Star Wars mostly, from what I could see, but he didn't think that Marvel would be bad either. When he approached his agent about how to get working for Marvel his agent told him he needed to have written a movie.
Now you're probably wondering. I DID look at that list of projects he's been involved in, and there wasn't a movie.
You are correct!
Waldron wrote a movie called The Worst Guy of All Time and the Girl Who Came to Kill Him. It's on The Black List and was never filmed, to my understanding. But he sure did write that script. And that script, I believe, is where a lot of issues in Loki start to come to light, but we'll get to that in a minute.
"At some point the script made its way to Marvel as they were meeting people for Loki and that got him in the door to pitch and that pitch got him the job."
When Kevin Feige was hiring directors, Waldron walked in and "I thought I was going to get it, but that's my attitude, I guess, hopefully as unarrogantly as that can sound, but I think you got to be confident" (Waldron). Feige was apparently impressed and hired him on.
Which again, a bold choice that COULD have been great, to give a small name the chance to work on a project like this?? Incredible. Just not in this context.
I feel immensely confused that MCU, which is a multi-billion dollar industry, did NOT actually hire someone with years and years of experience like they did for Thor 1. Instead, they went with someone who, personally to me, didn't have enough experience to seem like he knew what he was doing.
So now Waldron is working in MCU. Things are going great for him. He has TWENTY WEEKS to come up with the plot, the scripts, and the story for the entire Loki series.
TWENTY. I cannot emphasize this enough. That is no time at all. They went from blank slate NO IDEAS to a full script in TWENTY. WEEKS.
So HOW then, did Waldron get approached to do Dr. Strange 2?
Apparently, Waldron and Owen Wilson were talking one day and Waldron got asked to do Dr. Strange 2 because it was just as chaotic as Loki was.
WALDRON: Yeah. By that time, I had been able to build the trust. We'd written Loki. Loki was in good shape at that point. It was headed into production. I was getting ready to go to Atlanta. Fortunately, the scripts were in good shape. One of our writers, a close friend of mine, Eric Martin, took my place and went and was the writer on set, which you've got to have, and he did amazing work carrying the show across the finish line, from a writing standpoint. And yeah, it was just, "All right. You did Loki. That was crazy. Come do Dr. Strange. This is going to be crazy, too." That was really fun.
And guess what! This is the instructions he was given FOR Dr. Strange 2.
WALDRON: It is purely, 100%, "Make the most kick ass Dr. Strange movie you can possibly make." There was no, "You got to get here. It's got to fit here."
Which, by the way, Feige stated that he had no plans for the Loki series beyond time travel, and Waldron was instructed to do whatever he felt like. A 100% most kick-ass time travel series, you might say.
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Okay. So now that we have some background, I'm going to get onto my soapbox and explain why this man was a horrible, horrible directing choice and shows 0 understanding of the characters. This is going to go over Loki and Dr. Strange 2, for reference.
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LOKI:
The biggest disaster I see with Loki is that the FIRST -- and I emphasize this, the FIRST -- thing that Waldron says about Loki in the interview is this:
Waldron: And I'd written a time travel movie about a character who was kind of a villain, and kind of a sh*thead, like Loki.
I think that the problem that Waldron suffered from the most in Loki is that Waldron didn't want to make a TV series about Loki. He doesn't like the character very much from what I can tell. Obviously, he calls him a sh*thead, but he never has anything nice to say about Loki as a whole either. He doesn't want to talk about Loki as a person, or Loki's story, Waldron wants to talk about the TVA. I seriously cannot emphasize this enough. Not once in the interview did Loki as a person come up. Loki didn't even seem to be a character to him.
The TVA is where Waldron seems like most of his time was spent, because that was, after all, what MCU wanted to do. I honestly, genuinely do not believe this man would have taken the job for Loki if it wasn't about time travel. Because Waldron could focus on the TVA and not Loki. Loki was an irritant he had to occasionally do something with.
And now we get to his script that was pitched to MCU.
Waldron: I sat down and I wrote a script that was a time travel action rom-com, is how I would describe it...because they [Marvel] wanted to make a time travel show. And I'd written a time travel movie about a character who was kind of a villain, and kind of a shithead, like Loki.
And the thing is, to me, sounds a lot like the TV series. A romcom, with time travel, and a sh*thead kind-of villain. That's the series we got. I do wonder how much of this pitch made it into the final series, because this is what Waldron had as a reference. (The director wanted to make a romance from what I understand, that was her vision of the series was this long-winding romance, and it doesn't look like anyone sat down in the writer's room and explained to them that the last thing that would fuel Loki's story forward was romance.)
And the thing is, Waldron doesn't seem to understand Loki as a character at all, if Loki is "kind of a villain and a sh*thead" because yeah, sure, Loki can be considered that, but that's not WHO Loki is. That's what people SEE him as.
Waldron at no point references having read the scripts for the Avengers, Thor 1 or the Dark World inside this interview. This doesn't mean he hasn't seen the movies or read the screenplay, as I often hear said about him, but it is strange to me that he makes so little mention of Loki.
This man is so focused on the TVA. Despite how much of a disaster the TVA ended up being. Here's some notable quotes:
WALDRON: What did I learn? Don't write one about time travel, because it's a pain in the ass.
WALDRON: ...A foundation of what constitutes a broken time law and what doesn't, so that we could then just, which is about Loki breaking a time law, and then you have to move all that stuff as far to the background as humanly possible, because you don't want the audience focusing on the rules of time travel during your show.
I love how "Loki breaking a time law" is supposed to be the center of it all and comes off as an afterthought.
And.
"don't want the audience focusing on the rules of time travel in your show" YEAH. CAUSE IT'S GARBAGE. Maybe if he and the others had had more than a weekend (exaggeration, untrue statement) to work on how time travel works, we'd have something that didn't make me want to scream into a pillow for ten years.
WALDRON:  All over our writer's room, our white boards were just covered in timelines. And it's just, "No, time travel works this way," "No, time travel works that way." That was the great challenge of our show, it was because the Time Variance Authority is an organization that literally manages and polices all of time, we had to define what time is to them and what time is in the MCU. 
I think we can blame this disaster on the Russo brothers. ^
WALDRON: Those are all questions we had to ask and define for ourselves. I think that what's fun about the TVA is it takes something remarkable, like time travel, and really packages it in a very soulless, sort of bureaucratic way. That's what was exciting to me, as a writer, was to take something so magical and just make it utterly soulless. -- So what we have is a writer's room so focused on the TVA that Loki becomes a secondary concern and the lens from which we VIEW the TVA, and then it stops becoming Loki's series and starts to become the TVA's.
But no one seemed to realize this.
And also "That's what was exciting to me...was to take something so magical and make it utterly soulless" is a GREAT way to go about time travel. I also think he applies this to everything and it shows.
So again. Writer focused on the TVA. Appears to me to not care about Loki. Spends a majority of the interview discussing ANYTHING but the main lead of his show. Does not want to talk about growth or character or WHERE LOKI CAME FROM? WHY ARE YOU NOT TALKING ABOUT YOUR LEAD?
But that's okay. Because we all know that the TVA was the main character of Loki, don't we?
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Another interesting point, I thought, was how Waldron writes relationships. I watched a review of his TV series Heels, where the reviewer came to this conclusion about the main characters:
"...And that's just what made this show so fascinating, is that…all these characters, that in some way, treat each other horribly, but in other sense do care about each other, and they're all so entwined with trying to make this thing work."
and that sounded extremely familiar. Because this is the cast of Loki. Waldron seems to have discovered his Character Formula.
Thanks. I hate it.
I just...this man can't have been a bad writer in just Loki right, and this has to be a consistent theme across all his work? And honestly, he's worked on so little that I don't know. I can't have an honest opinion of him. From what he has worked on, terrible character chemistry seems to be the general vibe. Waldron does not seem to know how to write characters that you understand why they like each other.
Hence, Loki being abused by every figure of authority in Loki, and Slyive treating him horribly, but somehow they all like each other in the end.
Because that's Loki. The TVA series, Loki on the side, getting beat up. Because he's bad.
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DR. STRANGE 2:
Dr. Strange 2 has a similar set of problems. It was written in a rushed time frame, there was no overarching idea for a plot and where the story needed to go, Waldron was just told to do what he wanted, and Waldron didn't seem to be too focused on character arcs.
Wanda, obviously, takes a devastating hit as far as arcs go, but I wouldn't say that Dr. Strange was spared, either. The two of them go through rapid flipflopping in terms of the growth they've incurred throughout the entire MCU, and it shows. Badly.
One thing that Waldron did say that absolutely baffled me was this:
WALDRON: I became good friends with Jac Schaeffer, head writer of WandaVision, while I was writing Loki. Her and I became good pals, because we were kind of in it together and everything...So, I had the benefit of just being able to call Jac and talk to her about Wanda's character and everything, because it was really important to me that I do right by her with what she did with Wanda as a character. And also, with Lizzie, who's a friend of mine. I really worked with her and made sure, "Okay, you guys just did this incredibly intimate show about this character that grew her so much. Let's make sure that we're doing that justice and telling a fulfilling next chapter of that story."
I am so confused. Waldron honestly appears to want to do right by Wanda, but Wanda's growth from WandaVision was destroyed in Dr Strange 2 (and I want to emphasize here that Waldron made no such comment about talking to Tom Hid. or previous directors of Thor movies) so then how did Wanda end up going through such a downward spiral? Waldron wanted to do right by her, and yet???
I think the biggest problem is that Waldron doesn't have to think long term. He's almost not supposed to. He said this:
WALDRON: Well, I think one of the joys of being a writer in the Marvel world is getting to make terrible messes and leave them for your predecessors
WALDRON: For instance, you write the Loki show and then you end up writing Dr. Strange 2, having to clean up your own mess and that can be a lot of fun.
WALDRON: And it will naturally connect to the MCU and it will naturally get the MCU to where it's supposed to go, in some ways that we expect and ways that sometimes you don't expect, and I think that's part of the fun.
Waldron was given the explicit instruction to write a good Dr. Strange movie, but not a good MCU movie. Part of the reason that Phase 4 feels like a bunch of puzzle pieces from different puzzles is that it was designed to be that way. Feige is just going with the flow to see what will happen rather than having any sort of idea of where to take the series.
"It will naturally get MCU to where it's supposed to go" is one of the most hilarious statements I've ever heard, by the way. As someone who has done original writing, and planned out a series, my 200+ page document of planning, background, and worldbuilding laughs at you. (And I still don't have it all finished, because I've had MONTHS to work on this). Maybe. Maybe they want to try and not publish the first draft of phase 4?
Waldron wasn't told to make a movie about Wanda, or how to progress Wanda's character in a way that made sense post her growth. And any problems that were there they blamed on the Darkhold, because it's someone else's problem to clean up. Very neat. Very good planning.
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So overall, I don't think that MCU writers are proud of their ignorance, I just don't think that they see a problem with it. Writers are told to do what they want to, without there being any plans for character growth or plot advancement, so they do. They put whatever they want out on the sandbox and wait for someone else to clean it up.
Feige seems fully onboard with this plan. So the real problem, I think, is the fact that MCU is expecting writers to come up with complex, interconnected plots in twenty weeks, and the writer's don't have the time to write consistent character arcs, they just tell a flashy story because at least you get something out there.
I honestly don't imagine Secret Wars will be any different. Waldron has shown that he really really enjoys writing stories, but not characters. This is not to say that we should blame all of this on Waldron, because I don't think it's really his fault. I think it's more the fact that he's the byproduct of a system set to fail.
The writer's ignorance is someone else's problem in MCU, apparently. But don't worry. This will naturally get MCU where it's supposed to go. Just tilt your head and squint a little. Then close one eye. And then the other. Now you can see what brilliance Phase 4 is clearly.
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prettywitchiusaka · 2 months
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Not gonna lie, while I wish Clea was in more of MoM beyond a cameo, I'm actually kind of glad she isn't the more I've thought about it.
Putting aside the fact that Michael Waldron is (apparently) SO media illiterate/lazy he thought the emotional core of DS1 was Stephen and Christine's lost romance (it wasn't), I really don't wanna know what Clea Strange would be like in his hands.
Much like her hubbie, Clea's one of those characters that, in the wrong hands, can come off as incredibly unlikeable. There's a lot more layers to her character than one might initially think, and I don't think has the skill to write a character like that, nor does he have the desire to learn how to write nuanced characters properly.
At best, his Clea would be bitchy and hypocritical. At worst, she'd probably be another one of Waldron's patented sexy, over-powered murder bot with no personality beyond being angry (he wants to fuck), and be bitchy and dismissive of Stephen for no reason until it's time for them to fall in love which...yeah, I don't know if you guys heard, but that's not how things are in the comics. Clea falls in love with Stephen for his inner beauty; she sees that he's a brilliant, brave and compassionate man and she loves him for that, and always will. More over, he's the man who taught her to love and she grew through their relationship as much as he did. To do anything else would be an insult to her character.
P.S. I know I keep going back to the "Waldron's horny" jab over and over, but come on! Look at how he writes Sylvie in Loki Season 1, and how he writes Wanda in MoM, and tell me Waldron doesn't have a fetish for that kind of woman.
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itsjustkeira · 4 months
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Michael W*ldren is the writer for The Kang Dynasty.
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WELL THERE GOES LOKIUS BECOMING CANON, WE'VE LOST ALL HOPE 😭
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alyceinwonderland777 · 10 months
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Here's how Waldron & Co. could solve the Sylki problem in Season 2
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Sylvie: As for the kiss...
Loki: *He cuts her off* It was a mistake. I care a lot about you and feel a strong empathy towards you for what happened to you, but evidently I had mistaken all this for love.
Sylvie: The same goes for me. I care a lot about you, but I was confused. And I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry if I acted arrogant towards you.
Loki: Past is past *Loki says with a smile*
Sylvie: Friends? *she holds out her hand*
Loki: Sure *He says squeezing her hand*
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tv-moments · 3 months
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Loki
Season 2, “Breaking Brad”
Director: Dan DeLeeuw
DoP: Oliver Loncraine
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theavengers · 4 months
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Michael Waldron has been tapped to write Marvel Studios‘ Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Waldron had already been set to write the installment that would follow Kang Dynasty and will now write both films. Waldron has become one of Marvel’s most trusted creative minds having previously created and served as showrunner of season 1 of Loki as well as writing Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness and the move make sense to the studio to have him pen both films. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige will produce.
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pinktwingirl · 1 year
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So Nate Moore, an executive producer for Marvel Studios said that they consider it a “red flag” when potential writers say that they’re fans of the comics because they want people who bring “original ideas” to the table, and… I’m sorry, I just cannot agree with this take at all. Just because a writer is a fan of the comics does not mean that they’re going to be afraid to put their own spin on them. And secondly, while it’s always great when writers bring in new ideas, having no regard for the characters and plot lines of the comics you’re adapting can easily lead to ooc characterization and can sometimes be even insulting and disrespectful to the source material. Frankly, I think we’ve already seen that when writers have no regard and/or active disdain for the characters they’re adapting, it’s had disastrous results *cough* *cough* Michael Waldron *cough* *cough* the Loki series… I mean, good god, isn’t that the whole appeal of comic book movies? For people to see their favorite comics coming to life? You already have an audience that cares about these characters and stories from the comics; why would you throw that away just so you can brag about your “originality”? “New” does not always necessarily equal “good”. There are already plenty of incredible characters and stories that fans love; what’s wrong with just adapting a comic as is from time to time? This is honestly so insulting to both comic writers, who you already pay pennies to use their characters and then twist them beyond recognition, and the fans, who go to these movies expecting to see good adaptations of the characters they love. With Marvel executives having a mindset like this, no wonder phase 4 turned out to be such a dud.
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missathlete31 · 1 month
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Wake up honey, a new Glen's project just dropped off!!
https:// variety.com/2024/tv/news/glen-powell-michael-waldron-hulu-comedy-series-eli-manning-chad-powers-1235919371/?fbclid=PAAaaGS8kmBykSHlP8y6pgw-kllRtjARHRxp3sON3lwaGAku5scq_W4LnI9DA
Okay this is what I needed today!!!!! (I apologize for not posting sooner)
But THIS!!!!
As a big blue fan this is so exciting and honestly Eli is my favorite Giant 💙💙. He just is such a down to earth guy and I love his humor!!! The Chad Power Clips are hilarious and also everyone should watch his dirty dancing commercial!
And adding in GLEN!!!! I don’t think I can take it!!! I love him busy and thriving and every new project is music to my ears!
Eli Manning and Glen Powell!!! @hangmanbradshaw we are getting even closer to your universe!!!!
This is great news!!!
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zylice · 6 months
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Okay so Loki is a character I’ve loved for a decade (I adore the actor too) and I was hyped beyond reason for the show and I wanted more than anything to enjoy it as I love him and time travel stuff but I couldn’t. The pacing was too slow, Tom’s acting was off (which sucks because we all know how well he usually plays Loki) and they made Loki into a a childish, pathetic and powerless WIMP! He’s a GOD FFS! He should be more powerful than the likes of Carol Danvers, Doctor Strange and Wanda Maximoff! He wielded TWO Infinity Stones in the first Avengers movie (Space & Mind) so why does he get beaten up by vaccuums and mortal humans in his show? And why is this show not even about him as Sylvie says? They turned him into a laughing stock and a sap where he used to be one of the coolest characters ever. Mysterious, cunning, smart, witty, funny (not in a stupid way) and always had a regal presence. Not that of an idiotic office worker! I blame Disney and Michael Wallydron for the terrible writing and direction this show took. I don’t want to watch my favourite character get kicked in the crotch a dozen times and castrated of a personality and power he once had! What a disrespect to the fans, actors and franchise this nonsense was! Tom may be a ‘producer’ but he said that he only had 3% input! They should have just let him write, direct AND act it and be DONE with it! What happened to his Jotun heritage huh? FORGOTTEN! Give us fans what we want and deserve instead of what Disney want! They want to make him into a joke! THEY RUINED one of my all time favourite characters and it HURTS BADLY!!! 😤😭😪💔
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IF SOMEBODY FROM MARVEL STUDIOS IS HERE ON TUMBLR PLEASE DON’T HAVE MICHAEL WALDRON WRITE KANG DYNASTY AND SECRET WARS!!!! I BEG YOU!!!! THE MAN DOESN’T KNOW ITS A UNIVERSE!!! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO CARE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN PAST AND NOT WING IT YOUR WAY!!!! DEFINITELY ONE DOES NOT INDULGE YOUR CHARACTER IN SELFCEST!!! THIS GUY WROTE LOKI SEASON 1 AND DOCTOR STRANGE IN MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS AND YET FAIL TO CONNECT THE TWO ????? NOT JUST THAT BUTCHERED ALL THE CHARACTER ARCS!!!!!! MoM HAD THE MOST STUPID WRITING EVER????????? PLEASE ANYONE ELSE BUT MICHAEL !!!!! ERIC MARTIN WOULD DO OR MAY BE CHANGE UP A BIT GIVE POC WRITERS A CHANCE INSTEAD ???????? IMAN IS RIGHT THERE!!???????
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lokiondisneyplus · 9 months
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Additional directors named for 'Loki' Season 2
Loki Season 1 Production Designer Kasra Farahani, and longtime Marvel VFX Supervisor Dan Deleeuw (Loki S1, Avengers: Endgame) have both been named as additional directors for Season 2 of the series.
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In addition, two new confirmed cast members - including a returning Neil Ellice (Hunter D-90), as well as Liz Carr (Silent Witness, The Witcher) have been officially announced by Disney/Marvel.
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Tom Hiddleston will once again be an executive producer, alongside directors Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead, head writer Eric Martin, and show creator Michael Waldron.
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fluffycakesistainted · 11 months
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Michael Waldron 🤝🏼 Matt Reeves 🤝🏼 Denis Villeneuve 🤝🏼 centering and hyping the Love Story in their non-Romance-genre, actiony tentpoles
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