Loki Episode 2: What Is The Song In The First Scene?
Contains spoilers for "Loki" Episode 2
Two episodes in and the mischief is in full force on Marvel's newest Disney+ series, "Loki." Everyone's favorite trickster, played by Tom Hiddleston, has become fully embroiled in a time-traveling caper inspired by classic crime thrillers – an adventure sure to threaten Loki's dearly held "glorious purpose."
The first episode of "Loki," which premiered on Disney+ on June 9, ends with the intriguing reveal that the hooded killer who's been going after the Time Variance Authority's Minutemen and stockpiling their reset charges is actually also Loki — just a different (and arguably, better) version of him. After the apocalyptic hurricane of "Loki" Episode 2, we know now that this other, murderously mischievous Loki is Lady Loki, played by Sophia Di Martino.
We first see her in action, hooded and shadowy, at the very beginning of the episode, when a team of Minutemen enter a mostly empty tent at a renaissance faire in 1980s Wisconsin. They're looking for a variant — a person who's gone against their predetermined timeline, like the Loki at the center of the series — inside the faire when a speaker starts blaring at them, welcoming them loudly as if onto an amusement park ride. "My lords, my ladies, welcome and thank you for joining us here at the castle," the voice says. "Please, settle into your seats for a great battle is about to commence. The prize? Our princess. Will evil prevail? Or are we holding out for a hero?"
And that's when the needle drops on an iconic song over the short-lived fight scene.
Don't hold out for a hero while watching Loki
It's Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero" that starts playing while Lady Loki mind-controls the Minuteman commander and swiftly takes out her team. Most people have probably heard this song: It's a classic, having originally been created by Jim Steinman, Dean Pitchford, and Bonnie Tyler for 1984's "Footloose," as noted by the A.V. Club.
The lyrics tell of a woman hoping for a strong, fast, traditionally masculine man to come and save her from ... something. Loneliness, perhaps? It's a fitting song for a superhero franchise like Marvel, just by the main line, "I'm holding out for a hero," but is used cheekily here in "Loki." After all the terrible things Loki has done — and remembering that this variant doesn't get so far as to defend his people in "Thor: Ragnarok" — he's far from a hero. In fact, the song seems absurdly perfect at juxtaposing him with his brother, Thor.
First, there are the opening lines: "Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods? / Where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds?" Until this series, Loki's always been playing opposite or alongside his adoptive brother Thor (Chris Hemsworth) in the Marvel movies. Now, we're missing that good ol' thunder god. Amusingly, the lyrics do reference one superhero, but he's not from Marvel: "It's gonna take a Superman to sweep me off my feet." After that, the song has a lot of storm imagery with thunder and lightning, making it an obvious choice for Thor and thus a humorous one for Loki.
Unfortunately for the Minutemen, no heroes come to save them from the villainous Lady Loki. Is this song teasing something in the coming episodes — like, say, Loki blossoming into a hero, or that there's more to Lady Loki's motivation than we think? It could go either way. But it might also just be a high-energy, ironic pick to play over our villain's certified thrashing of the TVA.
New episodes of "Loki" are available for streaming on Disney+ on Wednesdays.