15 Movies And Shows Like Loki You Need To Watch Next

Audiences loved seeing Matt Damon cameo in "Thor: Ragnarok" (2017) as an Asgardian actor playing Loki in a skewed portrayal of his allegedly heroic death. But Damon actually has an even weirder connection to Loki, thanks to his 2011 film, "The Adjustment Bureau."

Based on a 1954 short story by science fiction legend Philip K. Dick, this movie sees Damon's David Norris meet his soulmate Elise (Emily Blunt) in a chance encounter. Unfortunately, their romance is deemed unacceptable by the Adjustment Bureau, a secret society that manipulates time and space to force humans into following the paths they want them to take.

According to the Bureau, David could become president if he's not with Elise — and failure to comply could result in David being "reset" and having his mind erased. Fortunately, David gets help from a sympathetic Bureau agent, Harry (a pre-Falcon Anthony Mackie), who shows him how to sidestep the Bureau's manipulations.

With all the A-list talent the MCU attracts, it's not surprising that multiple Marvel actors show up in this film (John Slattery, a.k.a. Howard Stark, even shows up as an antagonistic Bureau agent). Still, it's remarkable that both the TVA and the Adjustment Bureau use such similarly heavy-handed tactics to determine fate. Maybe Damon's death scene in "Ragnarok" isn't a coincidence, but a warning to Loki not to screw with the TVA?

For those who like their helpful criminals on the sinister side, "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991) reveals that before he became Odin, Anthony Hopkins could have given Loki lessons in manipulation. As the cannibalistic-yet-brilliant Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Hopkins offers his expertise in criminal profiling to Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), an FBI trainee tracking down the serial killer "Buffalo Bill" (Ted Levine). As Starling continues visiting Lecter in his cell, however, it's clear the scheming doctor is getting inside Starling's head and extracting information from her.

Foster and Hopkins' scenes together are the film's highlight, and fans have noticed similarities between Lecter's interrogation and Loki's interaction with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) in "The Avengers" (2012). Much like Lecter, Loki is stuck in a glass prison (designed for the Hulk) when Natasha visits him to uncover his scheme. But while Loki attempts to play his own head games with Natasha, she's even better at manipulation, and quickly gets him to give up crucial info. Maybe Loki should have listened more to his dad when Odin was teaching interrogation tactics ...

Loki and Agent Mobius passionately debate free will in "Loki," a theme also deeply explored in "The Time Traveler's Wife" (2009). While the film is a romantic drama and not an action-adventure, it has multiple actors from Marvel movies. Most prominently, it stars Eric Bana (Bruce Banner from 2003's "Hulk") as Henry, a man with a genetic condition that causes him to travel through time involuntarily.

This odd ability isn't all bad — especially since Henry's future self has traveled back in time to establish a relationship with Clare (Rachel McAdams), a beautiful artist who's already madly in love with him when they first meet in his present. But being a time traveler's wife isn't easy, and Henry and Clare must make peace with the fact that they can't change the good or tragic aspects of their destiny.

This movie marks the beginning of a unique Hollywood trend — namely, Rachel McAdams' tendency to appear in films where she falls in love with time travelers. Following "The Time Traveler's Wife," McAdams appeared in the time traveling films "Midnight in Paris" (2011), "About Time" (2013), and the MCU's "Doctor Strange" (2016). Strangely, McAdams never gets to actually time travel with her lovers. Maybe, when she reappears in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" (2022), she'll be able to convince Stephen to take her to some historical hot spots?

Be honest: After watching Episode 1 of "Loki," you Googled the name "D.B. Cooper" to learn more about the infamous 1971 plane hijacker who remains the only person to successfully commit an unsolved act of air piracy.

Revealed to be one of Loki's many aliases in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the actual D.B. Cooper remains an enigmatic figure whose story has been revisited in multiple films and TV shows. The comedy "Without a Paddle" (2004) follows a group of friends trying to find Cooper's missing loot, while "Prison Break" reveals mild-mannered inmate Charles Westmoreland (Muse Watson) to be D.B. Cooper, who shares the location of his missing money before he dies.

For those interested in a factual exploration of the mysterious hijacker, the HBO documentary "The Mystery of D.B. Cooper" (2020) offers multiple interviews with people involved in the actual case. When it comes to suspects, however, Cooper's identity becomes more complicated. Was he aircraft hijacker Richard Floyd McCoy Jr.? Or was he insurance agent Duane Weber, who claimed to be Cooper on his death bed? Frankly, by the end of the documentary, it might be easier to believe Cooper was Loki after all.

The TVA may frown on rogue variants and branching timelines, but one MCU alum once gleefully forged two separate destinies for herself just by chasing after a subway car. 1998 romantic fantasy film "Sliding Doors" sees Helen (a pre-Pepper Potts Gwyneth Paltrow) slip into two parallel realities when she alternately catches and misses the subway, allowing the movie to tell two separate tales about her life.

In the reality where Helen rides the subway, she gets home early, finds her boyfriend in bed with another woman, and decides to restart her life with handsome new love interest James (John Hannah). In the reality where Helen misses the subway, she remains unaware of her boyfriend's lies and ends up working multiple part-time jobs as her boyfriend tries frantically to cover his infidelity.

The movie proved popular, and its "alternate paths" premise has been used in episodes of many different TV shows, including "Frasier," "Scrubs," "Community," "Psych," and "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt." Basically all of the one-season show "Awake" borrows the premise, in which Jason Isaacs stars as a detective shifting back and forth between a reality where his wife is alive but his son is dead, and another where his son lives but his wife is dead. Clearly, the TVA has its work cut out for them.

Fans of "Loki" debate fiercely whether or not the TVA is truly the benevolent organization it claims to be — something fans of the television show "The Good Place" are very familiar with. When Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) dies and wakes up in a seemingly paradisiacal afterlife, she realizes a mistake has been made, since she's lived the exact opposite of a good life. But when Eleanor learns there are other "bad" souls like her in this heavenly realm, she starts to wonder if "The Good Place" is really what it seems to be.

Displaying the same clever writing fans expect from "Loki," "The Good Place" offers its own spin on time travel, morality, and free will. Considering how difficult Eleanor and her friends find it to become better people and fit into the Good Place, it's possible Loki would find this place just as tedious as the TVA. Then again, considering the show's constant twists, he just might thrive there.

Well known in practically every country except the United States, Japan's "Doraemon" is a long-running franchise that has enjoyed success as a manga, anime, and film series. The premise is simple: Doraemon is a robot cat from the 22nd century who has traveled back in time to help his owner's ancestor Nobita become a better version of himself. Unfortunately, Nobita is a lazy 10-year-old boy who frequently uses the futuristic gadgets Doraemon loans him to impress others, much like a young Loki does.

That said, Doraemon and Nobita also accomplish a great deal of good — not just in Nobita's time, but in other centuries and realms as well. Since Doraemon has a time machine, many stories see Nobita and his friends journey to points in history where they must perform heroic deeds. One storyline even sees Nobita rescue stray dogs and cats who form an advanced civilization and worship him as a god.

Although it's marketed toward children, many "Doraemon" anime episodes and feature films deal with heavy subjects like animal cruelty and environmentalism, and aren't afraid to place their characters in ethically challenging positions. Many an adult has shed a tear watching "Doraemon," and rightfully felt no shame.

Okay, okay, including a DC television show on an MCU recommended viewing list might be sacrilegious. But honestly? "The Flash" (and, frankly, the entire Arrowverse franchise) has so much fun with time travel and alternate universes that it would be a disservice not to mention it.

Drawing from a rich comic book history, "The Flash" offers multiple stories in which Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) visits parallel realities where the main cast gets to play against type. Episodes like Season 2's "Welcome to Earth-2" and Season 5's "Elseworlds Part 1" are particularly stunning. "The Flash" also establishes The CW's "Supergirl" as an alternate world in the wider Arrowverse in the "Supergirl" episode "Worlds Finest" — until her world merges with his during the ambitious "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event, that is. Is it wacky? Yeah. But that's the wonderful thing about superhero fiction!

"Crisis" also allows the showrunners to pay homage to practically all the DC TV shows and movies that came before the Arrowverse. Multiple worlds are briefly shown (and temporarily destroyed), from the 1960s "Batman" realm to Richard Donner's "Superman" film series. Even the DCEU's Flash (Ezra Miller) pops in briefly to say hi to his TV counterpart. The MCU appears to be dipping its toes into similarly multiversal storytelling, but in this one instance, DC beat Marvel to the punch.