'Loki' Director Kate Herron Will Not Return For Season 2

Kate Herron, who deftly directed all six episodes of Loki's first season on Disney+, is not coming back for Season 2. The director broke the news this morning, much to the surprise and regret of many a Loki fan.

"I'm not returning," Herron told Deadline. "I always planned to be just on for this and to be honest, Season 2 wasn't in the — that's something that just came out and I'm so excited. I'm really happy to watch it as a fan next season, but I just think I'm proud of what we did here and I've given it my all. I'm working on some other stuff yet to be announced."

And what other stuff might that be? Herron didn't share much, but she did confirm that it's outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. "I'm just focused on my own stuff at the moment," she said. "I love Marvel and I'd love to work with them again, but my outing with Loki is what I've done with them."

Who Will Direct Season 2?

In my opinion (an opinion also held by many others), Herron did a remarkable job directing Loki. I really enjoyed her camerawork, especially in the citadel scenes in the season finale. In the sequence where the citadel crosses the time threshold, for example, she zoomed in and out on He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) before moving the camera up and out of the window to show the chaos outside. It really captured the enormity of the moment, and I was there for it.

Herron not coming back for the second season sheds even less light on what might be in store for the show, though I really hope whatever director Marvel taps can fill Herron's shoes. We really know nothing about what Loki season 2 will be, in fact. We don't even know when in the MCU timeline it will come out — will it air before or after Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which is set to premiere on February 17, 2023? So many questions, and Marvel isn't providing answers yet.

It's hard to place bets right now on what will happen. Even saying that the core cast will all be coming back seems premature (though Tom Hiddleston and Sophia di Martino have to come back...don't they?). I just hope beyond all hope that Mobius (Owen Wilson) will get to ride a jet ski someday, steering the vehicle one-handed while chugging a Josta soda. He deserves it.

Season 1 of Loki is now streaming in its entirety on Disney+.