If You Love The Sci-Fi Weirdness Of Loki, Try These Time-Jumping Shows Next
Your brain may break, but that's OK.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe just got so much more confusing, and it’s all thanks to Loki. The latest Marvel series ripped about a million holes in the movie universe’s space-time continuum, setting up time travel, alternate dimensions, and a lot more weirdness for future Marvel releases. Loki’s trips through time and space weren’t always easy for viewers to wrap their heads around, but that’s also part of what made them so exciting. If you loved Tom Hiddleston embrace the weirdness, there are plenty of other time-jumping shows like Loki that’ll blow your mind.
Warning: Spoilers for the Loki Season 1 finale follow. In its much-hyped Phase 4, Marvel is doubling down on its magical side by shifting the focus from intergalactic battles to reality-warping weirdness, and Loki was an important setup for that. Although time travel became a part of the MCU in Avengers: Endgame, Loki took the concept to an entirely new level by introducing the overseeing Time Variance Authority, along with the concept of all-powerful Time Lords and the long-awaited time-traveling supervillain Kang. The series focused heavily on variants — alternate versions of the same person from different timelines — which added to all the paradoxical confusion inherent in a show about messing with time. But Loki is far from the first TV series to explore the big, tricky questions related to time. Add these trippy shows to your watchlist if you’re hungry from more of that sci-fi Loki weirdness:
1. Rick and Morty
Yes, I know that Rick and Morty is favorite among all the worst people (Elon Musk and Kanye West are annoyingly vocal fans), but despite that, it actually is an incredibly fun and inventive show that explores a lot of similar big time travel questions that are addressed in Loki. In each episode of the Back to the Future-inspired cartoon, narcissistic genius Rick and his neurotic grandson Morty travel through space and time to tackle strange, unpredictable dilemmas. As in Loki, there’s a lot of focus on variant-timeline versions of main characters, as well as portals to strange new planets and dimensions. Rick and Morty is available to stream on Hulu and HBO Max.
2. Doctor Who
Perhaps more than any other series, Loki has most often been compared to the long-running British sci-fi series Doctor Who. It’s easy to see why: Both shows center on a time-traveling protagonist who goes on bizarre adventures across time and space. For fans of Loki, Doctor Who is a perfect follow-up watch, and you won’t run out of episodes anytime soon once you start. The cult-beloved series began in 1963 and is still running to this day, meaning there are nearly a thousand episodes for you to get lost in. Doctor Who is available to stream on HBO Max.
3. The Umbrella Academy
Loki may step away from the typical superhero genre a bit, but it’s still an action-packed superhero show at heart, much like The Umbrella Academy. Another comic book adaptation, The Umbrella Academy centers on the disillusioned Hargreeves siblings, each of whom has a unique ability. Fans of Loki will be most drawn to Five, a boy with the ability to jump through space and time. Very similarly to Loki’s TVA storyline, Five quickly learns about a bureaucratic Commission that oversees all paradoxes and abnormalities within the timeline. The Umbrella Academy is available to stream on Netflix.
4. Heroes
NBC’s ambitious superhero drama Heroes is a great watch for any Marvel fan, and anyone who enjoyed Loki will be happy to know time travel plays a pivotal role in the show. The mid-2000s cult fave imagined a world in which several ordinary people begin to discover they have superpowers at around the same time. One of the main character is Hiro Nakamura, a Japanese office worker who gains the ability to travel through time. Hiro comes to learn this power is both a blessing and a curse, as he tries to hone his ability and save the world from destruction. Heroes is available to stream on Peacock.
5. Misfits
For a more down-to-earth and unique take on sci-fi, nothing can beat Misfits. The inventive British series focuses on a group of five troublemakers who gain superpowers during a thunderstorm at the center where they were sentenced to do community service work. One of them, Curtis, develops the ability to rewind time under specific conditions. Although time travel isn’t a major part of the first couple seasons, it becomes a central element of the show later on, when the gang begins to develop new powers. Misfits is available to stream on Hulu.
6. Legion
Loki actually isn’t the weirdest, most confusing show to come from the Marvel comics. That honor no doubt belongs to Legion, the mega-trippy FX series about Charles Xavier’s schizophrenic son. Because of his diagnosis and his incredibly strong psychic powers, David Haller is often left unsure of what’s real and what isn’t, taking the viewers along on his reality-bending journey. If you wanted Loki to be even more confusing and strange, then this is the show for you. Legion is available to stream on Hulu.
7. Russian Doll
Loki’s adventures take him across the universe to the very edges of space and time, whereas in Russian Doll, Nadia really never departs from a couple of blocks in New York City. Still, the two shows have a lot in common, mostly because they both hinge on a bizarre, time-related mystery. Nadia finds herself repeating the same day in a loop, and to try to break the pattern, she sets out to find others like her and get to the bottom of why time is folding in on itself. Russian Doll is available to stream on Netflix.
8. 12 Monkeys
Loki gave a lot of attention to the seemingly all-knowing organizations that oversee all of time, and that’s something it has in common with the 2015 Syfy series 12 Monkeys. That show follows a pair of time travelers brought together by a mysterious organization in order to stop another mysterious organization from releasing a deadly plague onto the world. Obviously, there’s a lot of mysterious organizations involved, so it’s perfect for Loki fans who loved theorizing about details about the TVA. 12 Monkeys is available to stream on Hulu.
9. Timeless
Jumping from one time period to the next was a big part of the fun at the beginning of Loki, and if you were really into that, then Timeless is a great choice for you next watch. The short-lived NBC series followed a soldier, engineer, and history teacher who team up when a time machine is stolen. The trio soon learns the burglar is planning to use the machine to rewrite American history, so they follow the villain through time in order to try to protect the timeline. Timeless is available to stream on Hulu.
10. WandaVision
I mean, duh. Chances are, if you watched Loki, then you’d already seen WandaVision as well. But just in case you didn’t, it’s well worth watching Loki’s unofficial companion piece not only because it trades in the same reality-warping weirdness as its Marvel counterpart, but also because the two shows work together to set up several future Marvel movies — most notably, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and although this isn’t confirmed, it’s very likely they also set up Spider-Man: No Way Home. Basically, if you watched Loki, you need to watch WandaVision too. WandaVision is available to stream on Disney+.
