Kate Herron isn’t quite a household name when it comes to filmmaking. And as she discusses in the new episode of The Playlist Podcast, it’s that reality that drove her to create a 60-page pitch document that helped her land the biggest gig of her career, “Loki.”
Previously, Herron worked on series such as “Daybreak” and “Sex Education,” but “Loki” marks the point where she gets to tackle a genre that is so near and dear to her heart—sci-fi. And though “Loki” is clearly a part of the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe, filled with superheroes in capes and cowls, the new Disney+ streaming series owes more to “Blade Runner” and other sci-fi classics than it does “Avengers.”
“I wanted the whole show to be this love letter to sci-fi, so I stole from multiple sci-fi films [laughs],” she explained. “‘Blade Runner,’ ‘Metropolis,’ the book [version of] ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ for the fish out of water aspect. The font on the computers is sort of inspired by the font used in ‘Alien.’ The time doors in the show are from ‘Dune.’ There were lots of stuff we were kind of referencing.”
She added, “The TVA is outside of space and outside of time. It’s not a planet. There is no sun. It’s this unknowable place. So, it’s like, how do you capture the unknowable and make it a living, breathing office space?”
“Loki” tells the story of the title character, the God of Mischief, who died at the end of “Avengers: Infinity War” but is reborn when the time heist in ‘Endgame’ goes awry and a past version of Loki corrupts the sacred timeline and upsets the Time Variance Authority (TVA). And because of this set-up, the series feels akin to something like “X-Files,” marking a big departure for the character and the MCU, as a whole.
However, don’t expect more than one season of “Loki,” despite what reports are saying.
“For me, I feel like it’s the one season,” she said. “You never know what Kevin Feige is planning, but as far as I’m aware, this is Loki’s story and this is what I’m on for.”
So, with “Loki” under her belt and the future looking pretty damn bright, Herron explained that she’s a massive fan of the MCU and has her eye on one character in particular that she’d love to take a shot at.
“I’m a massive Spider-Man fan,” Herron explained. “That would be a dream of mine. I think Tom Holland is fantastic and I’ve really been enjoying his version of the character.
“Loki” debuted today on Disney+ with new episodes arriving weekly. You can hear the full discussion below:
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