Get the lowdown on the characters of 'Loki' on Disney+

"Loki" has launched, and once again we are presented with a Disney Plus show that could go in many different directions. Let's consult the tea leaves — and the comics and myths on which the show is based — for what they suggest.

TIME VARIANCE AUTHORITY: Marvel's TVA first appeared in 1980s "Thor" comics. It's a little less severe than the TV version — it keeps time variations to a minimum and monitors the ones that exist, rather than pruning them altogether — but just as prone to paperwork and red tape. If nothing else, the TVA suggests that the one constant in the universe is bureaucracy.

TIME-KEEPERS: The Time-Keepers were created by He Who Remains, the last member of the TVA in a previous reality before that universe met its heat death. And no, I'm not going to explain that, because life is short. The only things that are pertinent to "Loki" the TV show are 1) there are three Time-Keepers in the present Marvel Comics reality; 2) they are not to be trusted; and 3) a fourth betrayed the others and was exiled to ancient Egypt. Hmmm. Wonder what he's up to right now?

KANG THE CONQUEROR: The comics TVA is constantly in conflict with various temporal empires, one of which is the Kang Dynasty in Chronopolis, that was founded by the time-traveling supervillain Kang. Kang's timeline is pretty complicated, but generally speaking he hails from the 31st century, though he began life in the 20th century as Nathaniel Richards (father of Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four). I mention this because the anachronism that the time cops found at the end of the first episode was from the "third millennium," which says Kang to me. Especially since the conqueror is already scheduled to appear in the 2023 movie "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," played by Jonathan Majors. Could he appear in "Loki" as a setup for that film? I mean, time travel is his entire shtick, so he'd be on the TVA's radar.

MOBIUS M. MOBIUS: Just like on TV, the bureaucrats of the TVA are born and bred — most are cloned, really — for their function in the organization. Agent Mobius (played by Owen Wilson) is one of these, introduced in 1990s "Fantastic Four" comics.

LOKI LAUFEYSON: Speaking of free will vs. predestination, that's more than a thought experiment for our God of Mischief (Tom Hiddleston). "You don't get to dictate how my story will end!" he yells at Judge Renslayer, but Loki (and the audience) learns the Time-Keepers do exactly that. "It's not your story," the judge replies, "and it never was."

Are Marvel characters all slaves, living out stories dictated by the Time-Keepers?

I will note that Laufeyson is indeed Loki's real surname, at least in the comics. That's because his father was King Laufey of the Storm Giants, who was killed in a war with Asgard. Odin found the littlest giant on the battlefield and adopted him.

LADY LOKI: Speaking of shapeshifting, that goes back all the way to the myths in the comics. So when we have a well-known actress (Sophia Di Martino) listed in the "Loki" credits without saying who she's going to play, and a Loki variant whose face we haven't yet seen, what are the odds she's going to be Lady Loki? (I think they're pretty good.)

Or perhaps we really are all just fictional characters watching an illusion dictated by aliens. With the God of Mischief involved, you just never know.