Loki season 2 delivered more than its fair share of surprises, but when it came to Variants, we didn't get to see anywhere near as many as in the first batch of episodes. Instead, we got to see where our favourite TVA agents originally hailed from on the Sacred Timeline, including the newly introduced Ourobouros, a.k.a. O.B.
He was a science-fiction writer before being recruited by He Who Remains for his army, and concept artist Aleksi Briclot has now shared some of the many alternate designs considered for the character before Ke Huy Quan was cast.
Each of them brings something very different to the table; we have a couple of elderly takes on the character and one who almost looks a little Loki-like. However, we'd argue that the first one is perhaps the most intriguing.
As Briclot explains, "This guy has an Ouroboros snake pattern tattooed on his head. I tried to avoid being too obvious so I made it small like some thin crown. The 'recycle' logo on the wall is also a nod to the character: the giant snake/dragon eating its own tail."
"And I made him blind like he’s looking at the universe and all the time variation with some kind of third eye or another sense."
It's always fun to see what might have been, of course, even if it is now impossible to imagine anyone other than Quan playing O.B. The TVA is expected to factor into Deadpool 3, though there's no word on whether we can expect any of Loki's characters to be among the agents who appear in the threequel (Owen Wilson, for example, is thought to have been replaced by Matthew Macfadyen).
Last year, Briclot shared another take on O.B., revealing the character was once a Variant of Loki's Mobius. You can check that out here.
Loki season 2 will pick up in the aftermath of the shocking season finale when Loki finds himself in a battle for the soul of the Time Variance Authority. Along with Mobius, Hunter B-15 and a team of new and returning characters, Loki navigates an ever-expanding and increasingly dangerous multiverse in search of Sylvie, Judge Renslayer, Miss Minutes and the truth of what it means to possess free will and glorious purpose.
The series stars Tom Hiddleston, Sophia Di Martino, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wunmi Mosaku, Eugene Cordero, Rafael Casal, Tara Strong, Kate Dickie, Liz Carr, Neil Ellice, with Jonathan Majors, Ke Huy Quan and Owen Wilson.
Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead, Dan Deleeuw and Kasra Farahani direct episodes. The Head Writer is Eric Martin.
All episodes of Loki season 2 are now streaming on Disney+.