Loki Director Reveals The Teletubbies Helped Inspire Disney+ Show

Strangely enough, the upcoming Loki series was partially inspired by the kids’ show Teletubbies. Tom Hiddleston will once again play mischievous god Loki for the MCU, though this project is already a major departure from his past appearances for one reason: He’ll be the main character of this story. Following his untimely (and for the first time, final) death in Avengers: Infinity War, Loki seemed to finally be gone for good. However, following a mishap during the heroes’ Time Heist in Avengers: Endgame, an alternate version of Loki escaped with the Tesseract.

Loki will pick up with that “variant” of the onetime villain as he embarks on an adventure across time and space. His movements get him into trouble with the Time Variance Authority, an organization tasked with maintaining the balance of time. Loki must partner up with the TVA and agent Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson) to put things back in order, or else suffer worse consequences. Loki also stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wunmi Mosaku, Sophia Di Martino, and Richard E. Grant.

When compared to previous MCU projects, Loki promises to be one of the stranger ones. That even extends to its inspirations, which are far more varied than one might expect. As part of an EW article on the series (via princloki), series director Kate Herron shared three of the main inspirations for Loki: Blade Runner, Mad Men, and… Teletubbies. Herron refused to explain how the last one works, simply saying, “You’re just gonna have to wait until June 11.” Loki has since changed premiere dates and will debut on June 9.

British kids’ series Teletubbies became a global phenomenon when it first aired from 1997 to 2001 and was even revived back in 2015. The odd-looking Teletubbies were known for their distinctly shaped antennas and gibberish language, and the fact that they somehow helped inspire Loki is odd to say the least. Perhaps Loki will visit a world that resembles the one in Teletubbies? Or, maybe Herron and creator Michael Waldron just wanted to capture the same whimsical feel of the kids’ program. Either way, fans will have to watch the show to find out the truth.

The first two Marvel offerings to debut on Disney+ have differed considerably in their general aesthetics and tone. While WandaVision was a unique, sitcom-inspired mediation on grief, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier offered a more traditional Marvel tale that nonetheless dealt with PTSD and racial issues in America. Where Loki will fall on this spectrum remains to be seen, but the early glimpses have hinted at a time-bending mystery. Its connection to the Teletubbies only makes it more interesting, as odd as that may sound. Everything will become clearer when Loki arrives next month.

Loki premieres June 9 on Disney+.