Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for ‘Loki’ Season 2
The Big Picture
The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first-ever second season is finally here with Loki Season 2, and the brand-new character of OB (played by Academy Award-winner Ke Huy Quan) is already the best part of the season. Hands down. Marvel’s decision to cast Ke Huy Quan in the second chapter of its most acclaimed MCU show was a stroke of genius, as the actor has been enjoying a remarkable career resurgence over the past year. While Quan has always been a beloved pop-culture figure due to his child star roles in films like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, he took an extended hiatus from acting and seemingly retired in 2002. That hiatus came to an end in 2022 when Quan starred in the acclaimed and beloved Everything Everywhere All at Once, which not only earned Quan an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, but the film would also go on to win six more Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Now, Ke Huy Quan has enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Disney+. He first starred in the fan-favorite graphic novel adaptation of American Born Chinese, and has now become an instant fan-favorite in the early moments of Loki. Hopefully, this is just the start of a great MCU hero.
Who is OB in ‘Loki’ Season 2?
The premiere episode of Loki Season 2 begins moments after Season 1 concluded, featuring Loki (Tom Hiddleston) reuniting with Agent Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku). Loki is understandably shaken up when speaking with them as he met the elusive He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) just moments ago, and now that Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) has killed him, the variants of He Who Remains (including Kang the Conqueror) are free to terrorize the multiverse. However, when Loki tries to tell his friends about what happened, Loki sees that Mobius and B-15 don’t recognize him and the TVA he’s in worships He Who Remains.
However, Loki doesn’t stay in this different part of time for long, as he seems to be suffering from a condition called time-slipping, which bounces him back and forth between the future and the present. This condition functions similarly to the glitches in the Spider-Man: Spider-Verse films, but fixing this is a lot more complicated than putting on a bracelet. Now back in the present with a Mobius that recognizes him, the TVA agent takes Loki to the repair division of the organization to see what they can do.
It’s in the repairs department where Loki and Mobius meet the character of Ouroboros, who seems to recognize Mobius as an old friend and prefers the nickname OB. The feeling isn’t mutual as Mobius has no memory of ever meeting OB, though he doesn’t share that information. OB sees Loki’s condition and immediately recognizes it as “time-slipping” but acknowledges that it shouldn’t exist. Things get even weirder when Loki time-slips into the past and meets a young OB.
Loki Season 2 also introduces that the TVA’s members have had their memories wiped at various points, but OB appears to be an exception. All while Loki is speaking to the past version of OB, the present-day version of OB begins recounting his conversation with Loki to Mobius. With all this in mind, the quick-thinking and fast-talking OB comes up with a wild yet dangerous plan to cure Loki of his time-slipping. It works, and now Loki and Mobius have a beneficial new ally as they figure out how to stop the variants of He Who Remains and find Sylvie.
OB in ‘Loki’ Season 2 Pays Homage to Ke Huy Quan’s Past Performances
In a lot of ways, OB in Loki Season 2 feels tailor-made for Ke Huy Quan. A big reason for that is how the character of Ouroboros almost feels like a living embodiment of Quan’s greatest hits. Virtually all the key performances from Ke Huy Quan that have made him the beloved superstar that he is today feel represented here, and the character of Ouroboros takes full advantage of all of Quan’s strengths as an Academy Award-winning actor.
For starters, it is almost impossible not to think about Quan’s groundbreaking performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once, which also happens to take place in a multiverse-trekking storyline. In fact, the financial and critical success of Everything Everywhere All at Once is often credited as a reason behind the current multiverse boom that Hollywood is obsessed with. Once again, Ke Huy Quan plays another guide to this wacky, unique, and engaging multiverse world, all of which is motivated by a profound sense of right and a fierce desire to do good.
Another character that instantly comes to mind with Ouroborus is Quan’s beloved character Data from The Goonies. As fans of Richard Donner’s all-time classic already know, Data was the tech-head member of the band of young treasure hunters, coming up with all sorts of wacky inventions and gadgets to help them against the Fratelli family. While Ouroborus doesn’t have any slick shoes or hidden boxing gloves (that we know of at least), he’s still a skilled technician and inventor so similar to Data that you could almost make the case that he’s a variant of the young Goony.
Finally, the infectious personality and charisma of Ouroboros feels undeniably similar to the fun-loving nature of Quan’s acting debut, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Though there are elements of the second Indiana Jones film that are divisive, Quan’s Short Round is not one of them, as he has been a consistent fan-favorite from the world-renowned franchise. Much like Data, Short Round is known for his quick thinking practicality, especially when the well-being of his friends hang in the balance.
All that being said, Ouroboros is still able to hold his own as his own character despite feeling reminiscent of Quan’s reputable past work. One of the many things that sets Loki apart from other Marvel properties is how it focuses on many entirely original characters that don’t come from Marvel comics. With the introduction of Ke Huy Quan to the MCU, we have another character alongside Mobius and Hunter B-15 who stands as a great new original addition to the Marvel multiverse.
