Ke Huy Quan made his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and already is a fan favorite, for good reason. Ouroboros is the repair man in the TVA and someone who has, in theory, been sitting alone for hundreds of years. When Mobius (Owen Wilson) is trying to stop Loki (Tom Hiddleston) from time slipping, he takes him to Ouroboros and we learn a lot more about Ke Huy Quan’s character. Not all of it paints the TVA in a great light but it does all make us love O.B. that much more. Just a man dedicated to his work, O.B. clearly wants friends and I am so glad that he has Loki and Mobius to talk to.
This is a sweet guy who maybe doesn’t actually understand how time works until someone paints the picture for him but that’s okay! With Loki and Mobius both explaining at him how the time slipping is happening in real-time, O.B. is realizing what is going on through the different versions of himself—and it is fun to realize that Loki (or Mobius? Who can say) gives him his apt nickname.
He’s just so precious because he’s someone who can clearly see that the TVA is using him but doesn’t let it bring him down. O.B. knows what he does is important and does the work to keep it running. What he doesn’t like is the minute they keep important information from him (like the fact that there are power surges). All of this though works because it’s the brilliant and endlessly charming Ke Huy Quan who is bringing him to life and making those tragic and lonely lines somehow sweet and endearing to the character.
The Ke Huy Quan effect in Loki
As a kid who loved Data very much growing up watching The Goonies, seeing Ke Huy Quan as Ouroboros has given me this giddy feeling. Not that Ourboros is Data per se, but O.B. does have those same kinds of gadets and qualities that made Data my favorite. Running around, trying to fix things is very much an energy from Ke Huy Quan that feels right and at home for me and others who have been fans of him for years. Fans are already celebrating his role as O.B. (and rightfully so).
To be honest, it did make me so sad that for hundreds of years, O.B. was alone. No one came to see him, he worked all day every day to fix the TVA and the only time anyone stopped in was by accident and Mobius didn’t even remember. The fact that O.B. didn’t take that to heart though shows the kind of character that O.B. is supposed to be and makes me excited to see what the future of Loki season 2 has in store for Ke Huy Quan.
I just hope we get more of him, Hiddleston, and Wilson all together because that chemistry? My GOD.
(featured image: Disney+)
