Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the Loki Season 2 finale.

The Big Picture

Ke Huy Quan joined Loki Season 2 as O.B., a charming and enigmatic character who acts as a guide for the team through the bizarre corners of the TVA. Quan had an amazing experience working with the established cast and crew of Loki, feeling welcomed and supported from day one. Quan expresses interest in continuing to appear in the MCU and other franchises like Star Wars, and reveals that there may be opportunities for O.B. to return in future Marvel projects.

While Loki Season 2 brought back the cast that fans fell in love with from Season 1, there were also a few new faces brought in to the chaos of the TVA. Bringing in his charm and effervescent energy is Ke Huy Quan, who comes in as the enigmatic and cheerful Ouroboros, better known to his friends as O.B. The sole worker of the Repairs and Advancements division of the TVA, we first meet O.B. in Episode 1 of Season 2 when Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Mobius (Owen Wilson) go down to the bowels of the TVA to search for someone to help with Loki’s time slipping. Throughout the season, O.B. acts as a guide to the more bizarre corners of the TVA, explaining the details of the temporal loom and trying to help the gang figure out how to save the multiverse. We last see him in the finale at the new and improved TVA working alongside his colleagues after Loki makes the ultimate sacrifice to save all of the branches of time.

Ke Huy Quan is perhaps best known recently for his Oscar-award winning role as Waymond from Everything Everywhere All at Once, but also for his iconic roles as both Data from The Goonies and Short Round from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Collider spoke with Quan about stepping into the show and what it was like joining the cast and crew of the MCU series. He discussed and praised collaborative series and working in a supportive environment. He expressed not only an interest in continuing to appear in the MCU but also in other franchises, such as Star Wars.

Loki Loki, the God of Mischief, steps out of his brother’s shadow to embark on an adventure that takes place after the events of “Avengers: Endgame.” Release Date June 9, 2021 Cast Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Richard E. Grant Seasons 2 Franchise Marvel

Ke Huy Quan on Joining the ‘Loki’ Family
COLLIDER: Can you talk about how it was stepping into Loki Season 2 working with this already established team? What was it like?

KE HUY QUAN: Well, first of all, when I decided to become an actor, again, joining the MCU was at the top of my wish list. So I could not believe it. One, when Kevin Feige called me and asked me to be a part of the MCU, and, second, when I read this character, it was amazing. I fell in love with O.B. right on the pages. It was so well written and defined. And I knew who he was right away. And of course, in the beginning, I was a little intimidated because series one was a huge hit. And when they did Season 2, it’s pretty much the same family. They all know each other, especially, you know, the chemistry between Owen Wilson and Tom Hiddleston was amazing. So I was a little worried. I didn’t know how I would fit in.

But the first day when I arrived on set, when I flew to London, immediately they welcomed me with wide open arms. I can feel the love, the warmth, the care that you know that they have. And Tom was so incredible, he was so caring. He said, “Ke, are you okay? Anything I can do?” You know, and he’s like, “Is there anything you need to know?” He was just [there] for me from day one. Of course, him playing this character for the last 12 years and being a part of this universe for this long, he has this vast knowledge of it. He was always available if I ever needed.

So, let me tell you, Therese, I had so much fun making this show. I didn’t want it to end. I wanted to continue on forever. In fact, we were scheduled to have reshoots this February. And I kept waiting and waiting, and I was just looking forward to going back to London. Then, all of a sudden, I got this call saying, “We don’t need it anymore. It’s perfect. We got everything we need.” So that was incredible. It was a little disappointing, but I was very proud because Loki became the very first Marvel project that didn’t require reshoots.

Oh, wow. I didn’t know that. That’s amazing. I’m sad that you didn’t get to go back to London, though, for reshoots. I talked to some of the other people working on this show. And it sounded like it was a very collaborative creative process. I talked to Dan Deeleuw, about you guys all working together on the season. Can you talk about being a part of that creative process, and if you had a hand in that at all?

QUAN: You know, I learned so much making this show, because when I first got on, I was invited to the rehearsal room, where I see Tom and Owen, and our writers, in the room working on a scene. And I sat there, and I witnessed, like, they care so much about the show. And they were fixing the scene, they were fixing the dialogue. And it came all the way down to what words to use, what adjective to use. It was incredible to witness. Everyone cared about this so much, and they approach it with a lot of love, a lot of passion and a lot of care, because the fans love this character. So for me to be a part of that was amazing.

And everybody was just so friendly. We had the best crew every single day. You can feel the energy and the love from every single one because we all know that what they’re making on set is going to be loved and watched and enjoyed by millions of people. So many of the crew came up to me and said, “Wow, I’m so happy to be able to do this.” They all feel so grateful. And so fortunate to be a part of that. I’ve never seen that before. And I have the same sense of gratitude towards it, too.

What Did Ke Huy Quan Use as Inspiration for O.B.?
I’m curious, because I spoke with Natalie Holt, and she was telling me that Tom Hiddleston gave her a book of poetry that he was using as inspiration. And actually, I think somebody else also told me the same thing. Did you have anything like that for O.B. when you were prepping for this role?

QUAN: No, no, because I didn’t need it. Because, one, the character was very well written on the pages. I fell in love with him instantly. And I had a long conversation with our showrunner, Kevin Wright. And I also had a separate meeting with Eric Martin. Both of them created this character; it wasn’t based on the comics, they created this wonderful character. And based on my conversation with them, and what they put on the pages, I knew who he was, and I felt that there was a sense of familiarity with his character, because if you think about it, he’s kind of like a variant of Data from The Goonies. And just being on set, I was so inspired because they are so good at what they do. Especially the relationship between Tom and Owen. They were always there, especially Tom, who was always there, ready to give a helping hand, or answer any questions that I had.

Yeah, it was a lot of fun. And, honestly, from production design, to costume design, every morning, when I put on that jumpsuit, designed by Christine Wada, it’s incredible. It’s like, “Wow, how lucky am I to be able to do this?” And believe it or not, every set that you see on the show… Now, I didn’t expect them to build sets. I thought it was going to be blue screens all around. But they built all those sets, they were all practical. The only thing that was visual effects was outside the window, the temporal loom chamber. Outside was CGI, but everything inside was practical. We can touch, we can feel, we can step on. And so that was a big help to me.

Could We See Different Versions of O.B. in the Future?
I think that definitely, you can feel that more. It feels more tangible to us as viewers, I think too. And you know, talking about the season, when your character popped up, in shows like this, people have theories. They always come up with crazy ideas. For me, my crazy theory was that O.B. was a Kang variant because he just seemed a little bit too involved in the creation of the TVA. But I’m curious if you have any theories about what made him a variant, or about his life before the TVA?

QUAN: You know, it was a lot of fun reading some of those comments. And I gotta give it to the fans who are so creative. Some of the stuff that they come up with are so interesting and fascinating. And, you know, I’ve read about him being a Kang variant. But honestly, you know, the reason why I love O.B. so much is he’s so pure. You know? He doesn’t think about anything but his job. He loves his job so much. And he approaches it with so much love and enthusiasm. I think it’ll be kind of sad to see him end up turning out to be a bad guy, even though I would love to play a bad guy. But it was a lot of fun. And honestly, you know, our show wouldn’t be what it is without the fans. But it was really interesting to read all those comments. And, Therese, I am so relieved and so happy that the fans love O.B. as much as I do.

Image via Disney+

I mean, it’s inevitable, Ke! Any character you play, I just ended up falling in love with. He was definitely one of the most delightful characters to see on screen

QUAN: Therese, thank you, you’re very sweet.

And, are there any discussions of seeing you in other future Marvel projects? I mean, I know there’s probably stuff you can’t tell me. But this is a world of variants, are there any stories that you would like to be a part of?

QUAN: Well, you know, that’s a question for Mr. Kevin Feige. But I did ask him in the very beginning when he called me to join the MCU family, I said, “Kevin, is this only going to be a one-time thing? Or do we get to see more of him? Because I love him so much.” And he says, “Ke, we always give what the fans want.” So, we’re gonna have to wait and see. And this was last year before the show came out. So, hopefully… I think I will be very sad if this is the [last time] that we see O.B. I would love to continue to play him. I would love to see him as part of the bigger MCU universe. Yeah, he’s great, and it gives me such joy to play him.

What Franchise Does Ke Huy Quan Want To Be a Part Of?
And after being a part of the MCU and, of course, Indiana Jones, I want to know if there’s any other franchises that you want to be a part of? Because, obviously, there are a lot of franchises that exist now, Disney has many just under their umbrella. Is there one that’s your white whale beyond the MCU?

QUAN: I love the MCU. You know, I was able to connect with my Indiana Jones family during the award season. And, as you know, Kathleen Kennedy was the producer. And she’s the head of Lucasfilm now. I did go up to her and I said, “Kathy, I would love to join the Star Wars family.” That’s another wish list of mine. But honestly, I’ve been very lucky. I’ve been very lucky. This past Halloween, I was able to see a fan — it was a family of four, and they went on Halloween as Short Round, Data, Waymond, and Ouroboros. I saw that picture, and it warmed my heart. I’m so happy when it resonates, when the characters that I play resonate with the audience. So, who knows? I mean, you know, I haven’t been at this for a long time, even though I’ve been in the business for a long time. But I feel like this time around, I’m quite new to this. So I want to be able to play a lot of different characters. And hopefully, you know, yeah…

Yeah, no, I want to see you in Star Wars. I’ll say it for you, I want to see you in Star Wars. I was hoping you’d say that!

QUAN: Therese, I was shameless when I saw Kathy! I went up to give her a big hug. And I said, “Kathy, Kathy, please put me in the Star Wars universe!” [Laughs]

Maybe she sees your performance in the MCU, and you’ll get a call soon!

QUAN: And what’s so great about it, if you think about it, it’s all under the Disney family, you know? So, I was lucky to be Short Round, which is also Disney. And, now MCU, and, you know, I want to stay in the family. It’s great.

Image via Disney+

What’s the Difference Between Working on an Indie Project vs a Marvel Project?
Definitely. And it’s interesting that you’ve been in two multiverse stories and jumping from Everything Everywhere All at Once, which was fantastic and an independent project, to something like a Marvel project, what was the biggest change for you? What was the biggest shift in working on these different scopes of projects?

QUAN: It is very different with Everything Everywhere. We were just a little budget indie movie, we didn’t have the budget. So every single day was like, “Go, go, go, go go,” you know? That was that. But it was also a lot of fun. It felt like the days at film school. A bunch of very creative people get together for the love of storytelling. Now, when it comes to Marvel, it’s on a much bigger scale with a bigger crew. But one thing that I was really surprised by was that I didn’t know, as big as these Marvel projects can be, it can also feel very personal and very intimate. And that’s what we had with Loki, we really became a family.

Every single day, Tom Hiddleston will start the day with a portable speaker, and he would choose a piece of music, and before we see him on the set, we can hear him entering the stage. And as the music gets louder and louder, when it’s at its loudest, we see him. And that piece of music that he picks for the day always lifts everybody up, wakes everybody up, and motivates all of us to do the best we can. And I just love that. And you can feel his love for the character. He’s been playing this character for 12 years, and he still approaches it as if he’s playing it for the first time. And that passion was really inspiring. I want to be that. I learned so much from working with Tom, on how to be a great actor, a great leader, and also a great human being. I really treasure the time that we all spent together in London.

That sounds so nice. Did you have a favorite song that he played in the morning when he came rolling in?

QUAN: Oh, he’s a great DJ, by the way. Every time we have those big sequences when you see the entire cast, he would always pick the piece of music that is right for that scene. Like if it’s very tense, he would pick something that will pick a piece of tense music, or if it’s like we see the timeline being pruned, or disappearing, he would pick a very emotional piece of music to share with all of us, and he would play it while the camera was rolling to help us, so we can all be in sync with our emotions. And it was just wonderful.

All of Loki is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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