Loki Season 1 Took Unexpected Inspiration From Teletubbies

"Loki" remains the best TV show in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — a show with a clear vision, great visuals that stood out from the formula of the franchise, and a fantastic and self-contained story that actually developed its main character and took him to new places, including a rare romance in the MCU. All of this while also expanding the overall Marvel universe by properly introducing the idea of the multiverse that has consumed Marvel the past few years, but doing more with the concept than even "Multiverse of Madness."

Indeed, in episode 5, Loki wakes up in the Void at the end of time, a place where those punished by the TVA are sent; a place where Loki meets several variants of himself. While the Void itself looks like your standard post-apocalyptic wasteland inspired by "Mad Max," this one stands out by being inspired in part by "Teletubbies." Yes, you read that right.

In an interview with BuzzFeed, director Kate Herron said she imagined this empty void as not a deserted apocalypse, but as an overgrown garden, the place "where the TVA throw their rubbish in."

"I realized as it started to unravel that I'd basically pitched the British countryside. As we were building it, I was like, 'Am I just homesick?' I remember trying to explain it to the visual effects artists who were making it, and I was like, 'You know, it's like the Teletubbies. You know, rolling hills just one after another.' So, yeah, the Teletubbies became a useful reference when describing The Void. So, that's how they played a hand in it."

"Teletubbies" is one of the strangest British exports, a children's TV series focusing on four weird alien-like creatures of different colors, each with a differently shaped antenna that comes out of their heads. The name Teletubbies refers to the literal television screens they have in their bellies (hence the antenna). Rather than teach toddlers anything useful, or offer emotionally intelligent stories like the masterpiece that is "Bluey," "Teletubbies" is all about gibberish. No, really, the Teletubbies don't really talk but say gibberish and just walk around eating only two things — custard and toast. 

The show is probably best remembered for the Baby Sun, a sun which has the face of a baby. The show even got a reboot from Netflix. Not only that, but somehow the bright colors and toddler-looking characters were enough to turn "Teletubbies" into a huge sensation around the world and even made their way to influencing the MCU in a small way. After the namedrop by Kate Herron, the official "Teletubbies" Twitter account responded by sharing a monstrosity, a Loki variant that looks like Dipsy but with Loki horns — pure nightmare fuel.