Loki"s OB Was Almost A Variant Of Another MCU Character According To New Concept Art

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Summary

O.B. was originally planned to be a variant of Mobius with red hair and a "mutton chops" beard, which would have changed the dynamic of the show's final group.
Having another Mobius variant would have distracted from the impact of the original character and robbed the world of the beloved O.B.
The concept borrows from Mobius' comic book origins and introducing clones as well as variants would have muddied the waters.

An interesting piece of concept art was just revealed for Loki season 2, revealing that OB almost looked entirely different, and was originally planned to be an MCU variant of another pre-existing character. Variants in the MCU have been shown to take many forms - especially throughout the Loki series - as they can either look completely different (such as Alligator Loki), or identical in almost every way to the "original". The eponymous star of Loki is classed as a variant himself, after all - despite looking, acting, and sounding just like his Sacred Timeline counterpart - and something similar was nearly the case for one of the series' newest fan-favorite characters.
Loki Concept Artist, Aleksi Briclot, revealed via Instagram a concept for Ourobouros, AKA OB. The art shows that OB was seemingly originally planned to be a variant of Mobius with red hair and a "mutton chops" beard. Given that Mobius went to great lengths for most of the show to avoid even considering what his original life was like in the timeline, this would have carried significant implications for how Mobius navigated the obvious fact that another of his variants worked at the TVA. It would have also substantially changed the dynamic of the final group, who collaborated to save the TVA and finally help Loki achieve his glorious purpose in the Loki season 2 ending.

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Why Scrapping OB's Variant Origin Was The Right Call In Loki Season 2

While Mobius is easily one of Loki's best characters, having a duplicate of him in the Loki season 2 cast might have distracted from the impact that the original Mobius had on the show. Not only that, but it would have robbed the world of the O.B. that was ultimately depicted. From the moment he appeared on-screen, O.B. became a firm favorite, thanks in no small part to Ke Huy Quan's exceptional embodiment of the role. Having another Mobius wouldn't necessarily have added anything special, and the idea of identical yet different variants was already well-trodden ground by the time season 2 had sparked up.
The concept does, however, borrow directly from Mobius' comic book origins. Mobius M Mobius in the comics is a TVA agent like Owen Wilson's portrayal of the character. However, he also works alongside his past and future selves in the TVA: Mr. Tesseract and Mr. Paradox, respectively. Mr. Ouroboros, meanwhile, is a clone of Mobius M Mobius, which would explain why the original concept for O.B. looks mostly identical to Mobius. Either way, having O.B. take on the role of a variant of Dr. A.D. Doug was the better move for Marvel, not least for avoiding muddying the waters by introducing clones as well as variants to Loki.
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