The introduction of Sylvie Laufeydottir (Sophia Di Martino), a female variant of the established male Loki, functions as a gender swap that drives significant screen time, romance, and thematic exploration of identity; head writer Michael Waldron explicitly cited desire for representation of gender-fluid and bisexual fans, while director Kate Herron (who is bisexual) highlighted the Episode 3 train scene where Loki confirms attraction to "a bit of both" princes and princesses, making the character's sexuality canon in the MCU. TVA files listing Loki's sex as "fluid" further foreground this. Additionally, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, a Black actress, was cast as Ravonna Renslayer, a white character from the comics, adding a race-swap layer to an established figure who plays a major antagonistic role.