Loki: Ke Huy Quan Says The Goonies Inspired His MCU Character

Oscar-winning actor Ke Huy Quan says he used Data — a young yet adventurous character he played in the 1985 film The Goonies — as his main inspiration in bringing his character in Loki Season 2 to life.

The actor celebrated the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike by talking about his latest venture, Loki, which he claimed “he waited a long time to talk about.” Though Quan had previously taken a long break from acting, his return to the big screen — in the critically acclaimed Everything Everywhere All at Once — has changed his life in ways he could never have imagined, having won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Now that the second season of Loki has wrapped up, the actor — who played the TVA technician Ouroboros — shared in an interview with Variety how he developed the character, stating that he had to go 35 years back to when he played Data on The Goonies.

“When I first read the script, I instantly fell in love with Ouroboros. You can see who this character is right away — his quirkiness, his humor, his passion for his job jumps right out of the page. In the process of trying to fine tune how I want to play him, something dawned on me. I realized that this character is familiar to me. I think I know who he is. I have to go back 35 years ago, when I play Data on ‘The Goonies.’” Quan told Variety.

Will there be The Goonies 2?

The future of having The Goonies 2 is still unlikely at this point, but Loki Season 2 — according to the actor himself — is the unofficial sequel to the 1985 adventure comedy, as he has always seen his MCU character as a Data variant.

“So many fans have come up to me, and the most asked question was, “Will there be a ‘Goonies 2’? And what is Data doing as an adult?” This character of Ouroboros is kind of my answer to that. I view him as a variant of Data,” he also told Variety.

He added, “What’s really interesting is, on my first day, I’m in full hair and makeup and costume. I’m walking to the Ouroboros set. They built this amazing set on the second biggest stage at Pinewood Studios. I look up and I see the name of the stage is “Roger Moore.” Now as we all know, Data loves James Bond. The character 007 inspires him tremendously. So I feel like there’s some cosmic connections to this character and Data. Playing him was one of the greatest experiences I’ve had.”

All two seasons of Loki are available to stream on Disney+.