Loki is opening up a brand-new chapter in the small-screen branch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, giving the spotlight to an alternate version of Tom Hiddleston's God of Mischief.
The series immediately follows the events of Avengers: Endgame, and it revolves around Loki being arrested by the Time Variance Authority for his crimes against the Sacred Timeline.
The first episode established this basic premise, showing off how the TVA works while also introducing new MCU characters like Owen Wilson's Mobius and Gugu Mbatha-Raw's Ravonna Renslayer. It was also revealed during the debut installment that the organization is being threatened by a dangerous variant in the form of another Loki.
The episode ended with Mobius telling Loki that this variant is another version of himself, shocking the Asgardian. As part of the plan, Loki needs to work with the TVA to stop this new threat, ultimately leading to several missions along the way.
Now, in this week's episode, a notable Easter egg from the Thor films has emerged.
THE TVA KNOWS ABOUT THOR'S REVENGERS
In the second episode of Loki, the titular trickster can be seen reviewing the case file of the Ragnarok event from 2017's Thor: Ragnarok. In the file, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it reference to Thor's Revengers was revealed.
This means that the TVA acknowledged the God of Thunder's nickname to his own superhero team in that film.
To recap, Thor coined the term while trying to recruit Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner and Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie to save Asgard from Hela. Ultimately, Tom Hiddleston's Loki joined the ensemble, and the team eventually defeated the Goddess of Death by unleashing Surtur to destroy Asgard once and for all.
THOR: RAGNAROK'S SUPER-TEAM
Easter eggs are a common staple of MCU projects, and this latest one from the episode of Loki is a fitting reminder of that. Thor: Ragnarok reinvented the Thor franchise like never before, and it's only right that Loki references the film.
During the scene where Loki reviews the Ragnarok files, it's safe to say that he knew that his prime self was part of Thor's Revengers. It's worth pointing out that he already reviewed his “greatest hits” from the first episode while his passing comment about “pushing Hulk from the Rainbow bridge” seems to imply that he knows everything that happened during the final battle of Thor: Ragnarok.
By reading the file, there's a strong chance that he is somewhat affected by his heroism during the pivotal moment in Asgard's history, thus helping in his evolution into a full-blown hero in the Disney+ series. Seeing him fight side-by-side with Thor, Valkyrie, and the Hulk especially, could change his perception not just of these heroes, but also of himself.
It remains to be seen if another iteration of the Revengers will return in a future MCU project, but it would be fitting if Loki will follow his brother's footsteps by forming his own version of the super-powered team. Given that there's a chance that the TVA could potentially be a shady organization, it's not hard to imagine a scenario where Loki recruits his redeemed Variants to take them down.
Only time will tell if this happens, but Loki's path to heroism shouldn't be far behind. The first two episodes of Loki are now streaming on Disney+.
