Alongside the exciting new projects that have debuted within Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios has utilized its new platform on Disney+ to give fans more looks behind the scenes than ever before.
This has come largely through the Marvel Studios: Assembled series, which has released one episode on each of the four Phase 4 debuts to date, sharing how each was brought to life.
The latest episode centers around the making of Tom Hiddleston's Loki, which consisted of six wild entries telling the God of Mischief's solo story as he faced the biggest challenges in either of his lives. From showcasing deleted scenes to teasing Kang the Conqueror's impending plot for multiversal domination, Assembled is giving fans thrilling new information that adds more depth to this solo adventure.
Along with full scene ideas, Assembled has set a trend of showcasing official Marvel Studios concept art that was used in the development process, some of which don't make it to the final cut.
The episode for Loki continued this trend by showing a classic MCU character that almost made a cameo in this wild story.
"I MEANT 'TRASH PANDA'"
The Marvel Studios: Assembled episode on Loki featured a piece of concept art depicting Loki in a long line of Variants at the Time Variance Authority.
The line features what appear to be many of the Ravagers from both Guardians of the Galaxy movies, all donning TVA outfits similar to Loki's in Episode 1, while Miss Minutes gives the rundown in hologram form.
The bottom middle of the image even shows Bradley Cooper's Rocket Raccoon, although there was no sign of him or any of the other Ravagers in the final cut of Loki.
In the final cut of Episode 1, Loki and another misbehaving Variant were the only two non-TVA members in the room.
UNSEEN CHAOS FROM THE RAVAGERS?
The list of cameos both used and unused for Loki seems to grow more extensive by the day.
Outside of Jonathan Majors' MCU debut as Kang the Conqueror in the season finale, Episode 4 also provided a quick cameo for Jaimie Alexander's Lady Sif in Loki's Time Loop prison, which brought a great deal of pain over and over again. There was also a scrapped Chris Hemsworth cameo that would have let him voice Throg as the Frog of Thunder beat the daylight out of his human brother in Episode 1.
With Disney+ having the ability to pick from a litter of MCU regulars, this cameo would have made for quite the fun time as Loki first found out about the TVA.
Rocket and the Ravagers were likely taken from some alternate version of their fight scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 that didn't go the way the bureaucratic agency saw fit. Maybe Rocket ended up killing Yondu instead of Nebula knocking him out. Maybe Nebula never showed up at all. Maybe Taserface and Yondu's fight over the team never started.
Whatever the reason for this group of bandits becoming Variants, it would have made for a fun cameo appearance from one of Marvel's most popular characters, especially since Rocket and Loki never crossed paths in the Sacred Timeline.
Whether this is explored in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 or Thor: Love and Thunder is a mystery, but it certainly has fans thinking about what could have been.
All six episodes of Loki and its episode of Marvel Studios: Assembled are available to stream on Disney+.
