I'm high-key excited for Loki

Hattie Metcalfe goes down the rabbit hole of Marvel theories following the release of new Loki trailer

Harriet Metcalfe
9th April 2021
Credit: IMDb, Marvel Studios
Loki fans have been on Twitter rioting for the character to receive the cinematic treatment for years.

Thor's troublesome trickster brother won the hearts of fans back in 2011 after Anthony Hopkin's Odin revealed that he'd been a bit of a dick (to put it lightly), leading Loki on to believing the throne of Asgard was his birthright when his lineage actually belonged to the Frost Giants of Jotunheim. He might've smashed up a few cities in the years since, but with his outsider personality and sarcastic humour, many couldn't help but warm to Tom Hiddleston's portrayal of the Norse God.

Satisfaction isn't always in my nature, but my god this trailer has got me excited

And yesterday we were gifted with a two-minute, seventeen-second-long trailer that was jam-packed with Loki-ness and has already spawned a lot of fan theories online. To paraphrase the god himself; satisfaction isn't always in my nature, but my god this trailer has got me excited enough to do a deep dive and some wild speculation.

Will there be a connection between Loki and the upcoming Dr. Strange film? Credit: IMDb.

First things first, the TVA, or Time Variance Authority. "The Time-Keepers have built quite the circus" and Loki really does have a point here. They're the organisation responsible for running the multiverse - something that Loki has tremendously effed up in Avengers: Endgame when he stole the tesseract in the 2012 timeline. As Owen Wilson puts it, "we protect the proper flow of time". And if you've heard of a small upcoming film called Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, then you'll know there might be a connection between Loki, the TVA, and the upcoming Dr. Strange film.

Given that Marvel has already announced a Fantastic Four reboot and hinted at X-men links in TFATWS, we might see Mobius again

Then we see the wonderful Owen Wilson, describing the god as "a big metaphor guy" - I'm not exactly sure what else he would expect from the god of mischief. The dude rarely makes anything clear. It's worth pointing out that, according to IMDb, Wilson is playing Mobius M. Mobius, who has links to the Fantastic Four. On his listing on Marvel.Fandom, he's reported to have been prosecuting the Fantastic Four for illegal time use and continuity theft - but they escaped his supervision. Given that Marvel has already announced a Fantastic Four reboot and hinted at links to the X-men franchise in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Madripoor and the Princess Bar were featured in Wolverine comics), we could be seeing Mobius again.

2012 Loki is going to go through a lot of emotional growth. Credit: Marvel Entertainment on YouTube.

The weirdest moment of the trailer comes when Loki falls through a hatch into a metal room (and if you've seen Thor: Ragnarok, you'll know how much he hates falling). An unnamed character asks Loki to sign a stack off on a stack of papers that is "everything you've ever said" whilst watched on by a cat that I really hope is a flerken.

This might be a throwaway moment in the trailer, but we need to remember that this is the 2012 Loki we're dealing with here. He's still out to get revenge, and thinks he can rule Earth as their God - his ego is absolutely through the roof. He's had none of the character development of Ragnarok or Infinity War where he literally sacrificed himself for Thor. But if he's signing off on everything he's ever said, then I'd argue this might include events from both those films. The TVA would find it easy enough to dig up his parting message to his brother "the sun will shine on us again" surely? It's a theory for now - but I reckon 2012 Loki is in for a whirlwind of emotional education.

Also of note is some excellent knife flipping that is sure to rival that one gif of Loki in Thor Ragnarok. I mean honestly, how does this man never drop a knife?

If Natasha doesn't stay dead after the events of Endgame, then really what was the point?

Next up; "Roxxcart", or what I'm assuming to be Marvel's more sinister version of Asda. Fans are linking this to the Roxxon energy corporation, which has been featured in all three Iron Man films, as well as the vast majority of Marvel's previous TV shows like Agent Carter and Daredevil and even the Marvel one-shot A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to Thor's Hammer. Heroes have had their troubles with Roxxon in the past thanks to the company's illicit ways of trading, but exactly why the TVA break out a fight in this Roxxcart isn't exactly clear yet.

Christian Bale is rumoured to play Gorr in Thor: Love and Thunder. Credit: IMDb.

However, let's speculate regardless! According to a very long Wikipedia listing, Dario Agger is the CEO of Roxxon in the Thor: God of Thunder comics run. And as Nerdist reported back last year, there's plenty of rumours that Christian Bale's villain in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder will be Gorr, the God Butcher from the God of Thunder run. It might seem like a stretch, but given they managed to bring bloody William Ginter Riva back in Spider-Man: Far From Home, meaning there was a link all the way back to Iron Man, I don't think many fan theories are too wild.

Having said that, there is one theory we should try and dispel. Natasha. Scroll through the trailer to the 2:07 timestamp and you'll see Loki sitting next to someone who looks very similar to Black Widow in a place that looks almost identical to Vormir. So of course, it's triggered a few suggestions that Loki is bringing her back. But if Natasha doesn't stay dead after the events of Endgame, then really what was the point? It takes all the emotional impact of that scene away. No, I'd bet that this is actually our first glimpse at Lady Loki, played by Sophia Di Martino. This could be based off of 2014's Loki: Agent of Asgard, where writer Al Ewing sought to explore Loki's bisexuality and fluid gender identity. One Twitter user even pointed out the significant use of colour in the trailer, mirroring the LGBTQ+ flag;

Marvel has been rightly criticised for queerbaiting before - in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier rumours of Bucky's bisexuality being canonically confirmed (through a line in episode one) are rife, we're still yet to see it explicitly confirmed on-screen. Marvel has the opportunity to do something really positive here in terms of representation, so I hope they've taken the chance. Identity, after all, is one of the themes at the heart of Loki as a character.

Like a lot of things in the MCU, I probably won't have the foggiest idea what's happening until the first episode is released (11th June! Not that I'm counting down the days). But sometimes, the best thing is to close down my fourteen tabs of research, and wait to see what happens. Just remember one thing; we are not doing 'get help'.

Credit: Marvel Entertainment on YouTube.
AUTHOR: Harriet Metcalfe
English Literature BA student. Loves film, TV, books and coffee. Thinks "Thor: The Dark World" gets too much hate. Twitter: @hattiemetcalfe

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