Episode 4 is here to shake things up, and we can’t say Tom Hiddleston himself didn’t warn us. In the post-credits scene of episode 4, “The Nexus Event,” the recently pruned Loki comes face to face with … more Loki Variants.
In the ruins of New York, with what looks like Avengers Tower destroyed behind them, Loki meets what appears to be three Variants of himself. Comic fans will recognize two very quickly — traditional comic Loki, the first Loki, sometimes referred to as Old Loki, and the beloved Kid Loki from Journey Into Mystery and Young Avengers. The third Variant appears to be a “Thor Loki” Variant, and teasers show him putting up quite a fight in future episodes. Also, a crocodile wearing Loki horns … stay tuned for that one.
Old Loki, played by Richard E. Grant, is straight from the pages of the Golden Age comics. In his classic green and yellow attire, Old Loki was much more sinister than the toned future reincarnations of the character. Old Loki does end up dying in the comics, reincarnating into Kid Loki. It gets messy, with the old soul of Loki inhabiting a magpie named Ikol (read Journey Into Mystery for the full story), but eventually Kid Loki grows into a much more decent God of Mischief.
Kid Loki is a character many readers were hoping to see and he does not disappoint. Kid Loki fights alongside the Young Avengers before aging up in Volume 2 ahead of the Loki: Agent of Asgard run. He’s still his same mischievous self, but not as evil as his first incarnation.
After he lands, Loki asks if he’s in Hel, the final resting place for the dead, but his Variant selves tell him not yet. And we all breathed a collective sigh of relief knowing that Loki isn’t actually gone.
Where these Lokis actually are remains to be seen. We know Loki Variants have been pruned in the past, even prior to Loki and Sylvie being captured, but where they’ve ended up has been a mystery. Is there some Multiverse dumping ground for Loki Variants? Clearly these Lokis have been around and know the lay of the land, and how to survive.
Will we see an entire team of Lokis band together to take down the now-villainous TVA? We hope so.
Be sure to keep up with our ongoing coverage of Loki including episodic recaps, deep dives, analyses and more!
