Warning: The following contains spoilers forAnt-Man And The Wasp: Quantumaniaand potentially spoilers forLokiSeason 2 as well.WhenLokiSeason 2 comes to Disney+, the series has the chance to pay off an interesting Marvel Comic book Easter egg fromCaptain America: The First Avenger. Captain America’s Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in 2011 in a movie that detailed the character’s origin story. When Steve Rogers became a hero, he wasn’t thinking about aliens, time travel, or super suits; he just wanted to stop the bullies of the world from picking on others. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) was one of those bullies inThe Avengersbut has become more of an anti-hero thanks to his Disney+ series that debuted in 2021.
In the grand tradition of comic book movies, both projects are sprinkled with Easter eggs and comic book references. Though Captain America and the Loki series made their premieres a decade apart, there is a chance for a connection between the two other than them both centering on MCU characters. An Easter egg could tie them together in an exciting way.
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Captain America Features An Obscure Marvel Comics Easter Egg
Before Steve Rogers becomes Captain America, he and his best friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) take dates to the Stark Expo. Inspired by the real-life World’s Fair, the Stark Expo is full of exhibits and experiments that highlight the technology of the future. One of those exhibits is a man in a red suit in a tube. That man is actually an android named Jim Hammond, or the first Human Torch in Marvel Comics.
Some fans believed the appearance was simply a nod to the fact thatEvans played a very different Marvel Human Torchat one time. He did star in twoFantastic Fourmovies as a hero who used the same codename. While it’s very likely the Jim Hammond exhibit was intended as an Easter egg for Evans fans, it’s also an interesting one for comic book fans.
Jim Hammond made his comic book debut in 1939 in the very first issue ofMarvel Comics, when that was just a new title and the publisher was still Timely Comics. The android was created in a lab by a character named Phineas Horton, who is one of the fathers of artificial intelligence in the comic book world. While the Human Torch was initially crafted as someone who could battle Namor with his power over fire, he eventually donned a disguise and had a secret identity as a New York City police officer. He also has a connection to a character who will be making an appearance inLokiSeason 2.
Loki Season 2 Will Feature Victor Timely
Most MCU movies feature both a mid-credit and post-credit scene.Both of these scenes inAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniafocused on variants of Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), originally introduced as He Who Remains inLokiSeason 1. One of those variants appears in what is a scene pulled from the upcomingLokiSeason 2. That variant’s name is Victor Timely.
Victor Timely, named for Timely Comics, is one of the many identities used by Nathaniel Richards aka Kang during his time-traveling adventures, This version of the time traveler landed in Wisconsin in the late 1800s and ended up founding a town named for him in 1901. He also used his own future knowledge to bring scientific innovation to that small town, teaching scientific principles to a willing group of students. Timely’s goal, of course, was to use his own scientific advancements to grow his own power and influence. He was playing a long game to take over the world.
Loki Season 2 Could Pay Off That Captain America Easter Egg
The connection between Victor Timely and Jim Hammond isn’t that far off. One of Timely’s students was Phineas Horton, the same person who ended up developing the android in the first place. The very existence of the Human Torch can be traced back to Victor Timely.
Not only that, but one comic book storyline sawa different version of Kang, Immortus, who also appears inQuantumania’scredits, use the Human Torch in the modern day. More accurately, he used two different versions of the android in two different timelines when the original Human Torch was supposedly destroyed. One of those versions was tricked into fighting the Fantastic Four. Another was used by the villain Ultron.
It’s unlikely that a time-displaced version of the Human Torch will return in the MCU, but it does seem likely that his very existence could be explored inLokiSeason 2. As more variants of Kang are used inLokiSeason 2, it’s very likely his fingerprints could be found on many older MCU Easter eggs and story points, indicatingKang has been slowly shaping the MCUall along.
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