Against all the odds, Marvel Studios is already officially revealing the aftermath of ‘Loki’ season 2

It’s become an unfortunate running joke of Marvel‘s Multiverse Saga era that any time we get a tease or a tag scene pointing to some future development or character, it’s going to be an age before we ever see that come to anything. Even Kevin Feige admits it.

Hercules in Thor: Love and Thunder, Harry Styles in Eternals, Skaar in She-Hulk (sorry to remind you of that haircut)? All of them lost in the ether of the MCU. It’s understandable why this happens, of course. Although we see these projects one after the other within a matter of months, each of these movies and TV shows is basically made in isolation alongside each other, so it’s difficult for each production to crossover with another.

That said, it’s apparently a lot easier if they’re animated. Given the MCU’s habit of doing nothing with major MCU developments for years on end — what’s going on with that giant Celestial sticking out of the ocean? Who knows! — we fully expected to see no repercussions from Loki season 2 until at least Phase Six. As it happens, we’re getting just that within about six weeks. And it’s all thanks to What If…?.

What if…? season 2 immediately teases God Loki’s power over the MCU

What If…? season 2 is coming this yuletide to wrap up Marvel’s misshapen year on a high, and the latest trailer for the animated series’ return goes and reveals how it’s going to crossover with Loki, continuing the MCU’s favorite tradition at the same time.

With all nine episodes dropping daily across Christmas week starting Dec. 22, it seems this run has always been planned as a festive treat given the inclusion of a special Holiday-themed episode. And it’s a clip from this same episode that features the shocking Loki tie-in. “Let me tell you one of my favorite yuletide stories,” Jeffrey Wright’s Watcher tells Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell) before the scene spins around to reveal none other than Loki’s World Tree, decorated with Christmas lights.

Yes, the MCU tends to make fun of itself in all kinds of ways eventually — think Avengers: Endgame‘s “Hail Hydra” jokes, What If…? season 1’s zen Thanos, and basically all of She-Hulk — but a gentle joke at the emotional Loki season 2 finale making its debut on our screens less than two months later has to be a new record.