This past weekend saw Marvel Studios officially announce a few shocking sequels at their SDCC 2019 panel. While many fans were expecting details on a possible Captain Marvel 2 or a Black Panther follow up, we were instead gifted info on the future of the Doctor Strange and Thor series. And if their titles – Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder – are any indication, the next phase of the MCU is about to get weird.
In fact, new rumors are now positing that the titular Multiverse in Doctor Strange 2 will have a major influence on the fourth Thor movie, and it may involve the return of the God of Thunder’s adopted brother and the fan favorite anti-hero Loki Laufeyson.
Let’s back up and map this out from the start, though. According to Express – so take this with a grain of salt – Loki is headed for Love and Thunder, but he’s going to make a few pit stops along the way. So let’s begin with his first possible surprise appearance in Disney Plus’ WandaVision.
The streaming series is set to revolve around Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch as she warps reality to bring her former flame Vision back from the grave. It’s been suggested that to do so, Wanda will have to tap into the Multiverse, as it’s been confirmed the series will directly tie into the Doctor Strange sequel.
If Loki doesn’t pop up in WandaVision first, Express more or less suggests that the fallen brother of Thor will make his bring screen MCU return immediately after. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will see Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sorcerer Supreme pair up with the Scarlet Witch to navigate the more horror-inspired corners of the MCU, where the alternate version of Loki from Avengers: Endgame could likely be roaming.
Despite dying in Infinity War, Endgame introduced another timeline’s version of Loki, who manages to escape his fate with the help of the Space Stone. Of course, this small little plot point will directly tie into the character’s upcoming Disney Plus streaming series. Considering that that show will be released in the summer between the Doctor Strange sequel and the fourth Thor, one can hypothesize that Loki will see a surprise appearance in the former film before permanently returning to the franchise in the latter.
Even though aspects of Avengers: Endgame’s time jumping plot line could break Marvel’s carefully constructed continuity, using it to branch off newer stories from the MCU’s main timeline is a stroke of genius. Marvel’s Phase 4 will likely have a field day with all of the various new possibilities, and if we’re lucky, it may just result in Loki’s big return for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder, as both head toward theaters in 2021.