Thanks to its status as a long-running franchise that’s always planning at least three steps ahead, the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes under intense scrutiny anytime it features anything that could even be vaguely construed as a tease for what’s to come, with Loki‘s most recent episode no different.
Tom Hiddleston’s Asgardian deity found himself equal parts perplexed and irritated upon visiting the 1893 World’s Fair, when he saw a diorama in honor of his culture featuring Thor, Odin, and Balder the Brave. Beyond his omission, audiences instantly assumed that the latter was a direct nod to a character that came close to debuting in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in the form of Daniel Craig.
Given Loki’s obvious ties to Asgard and the visual cue confirming Balder exists in the MCU’s Sacred Timeline, it was only natural for everyone to interpret it as a breadcrumb to be followed at a later date. Except, director Kasra Farahani admitted to ScreenRant that absolutely wasn’t his intention.
“No, it was not. What that is about this… First of all, it’s about the joke that you would expect that if you got Odin and Thor, that you would expect a third statue would be Loki, but it isn’t. But it’s also about using this as an opportunity to remind Loki and the audience that Loki’s not just somebody who works with the TVA, but that he’s a God. That he comes from that stock and that he has that power within him.
And then finally, also, I would be remiss if I didn’t say that the midway of the Chicago Worlds Fair was basically they brought all these different cultures from around the world, and they created pavilions for them. And the truth of the matter is they’re pretty reductive and downright racist at times. So I wanted to kind of acknowledge this notion that we have Loki say that, “You can’t distill an entire culture down to a diorama.” So I wanted to acknowledge that in there.”
The best bet for Balder to finally make waves in the MCU would be Thor 5, but even then there are no signs of Chris Hemsworth getting another solo blockbuster. Until then, we’ll just have to make do with vague teases until the mythological hero does or doesn’t drop by for real.
