Loki season 2 doesn’t let up in its second episode, as both the personal and multiversal stakes are only increased as the sophomore run for Tom Hiddleston’s trickster’s TV show continues. This time around, the God of Mischief and Mobius have to crack a disillusioned hunter who’s apparently betrayed the TVA in order to find out what’s happened to Sylvie — I mean, we know she’s working in a McDonalds in ’80s Oklahoma, but they don’t.
As is customary for the MCU, along the way, episode 2 is stuffed with callbacks to the wider Marvel universe, both the movies and TV shows of the past as well as Marvel’s rich comics history. The episode’s 1977 setting (the same year Star Wars came out, I might add) helps give things a period flavor to boot. The eagle-eyed out there may have spotted a few of these, but here’s every Easter egg, sneaky reference, and major reveal hidden in Loki season 2’s second episode.
1. Breaking Brad
This is an obvious one, but it’s possible you might’ve missed it if you didn’t pay enough attention to the episode title. Loki season 2’s second installment is called “Breaking Brad,” a clear pun on one of the most celebrated TV series of all time. It has a double meaning, though, as it draws attention to the fact that Loki’s own arc is the exact opposite of Walter White’s, going from villain to hero instead of vice versa.
2. Kingo returns
At this point, Kingo is carrying the legacy of Eternals on his back. Although the immortal superhero team and the events of their movie are barely referenced two years on, Kumail Nanjiani’s Bollywood star was previously discussed in Ms. Marvel and now he’s back, kinda, in Loki season 2, episode 2. When tracking runaway hunter X-05 to 1970s London, Loki and Mobius pass a poster for one of Kingo’s films.
3. Phone Ranger
On a similar note, the movie theater playing Brad Wolfe’s new movie, Zaniac (more on that in a moment), also sports a poster for what looks to be a delightfully trashy B-movie called Phone Ranger, which has the brilliant tagline “Criminals, he’s got your number!” This has got to be one of the most obscure comic book nods ever in the MCU — Phone Ranger is one of Marvel’s most useless heroes, appearing only three times since 1985.
4. Brigitte Bardot
Brad Wolfe is quizzed by a reporter over his alleged romance with Brigitte Bardot. In case you’re not familiar with the name, Bardot was one of the biggest stars of the age. The French actress, model, and animal rights activist became an international sensation in the late 1950s with the release of romantic drama And God Created Woman. Now 89, Bardot is still alive but stepped away from acting in the 1970s.
5. Brad Wolfe is… Zaniac!
As we noticed in the trailers, X-5’s new identity as actor Brad Wolfe is a neat lift from a Thor comics arc from the ’80s, in which Wolfe played a serial killer called Zaniac only to become possessed by the ghost of said serial killer himself. The whole supernatural possession angle has been dropped for the MCU, but Wolfe’s alter ego is alluded to in the “elevated thriller” movie he’s starring in.
6. Loki has shadow powers now. Good for him
One of the biggest, and yet casually dropped, reveals of episode 2 is that Loki has shadow powers now. When apprehending Wolfe, Loki is able to command his shadows to grab hold of the errant TVA agent. In case you were thinking you must’ve forgotten all about a previous movie or show when Loki showed off this handy, if creepy, skill, don’t worry, none of us knew he could do this until now.
7. Loki’s mother
When being interrogated by Loki and Mobius, Wolfe goes right where it hurts the most for Loki by mentioning how he made things worse for his mother. Frigga, Queen of Asgard, memorably died in Thor: The Dark World, with Thor’s own grief and guilt over her death previously being explored in Avengers: Endgame. The Dark World sure is brought up a whole lot in the MCU, considering its poor reputation.
8. The Battle of New York
Anytime the events of The Avengers are referenced in the MCU it can’t help but bring a smile to Marvel fans’ faces, so Loki’s extensive conversational callback to the Battle of New York is undoubtedly a big highlight of episode 2. When trying to make Mobius feel better about punching Wolfe, Loki recalls how he let his anger get the better of him when he threw Tony Stark out of the Avengers Tower window. Ah, those were the days…
9. Dox destroys the branched timelines
Things take a dark turn at the climax of episode 2 as the full scope of General Dox’s plan is revealed. She didn’t just want to hunt down Sylvie, but enacted a widespread operation to bomb the branched timelines that had been allowed to sprout since He Who Remains’ death. B-15, Mobius, and the TVA agents are devastated by the millions of lives lost, but what does this mean for the Sacred Timeline going forward?
10. Sylvie has He Who Remains’ TemPad
Last but not least, pay close attention to that final shot of Sylvie, as she lies atop the hood of her car after saying goodnight to Mcdonald’s co-worker Jack. That glowing bangle she’s playing with? That’s He Who Remain’s gizmo, either a more advanced or more ancient version of the TVA’s TemPad device which he used to control all of time. In other words, Sylvie could cause a lot of mischief with something like that…