Longtime Marvel Comics fans will never forget Episode 5 of Loki, which arguably contained more Easter Eggs than any other installment in the cinematic universe’s big and small screen histories, which is saying a lot when there’s always plenty to unpack whenever the long-running superhero series drops a new installment.
Viewers were thrilled to discover a brief glimpse of Throg, Frog of Thunder, who was even voiced by Chris Hemsworth in a neat bit of continuity. There was also a visual nod to the Living Tribunal, a cameo from President Loki and much more, but the addition of the Thanos-Copter to official MCU canon might have been the best of the lot.
Even Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn was overjoyed to discover that the Mad Titan’s bright yellow mode of transportation had finally been brought into the timeline, and in a new interview Loki director Kate Herron revealed who was responsible to one of the most bizarre vehicles to ever grace the pages of a comic book.
“I was just so pleased with just all of the fun Easter Eggs we managed to get into Episode 5. I can’t take credit for all of them because it was definitely a collaborative team effort. For example, the Thanos Copter, Kevin Wright, my executive producer, that was him. I didn’t know about that, and I remember he told me about it and I was like, ‘That’s so funny. We have to, can we put that in there?’. And Marvel were like, ‘Yeah, we totally can’. So I think that was really fun, and Throg obviously, getting him in.”
The Thanos-Copter debuted in a 1979 issue of Spidey Super Stories, and has since become a recurring gag in Marvel lore, with Deadpool even stealing a Cosmic Cube and using it to make his getaway at one stage. Now that the multiverse is officially in play, it can’t be ruled out that there’s a reality out there somewhere where Josh Brolin’s Thanos is flying around trying to gather up the Infinity Stones without having to send his minions out to do the dirty work or resort to time travel.
It’s unlikely we’ll ever get to see that particular scenario unfold, though, but Loki means that it definitely can’t be ruled out either.
