A throwaway line in the latest episode of Marvel’s Loki creates a connection between the hit Disney Plus series and two upcoming movies. Namely, Loki episode 4 just confirmed the existence of vampires in the MCU for the first time, which could either be a nod to Mahershala Ali’s Blade reboot or Sony’s Morbius flick. Or possibly both.
In one scene, Owen Wilson’s Mobius reflects on how much trouble both Tom Hiddleston’s trickster and Sophia Di Martino’s Sylvie have been. “We’ve brought in Kree, Titans, vampires,” the TVA agent recalls, going on to say that none of them caused more chaos than the two Loki variants. We’ve already met Kree in the likes of Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel and Thanos is a Titan, but vampires? That’s a new one for this franchise.
Given everything else Loki has to deal with in its last two episodes, it’s unlikely this was a set-up for a vampire appearance to come, but it was no doubt deliberately planted by the writers as a nod to the undead bloodsuckers who are on their way to the universe soon. Chiefly, Marvel is working on a new Blade film, starring the aforementioned Ali, which promises to be the first properly horror-infused entry in the MCU.
What’s more, Sony is about to release Morbius, starring Jared Leto as the Living Vampire. He’s not technically a traditional vamp, as Morbius’ transformation was caused by his own experiments going wrong, but we can maybe consider this another hint that the Sony flick is set in the MCU, something first teased when Michael Keaton’s Vulture popped up in the first trailer.
It’s unclear where Blade will make his MCU debut, but rumor has it it could happen in Doctor Strange 2, which is scripted by Loki showrunner Michael Waldron. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not.
Loki continues next Wednesday on Disney Plus.