Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Loki Easter egg in episode 5 hints at worrying return of MCU villain

It’s corroborated by a deleted Instagram post from Evangeline Lilly

Jacob Stolworthy
Friday 09 July 2021 09:54 BST
Comments
Loki episode features nod to Thanos Copter

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The latest episode of Loki might have revealed a character return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Episode five of the Disney Plus TV show set the wheels in motion for what will no doubt be a huge finale that looks set to introduce the next big villain.

It followed Tom Hiddleston’s Loki in The Void, a place where all pruned variants converge. While here, he teams up with various other versions of himself, including Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), to take down Alioth, a trans-temporal being guarding what appears to be the home of Kang the Conqueror.

This world is filled with not only several pruned characters, but objects from different timelines that created their own Nexus events. These include a dinky yellow helicopter flown by Thanos, an Avengers-style tower belonging to Kang and the helmet of Yellowjacket, as well as Corey Stoll’s character in Ant-Man, in giant form.

*Spoilers follow – you have been warned*

This is where it gets interesting. While Kang is expected to make his MCU debut in the Loki finale, he has been confirmed to appear in the next Ant-Man and the Wasp film, which is titled Quantumania.

Stoll’s character seemingly died in Ant-Man, and was nowhere to be seen in the sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp, but his helmet showing up in Loki right before the arrival of Quantumania’s primary antagonist certainly hints towards a return.

Ant-Man villain Yellowjacket’s helmet appears in ‘Loki’ episode 5
Ant-Man villain Yellowjacket’s helmet appears in ‘Loki’ episode 5 (Disney+)

Backing this up is an Instagram post shared by Evangeline Lilly, who plays the Wasp. While sharing a photo of her script, she included the names of the cast in her caption – and name-checked Stoll.

She later deleted the post and re-shared it without Stoll’s name.

Will Corey Stoll return as Yellowjacket in ‘Ant-Man: Quantumania’
Will Corey Stoll return as Yellowjacket in ‘Ant-Man: Quantumania’ (Marvel Studios)

Here’s hoping more will become clear in the Loki finale, which will arrive on Disney Plus on Wednesday (14 July).

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will be released on April 2023.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in