Loki Season 2: Some MCU Fans Think They Spotted A Sneaky Quantumania Clue

"Loki" Season 1 introduced the new big bad of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors), a variant of Kang the Conqueror. The latter would come into play properly in "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," and now with "Loki" Season 2 in the middle of its run, fans can see the grander machinations of the multiversal war coming full circle. 

Redditor u/Suspicious-Catch3112 posted some screenshots from "Loki" Season 2, Episode 3 — "1893" — where Victor Timely (Majors) holds a Time Sphere prototype while saying, "The culmination of my life's ... work!" This is juxtaposed with images from "Quantumania" of Kang sitting in the completed Time Sphere. The moment seemingly sets the stage for Victor Timely to grow into Kang the Conqueror or at least a variant of him, potentially from another timeline. 

But further down the thread, some Marvel fans think the moment goes beyond that. As u/ItsAmerico writes, "Yea there's a pretty interesting (and IMO probably true) theory that this is the original [He Who Remains] and [Renslayer] started the multiverse war again by giving him the book." With this interpretation, Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) may try to create a time loop where she's responsible for turning Victor into He Who Remains, ensuring the Time Variance Authority remains intact. She gives him the book, he sees the TVA, he goes back in time to create the TVA with the new technology, and he travels back to the end of time.

With the multiverse at play, things can get complicated quickly, and viewers must pay attention in "Loki" to pick up on subtle hints. For example, in "1893," fans can see the year in which characters are present as well as information as to whether they're on the Sacred Timeline or a Branched Timeline. When we first meet Victor, he's on the Sacred Timeline. However, after he receives the book from Renslayer, it goes into a branched one, making that version of Victor a variant. This makes it all the more critical that Victor one day create the Time Sphere so that he can travel through time, space, and dimensions, eventually making his way to the Sacred Timeline, which is where we find Kang in "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania."

This means Victor Timely, at least originally, is where he's supposed to be. He isn't a variant, but getting that book turns him into one. It's possible he then goes on to take control over the TVA to eliminate timelines with other Kang variants to prevent the multiversal war He Who Remains was so worried about. However, as long as Victor is on the timeline, there's always a possibility Kang can return even if all of the branched timelines get pruned. This may set up a way to defeat Kang once and for all in "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty" and "Avengers: Secret Wars." If they can eliminate Victor on the main timeline, there may be no other way for other Kangs to form. 

It's all connected, and with more Kangs lurking out there, it's safe to say the Avengers will get into plenty more multiverse shenanigans in the future.