How Loki Episode 1 'Solves' A Major American Mystery
Contains spoilers for "Loki" Episode 1
Marvel Studios has impressed audiences the world over with its Disney+ offerings, the first being "WandaVision" followed by "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Both of those titles became resounding successes, keeping Marvel Cinematic Universe fans engaged and entertained while contributing greatly to the ever-expanding lore of the franchise. Marvel's newest Disney+ series, the Tom Hiddleston-led "Loki," hopes to do the same in what appears to be one of the most unorthodox and downright wild MCU additions we've ever seen.
"Loki" begins with the titular God of Mischief's Tesseract-aided escape from the Avengers in 2012, an opportunity the time-travel shenanigans of 2019's "Avengers: Endgame" created. However, Loki doesn't get far before his plans are foiled yet again — not by Earth's Mightiest Heroes, but rather by a group known as the Time Variance Authority. This faction oversees the "Sacred Timeline," and does everything in its power to prevent it from being meddled with, which Loki's escape in 2012 did. Loki caused a Nexus event and created a branching timeline that requires correction and discipline, hence his apprehension.
While in custody, Loki gets to know TVA agent Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson), who seeks to recruit him to their cause. In getting to know one another, they relive some of the Asgardian's biggest triumphs and failures in life, surprisingly providing viewers with a fictional answer to a famously perplexing American mystery.
Loki is D.B. Cooper
On November 24, 1971, an unidentified man using the alias Dan Cooper, known more commonly as D.B. Cooper, boarded a flight at Oregon's Portland International Airport headed for Seattle, Washington (via the Free-Lance Star). He handed a note to the flight attendant, who didn't read it immediately, prompting Cooper to politely ask her to do so while mentioning that he had a bomb. Shortly after showing her, Cooper then demanded $200,000 and four parachutes, to which law enforcement obliged at a brief refueling stop at Seattle-Tacoma Airport. Once the plane was airborne yet again, Cooper jumped out of the aircraft, and hasn't been seen or heard from since.
To this day, D.B. Cooper's real identity remains unknown, and the incident is the only air piracy case in U.S. history that has never been solved, according to History.com. According to Marvel Studios, on the other hand, the culprit is a franchise mainstay. The premiere episode of "Loki" depicts its lead as the enigmatic plane hijacker during his meeting with Mobius, who pulls up the footage of the event for their and the audience's viewing pleasure. Loki explains that he lost a bet, and his adoptive brother Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and their friend Heimdall (Idris Elba) put him up to the hijacking. As far as the vanishing act goes, "Loki" chalks that up to the Bifrost taking him back to Asgard moments after his leap.
The 50th anniversary of D.B. Cooper's disappearance is right around the corner, and considering the unlikelihood of anyone ever solving this mystery, maybe we'll just have to accept that it was a practical joke by the God of Mischief all along. It's the closest thing to an answer that we'll probably ever get.