Have Fans Cracked A Subtle Fantastic Four Easter Egg In Loki?
As "Loki" barreled towards its season finale, it seemed as though we were getting more and more Easter eggs dedicated to the most eagle-eyed fans. The U.S.S. Eldridge appears in the Void, a historical reference to the Philadelphia Experiment, for example, but there are tons of comic book references, too. Throg, the Thanoscopter, Avengers' Tower as owned by Qeng Enterprises, an oversized version of Yellowjacket's helmet from "Ant-Man," and a host of other Marvel Comics and MCU references literally litter the landscape of "Loki."
While some of those references helped fans figure out that He Who Remains aka a version of Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) was pulling the strings of the Time Variance Authority, most of the other Easter eggs were there for super fan enjoyment.
However, there's a new fan theory that suggests one barely-seen spaceship from the season finale of "Loki" might actually be more than just an Easter egg, but one of our first glimpses in the MCU for one of the most important superhero teams in Marvel's long history — the Fantastic Four.
Why it's possible that spaceship belongs to the Fantastic Four
At the start of "Loki" episode 6, "For All Time. Always.," we hear a ton of voice-overs from previous MCU movies before seeing what seems to be the whole of the universe. As galaxies unfold, we hear Neil Armstrong's voice begin his very famous speech "one small step for man" before a spaceship rockets past. Fans on Twitter are guessing that the ship is the very same on which Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm flew through space, being hit by cosmic radiation, thus turning them into the Fantastic Four.
@Kevfeige @MarvelStudios so you're going to tell me this is just some random ship?
I smell a first family being broken out of a time jail! #loki #KangTheConqueror #Immortus #HeWhoRemains #FantasticFour #nathanielrichards pic.twitter.com/ODYlwY0VmZ
— samarie (@ACNHParadoxia) July 14, 2021
How likely is this? Well, considering the fact that Kang the Conqueror's real name is Nathaniel Richards and that he is supposedly a descendent of Reed Richards, we'd say there's a distinct possibility. Adding to that possibility is an interview that "Loki" director Kate Herron did with Slash Film where she was asked about the ship in question. "It's not for later, but I would say to Marvel fans, you'll recognize it," she said. "If they have a good look at it... it's from previous tales of Marvel."
Disney slyly announced a Fantastic Four movie at their virtual Investor's Day event back in December 2020, but we haven't really heard anything else about the team or their film.
Marvel made it seem like we wouldn't see Jonathan Majors as Kang until "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" but he showed up way ahead of schedule on "Loki" — so who is to say the Fantastic Four didn't just do the same?