Marvel is about to get weird again. After the high-flying heroics of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is gearing up for Loki, a mind-bending journey through time and space starring everyone’s favorite Asgardian (sorry-not-sorry, Thor).
Exactly how Loki will set up the future of the MCU is still a mystery, but a recent casting leak courtesy could reveal how Marvel’s next Disney+ show will set up the most important supervillain in Phase 4.
Warning, possible Loki spoilers ahead!
This Loki leak comes from IMDb (via the Marvel Studios Spoilers subreddit). According to the full list of all 62 people in the show’s costume and wardrobe department, one of those people is costume designer Chelsea Ostrow, who’s listed as working on just one episode of the series. Ostrow also worked on Lovecraft Country and The First Purge, but more important than her professional history is who she’s apparently designing a costume for: “Mr. Majors.”
Who could Mr. Majors be? One name comes to mind almost immediately: Jonathan Majors. The actor is already confirmed to play the classic Marvel villain Kang the Conqueror in the upcoming movie Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The fact that Majors and Ostrow previously worked together on Lovecraft Country only adds further credibility to the rumor — even though IMDb isn’t exactly the most reliable source for inside info. (It’s also worth noting this isn’t the first time leakers have drawn a line between Kang and Loki.)
So assuming Kang/Majors really is showing up in Loki, what does that mean for the MCU at large? Short answer: a lot.
How Loki can set up Marvel’s Phase 4
In the comics, Kang the Conqueror is a time-traveling warlord from the future and a direct enemy of the Avengers. He also has a history with the Fantastic Four (the superhero team is slated to get its own MCU movie soon) and may even be a descendant of Reed Richards (aka, Mr. Fantastic).
But before any of that can happen, we know Kang is set to play a major role in the third Ant-Man movie. Marvel plans to release Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania on February 17, 2023. That’s 20 months after Loki, which premieres this June.
In other words, get ready to meet Kang for a cameo and then wait a very long time to see him again.
But if we putting on our fan theory hats, things get really interesting. The plot of Loki is all about fixing the “sacred timeline” and undoing the parallel timelines created by time travel in Avengers: Endgame. Considering that Kang’s whole thing is time travel, it seems pretty likely that either we’ll find out the Avengers accidentally got Kang’s attention or Loki will do just that in his upcoming show.
Either way, it’s only a matter of time before Kang the Conqueror shows up, and if this leak is correct, that could happen a lot sooner than we thought.
Loki premieres June 11 on Disney+.
