Marvel Studios Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Mobius (Owen Wilson) in "Loki."
Marvel fans were greeted with the second official trailer for “Loki” on Monday morning, and it didn’t take long for the internet to do its thing. Finding Easter eggs in trailers has become a true pastime for passionate fans of many different pop culture subsections, and MCU fans seem to have latched onto a big one.
There are a bunch of new characters set to join the MCU in “Loki,” which hits Disney Plus on Friday, June 11, including Time Variance Authority member Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson). And while the vast majority of the trailer is dedicated to the new faces and new adventures, a chunk of Marvel fans believe they’ve spotted a key character from the past, if only for a moment.
Did Black Widow Appear in the “Loki” Trailer?
The moment in question comes at the 2:06 mark in the trailer. In a quick flash, viewers see a plainly dressed Loki (Tom Hiddleston) sitting next to a woman with what could be described as some variance of pink, red or orange, depending on the lighting. Notably, the woman is dressed in what looks to be a tight, black suit from the neck down.
This description could also apply to one of the core members of the Avengers: Natasha Romanoff a.k.a. Black Widow, who is played on-screen by Scarlett Johannson. Many fans made this connection and went to Twitter to share their hypothesis.
There’s no concrete evidence from Marvel, or anywhere else for that matter, that Romanoff is set to appear in the new show. This is all just fan speculation, and the MCU has become increasingly good at throwing out misleading bread crumbs. Still, what would be the arguments for Romanoff making a surprise cameo in “Loki”?
When last we saw Romanoff, she was sacrificing herself on Vormir to retrieve the Soul Stone and aid the Avengers in their quest to defeat Thanos. The price paid to retrieve the Soul Stone is final, and thus Romanoff was not among those who returned to existence when Hulk used the Infinity Gauntlet, although he tried to bring her back as well.
But the location shown in the “Loki” trailer looks nothing like Earth and shares some of the alluring colors and haunting shadows associated with Vormir from the movies. We have seen that those sacrificed on Vormir can return in some undefined location or dimension, as a younger version of Gamora appeared to Thanos multiple times after her death. There was no such scene for Romanoff in “Avengers: Endgame,” but perhaps that occurs in the show? Notably, the scenes between young Gamora and Thanos also involved a watery pool.
There’s also the timing of the show to be considered. “Loki” is set to take place over six episodes with a new episode released on Disney Plus each Friday beginning June 11. With that release schedule, the fifth and penultimate episode of “Loki” will hit on July 9, the exact same day that “Black Widow” premieres in theaters and on Disney Plus Premier Access. For a studio that has been adept at synergizing its properties, that just makes too much sense.
At first thought, it may seem strange to have a meaningful moment between Loki and Romanoff. While Romanoff was helping Steve Rogers and S.H.I.E.L.D. protect Earth, Loki was creating mischief on Asgard or other various planets around the galaxy. Loki was seemingly killed at the beginning of “Avengers: Infinity War” and did not appear in the main timeline during “Avengers: Endgame.” Yet, there is one meaningful connection between these two characters.
When the very first iteration of the Avengers team gathers together in “The Avengers,” it is Romanoff who is sent to learn a captive Loki’s motivations. In that showdown of prose, Loki learns of Romanoff’s past actions and the debts she owes. He appears to intimidate and gain the upper hand in the conversation until Romanoff gets him to let slip his true intentions. Romanoff is among the few MCU characters to have out-witted Loki, and are both among the characters with the most growth in their story arcs. It would be interesting to see what a reunion would look like.
If That’s not Black Widow, Who Else Could That Be?
As is often the case with speculation, there are several other strong opinions. For fans only familiar with the MCU, Black Widow was the first character who came to mind during that shot in the trailer. For those with a knowledge of comics history, there was another character who made sense in this role.
An equally passionate portion of the fan base is out to inform everybody that this is in fact Lady Loki and not Romanoff. For those unfamiliar with Lady Loki, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.
Lady Loki is not the sibling or a significant other of Loki’s. Actually, Lady Loki and Loki are one and the same. The first appearance of Lady Loki takes place in issue No. 11 of J. Michael Straczynski, Olivier Coipel and Mark Morales’s comics run on “Thor.” In the 2008 issue, Thor resurrects Loki after the adventures of Ragnarok, but the God of Mischief is brought back as a woman. Lady Loki remains female for the majority that “Thor” run, and for the ensuing “Dark Reign” event across Marvel comics.
In 2019, Marvel Press published a young adult novel by author Mackenzi Lee titled, “Loki: Where Mischief Lies,” which made Loki’s gender-fluid identity canon. While on paper Loki has operated as different genders, the MCU has always shown the trickster’s primary identity as male, aside from a few shape-shifter moments.
However, fans are pointing to clues in the show’s casting as further proof that Lady Loki is the true lady by the lake. Sophia Di Martino has been among the cast of Loki since 2019, and a Deadline report suggested that she would be playing “a female incarnation of Loki” at the time that news first broke.
MCU Exchange published a report with what appear to be photos from the shooting of “Loki” in March 2020, and one showed a woman with a strong resemblance to Di Martino wearing a green-and-black suit with gold linings, similar to those previously worn by Loki in the MCU.
Whether that is, in fact, Loki having a chat with the female side of their identity, perhaps within the recesses of their own mind or in some alternate dimension, or it’s indeed a brief afterlife chat with Romanoff, “Loki” is already giving fans a lot to think about.
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