Loki’s Deleted Scene Could Mean Big Things For Thor 5

It could soon be hammer time again in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with a deleted scene from Loki season 2 giving a potential tease of Thor 5. While Chris Hemsworth’s God of Thunder hasn’t appeared in either season of Loki, his mischievous adopted brother has been on plenty of adventures across the Multiverse. There are any number of foes who could lead the charge in Thor 5, but now, Loki has given a potential tease of an obscure Thor villain.

While there’s no sign of Loki season 3, Tom Hiddleston is sure to reprise his role at some point. Even though he’s currently holding the Multiverse together as the God of Stories, Loki is a likely candidate to appear in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, while it wouldn’t be a Thor movie without him playing a part. Loki is more of an antihero these days, leaving plenty of room for someone else to step up as Thor 5’s big bad.

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Loki Deleted Scene Teases Thor 5 Villains

A deleted scene from Loki season 2 has dropped some important MCU names and teased three potential villains for Thor 5. Discussing the heroes and villains he butted heads with over the years, Loki mentions mainstays like Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), and Heimdall (Idris Elba) He also mentions Odin’s father, Bor, as well as Amora, Absorbing Man, and Hercules. The last three are all villainous candidates that Loki and Thor could take on in the next Thor movie.

Amora is the real name of the villain Enchantress, but given the way Loki went, she seems like an unlikely inclusion. Although the casting of Sophia Di Martino led to rampant speculation she’d be the MCU’s version of Enchantress, she’s portrays the brand-new creation of Sylvie. Sylvie has similar powers to Enchantress and is effectively the MCU’s take on her, so it’s strange that Loki season 2 would name-drop Amora – confirming she’s a completely separate character.

Hercules was played by Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein in Thor: Love and Thunder, with the character appearing in the movie’s post-credit scene at Omnipotence City. Here, Russell Crowe’s Zeus sent his muscular son on a mission to kill Thor, which is an easy tease for Thor 5. With a potential formation of the God Squad in Thor 5, could Hercules recruit a number of all-powerful beings to try and take out Thor. As for Absorbing Man, his real name is Carl “Crusher” Creel, and he’s a character who’s previously appeared in the MCU.

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Who is Absorbing Man?

Debuting in 1965’s Journey into Mystery #114, Carl “Crusher” Creel was a boxer who’d been jailed, gaining the ability to absorb the properties of anything he touched after he drank a drink that Loki had laced with a magical potion. His first fight saw him take on Thor, but he was bested and left floating in space. Loki later retrieved Creel from the stars and helped the villain get to Asgard, where he tried to absorb the powers of the realm itself. These days, fans might know Absorbing Man from Marvel Snap.

Absorbing Man has battled everyone from Hulk to Spider-Man, also taking part in the Secret Wars and sharing a romantic relationship with Titania. As Jameela Jamil portrayed Titania in She Hulk, there’s already some connective tissues. Elsewhere, Absorbing Man and Titania served in the fourth version of the Master of Evil team-up alongside obscure villains like the Grey Gargoyle, Tiger Shark, and the Wrecking Crew. Despite Absorbing Man’s varied history and team affiliations, he’s typically associated with being a Thor villain, making him a possible candidate for Thor 5.

Before fans go around throwing around A-list actor suggestions like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson or John Cena, Absorbing Man has actually appeared before in the MCU. Brian Patrick Wade playing him in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., while he later rejoined HYDRA and was ultimately killed he was Glenn Talbot via gravitonium. Although there’s some confusion about where Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fits in terms of canon, things get even more complicated due to Creel being mentioned in Daredevil. A flashback mentioned how Creel was meant to fight Battlin’ Jack Murdock, and to clear everything up, series producer Jeph Loeb confirmed this was the same Absorbing Man.

None of this really matters, and it would be easy to recast with someone else because the Loki of the Loki series isn’t the ‘main’ one fans first met in Thor. That Loki died in Avengers: Infinity War, while the current Loki was plucked from a different universe during Avengers: Endgame. There’s no confirmation that the Absorbing Man that Loki met is the same one from Daredevil and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., giving some wiggle room to feature him in Thor 5. Then again, with Love and Thunder clearly setting up a bigger role for Goldstein’s Hercules, the Absorbing Man Easter egg may be left as a throwaway comment. Arguably, there are much more powerful Thor villains like Mangog and Cul Borson that are likely to be the big bad of another movie.

As for what’s going on with Thor 5, there’s no official word that it’s even coming. Despite Love and Thunder ending with the tagline, “Thor will return,” it could just be referring to his future in the MCU ensembles – Hemsworth seems like a certainty for the next two Avengers movies, as well as clearing up that Deadpool & Wolverine tease. Taika Waititi has said he won’t be back to direct the next chapter, but suggested the next villain would need to be more powerful than Thor: Ragnarok’s Hela. Love and Thunder faced a bit of a bashing from the critics, with others calling for the franchise to move on from Thor. Giving him a fifth standalone would set a record for the MCU, although it seems inevitable that Hemsworth will continue playing the long-haired hero.

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