The Loki Season 2 Trailer Is Hiding A Zaniac Easter Egg In Plain Sight
There's no time like the present for the God of Mischief to return. "Loki" season 2 will see Loki (Tom Hiddleston) — that is, the Loki from 2012 who escaped custody in "Avengers: Endgame," only to find himself captured by and then begrudgingly joining forces with the Time Variance Authority (TVA) — dealing with the fallout of the season 1 finale. As you may recall, that episode ended with the alternate universe, gender-flipped Loki known as Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) killing the eccentric Kang the Conqueror variant He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors), throwing all of time and space into chaos.
The trailer for "Loki" season 2 teases much of the multiversal mayhem to come, including a version of Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson) who doesn't remember ever meeting Loki (and has a fondness for key lime pie) and Sylvie working at a historical-era McDonald's (you know times are tough when even timeline-hopping aliens need steady employment). However, amidst all the buddy shenanigans and Loki inexplicably "time slipping" in the promo, there's also an Easter egg that may confirm a longstanding casting rumor.
At one point, the trailer shows a long, bustling line of people lined up outside for the premiere of a film called "Zaniac!" That title should immediately set off alarm bells for certain Marvel comic book fans, who will recognize it as the name of a super-villain from the "Thor" comics created in the 1980s by Doug Moench and Keith Pollard. It's also speculated Zaniac is the character being played in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by "Blindspotting" star Rafael Casal, who's said to have a major role in season 2.
He's a Zaniac, Zaniac on the floor
The comic book version of Zaniac was an entity sent by Dormammu to Earth in the 1800s to bargain to find a body to possess and, what else, wreak havoc. Upon arriving, Zaniac possessed Tom Malverne, a fellow with Kyphosis (which is more commonly known as a "hunchback") who was enraged at how society had treated him and became the serial killer Jack the Ripper. Zaniac would go on to possess other people and continue their murder spree over time, culminating with the modern-day actor Brad Wolfe. Thanks to an accident on the set of the slasher film he was starring in, the possessed Wolfe developed super-strength and the ability to conjure knives out of raw energy. He then began acting out the crimes of the villain he was playing in the film, known as the Zaniac (which is where the entity gets its name).
Previously-leaked photos from the "Loki" season 2 set revealed a movie poster with Brad Wolfe's name on it. Between that and this new Easter egg, it's reasonable to assume we'll be seeing some version of Zaniac's backstory adapted for the MCU, with Casal most likely to be playing Wolfe. The Zaniac character itself is heavily steeped in the horror genre, which could make for a nice addition to the show and help to keep things feeling fresh upon its return. If nothing else, the villain sounds like an excellent fit for directors Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson ("Something in the Dirt"), who helmed a good chunk of season 2 after previously lending their darker sensibilities to terrific effect on the MCU's "Moon Knight" series.
"Loki" season 2 begins streaming on October 6, 2023, on Disney+.