The newest Marvel TV show Loki held a lot of promise right from the start. Fans of Tom Hiddleston's Loki were curious to know what happened to their favorite god of mischief when Loki disappeared during the events of Avengers: Endgame, clutching the Tesseract in his hand.
It turned out that it wasn't sweet freedom that awaited Loki after his escape. Instead, the TVA captured him and held him in their complex. Despite the fact that the first episode mostly takes place in a single location, it has offered plenty of MCU Easter eggs for fans who saw the previous movies as well as TV shows.
10 Crashing Like A Pro
The beginning of the first episode sees Loki escape from the Avengers of 2012. By using the Tesseract, Loki transports himself away and ends up falling on the desert.
This is strangely reminiscent of what happened to Tony Stark after he had escaped captivity in the first Iron Man movie in 2008. Loki even mentions Tony Stark soon after his crash, suggesting that his crashing in a similar fashion wasn't a coincidence.
9 Loki Has A Glorious Purpose
One thing that can be said for Loki is that he knows his worth. Loki believes he's been born to achieve great things and has a glorious purpose. He says so the first time he appears in Avengers (2012).
In the show, he repeats a similar line when he crashes in the desert in Mongolia and faces the confused locals who have no idea who the strange man is or what he's doing there. Considering the Loki on the show is the same Loki from the 2012 film, it makes sense he would go with his iconic line when introducing himself.
8 Nexus Is Everywhere
This easter egg will be noticeable to anyone who watched WandaVision – and paid attention during the commercials. Shortly after his arrival at TVA, Loki watches a short animated instructional film that explains how TVA works and what it does. At one point, the film mentions a Nexus event, which is what happens when somebody walks off their destined path in time.
Nexus has then previously appeared on WandaVision. One of the commercials featured Nexus capsules and described them as unique anti-depressants that work to anchor someone to reality – or the reality of his choice. That corresponds with Loki's definition of Nexus as what happens when somebody forges their own time path, a new reality.
7 The Animated War
That's not the only secret the instructional film holds. At one point, the narrator Miss Minutes talks about a Nexus event in the form of an uprising. The film then portrays two armies fighting.
One of these armies looks like the Kree, while the other looks like the Nova corps. In the first Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Ronan the Accuser mentions that these two armies indeed fought in the past.
6 Tony Stark's Cologne
Tony Stark might be gone, but he's not forgotten. When Loki faces the judge Ravonna Renslayer, he mentions the Avengers and claims the Nexus event is their fault, since they have traveled back in time to 2012. When Ravonna asks Loki about him, Loki mentions he could smell the cologne of two Tony Starks.
He's not the only one who noticed Tony's smell. In Captain America: Civil War (2016), when Scott Lang flew inside Tony's armor and sabotaged him from the inside, he asked Tony whether he was wearing an Axe Body Spray. It looks like Tony is the type of person who takes his scent very seriously.
5 Master At Wooing
It soon becomes obvious that Mobius seems to know Loki even better than Loki knows himself. At one point during their conversation, Mobius mentions that Loki likes to woo people but then betrays them.
It's not far-fetched to think that's exactly what Loki did to Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War (2018). He initially promised his loyalty to Thanos with noble words, but turned around and tried to stab the Mad Titan mere moments later. That led to Loki's death at Thanos' hands.
4 Missing Infinity Stone
One of the funniest moments of the episode was Loki's shock at the fact the TVA keeps the Infinity Stones in their desk and doesn't use them in any way. Loki goes through the Stones and considers taking them, but changes his mind in the end.
Loki knows they're useless to him in the TVA, where they have no power. What viewers might have missed is that one Infinity Stone isn't present: the Mind Stone that used to be in Vision's head until Thanos killed him.
3 The So-Called Mephisto
One fan theory about the show is that the portrait of the devil Mobius sees in his trip to France of 1549 is a reference to Mephisto, the presumed villain of WandaVision. However, the creators claimed it has nothing to do with Mephisto.
Instead, the figure is Loki himself. It's likely it's a reference to the helmet Loki previously wore in the MCU, which makes him indeed look like he could have horns.
2 Peggy Carter Comes Back
It hasn't been confirmed, but at one point, a person who looks suspiciously like young Peggy Carter walks in the background of the TVA. She has a similar hairstyle and dress typical for Peggy's and Steve's era, the 1940s.
That begs the question of whether Peggy traveled through time, or perhaps works for the TVA. Maybe it's just a random extra who looks like Hayley Atwell. Then again, nothing in MCU films and movies is ever random. Perhaps Peggy will make a more significant appearance later on.
1 Excellent At Running
Mobius also points out that in addition to wooing people and then betraying them, Loki excels at running. Looking back, it seems like a fair summary of his previous deeds in the MCU movies.
Not only did he escape in 2012 from the Avengers, but he also successfully escaped from his brother when Thor tried to capture him – and then ruled Asgard wearing Odin's face. This remark could also possibly be a hint that Loki will somehow manage to escape the TVA in the future as well.