Captain America Teased Loki’s Big Power Upgrade 11 Years Ago

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Loki season 2.

Captain America foreshadowed the God of Mischief’s major Loki season 2 power upgrade back in Phase 1 of the MCU. 2012’s The Avengers saw Tom Hiddleston’s Loki return despite his apparent demise at the end of 2011’s Thor, making his way to Earth to battle the original Avengers team in an effort to take over the world. Since Loki’s plan involved getting captured by the new Avengers and SHIELD, the God of Mischief surrendered himself to Steve Rogers’ Captain America and Tony Stark’s Iron Man after an altercation in Stuttgart, Germany. However, this interaction may have also teased Loki’s destiny as one of the most powerful heroes in the MCU.

Over the duration of Phase 5’s Loki season 2, Tom Hiddleston’s God of Mischief learned to control his time-slipping ability, granting him the power to travel between the past, present, and future at will. This already set Loki up as one of the most important characters in the MCU, but Loki season 2’s finale saw him task himself with protecting the infinite branches of the multiverse, using his magic to sustain life across the cosmos. This was an incredibly satisfying destiny for the former villain, bringing his MCU story full-circle, but this fate for Loki may have been teased back during the Avengers’ first adventure as a team.

Steve Rogers Foreshadowed Loki’s Fate In The Avengers

Before the Avengers officially came together as a team in 2012’s The Avengers, SHIELD brought them together to track down the Tesseract, which had been stolen by Loki upon his arrival on Earth. Loki is tracked to Stuttgart, Germany, where he has been wreaking havoc in an effort to get Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ attention. During his first altercation with Chris Evans’ Captain America, Loki goads the super soldier, noting that he is “the man out of time,” referring to reawakening in the present day. Steve Rogers retorts, “I’m not the one who’s out of time,” implying that Loki’s time is up, but this line has a much greater significance now.

In Loki season 2’s finale, Loki literally does step out of time, as he gathers the countless timelines of the multiverse, and takes his post in the Citadel at the End of Time. Interestingly, even though the current version of Loki is a variant of the one from the Sacred Timeline, the two Lokis were actually one-and-the-same during this interaction with Captain America, as this was prior to Loki escaping from the Avengers during the Time Heist. While Marvel Studios surely didn’t plan this destiny for Loki back in 2012, this line from Captain America now has a new level of meaning, as Loki does exist out of time.

Will Loki Return In The MCU’s Future?

Loki’s fate at the end of Loki season 2 seems to have marked the perfect conclusion to his entire MCU journey, though Tom Hiddleston has stated that the door is always open for a return (via Comicbook.com). With the MCU’s Multiverse Saga set to conclude with 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars, it’s possible the new protector of the multiverse will have a part to play in Phase 6’s crossover projects. Of course, a variant of Loki could also appear in the MCU’s future, such as Kid Loki as a member of the Young Avengers, though the chapter may not have closed on Tom Hiddleston’s new God after Loki season 2.