Marvel’s Longest MCU Villain Tease Really Means Nothing

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Marvel’s Loki episode 2 “The Variant”

In Marvel’s Loki series, it seems as though the MCU’s longest-running villain tease with the Roxxon Corporation will never be fully realized. In the TVA’s search for the rogue Loki variant, Agent Mobius and the Loki he’s recruited deduce that their target is hiding out at a Roxxcart superstore in the year 2050. While this new reference is certainly interesting, Roxxon has been featured and referenced in the MCU consistently since its very first film. However, they’ve never become the full villains and threats they are in the comics, and it seems as though they never will.

Being featured as early as the first Iron Man film with its headquarters being seen during Tony Stark’s battle with the Iron Monger, Roxxon has been featured in the background of several MCU films since. However, it’s also been involved in quite a few plots (never in the role of primary antagonist), though its status as a corrupt oil corporation has never been in doubt. The company’s origins were introduced in the second season of Agent Carter, which saw Roxxon and its founder being a part of the Council of Nine, a group of the most powerful businessmen seeking to control and manipulate the country. However, the corporation has popped up all over the MCU over the years, especially on the television side. Not only was the collapse of one of their gulf platforms the cause of Cloak and Dagger getting their powers, but the conglomerate was also the client of the law firm that Daredevil’s Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson worked for when they were interns. Likewise, it was frequently featured in ABC’s Agents of SHIELD, and Agent Coulson fought muggers in a Roxxon gas station in the short entitled A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor’s Hammer.

Now, Loki episode 2 “The Variant” sees the God of Mischief and Agent Mobius having tracked the murderous and rouge Loki variant to the year 2050, holding up in the Roxxcart superstore in the midst of a devastating hurricane. While it’s interesting that Roxxon has apparently expanded into superstores (having their own Walmart chain of sorts), it does feel slightly underwhelming considering the fact that Roxxon is on par with groups such as Hydra or AIM in the comics. Its corrupt CEO Dario Agger is even a major Thor villain, having the ability to turn himself into a fearsome minotaur. However, it seems like Roxxcart may very well be the extent of the corporation’s not so nefarious endgame in the MCU’s future, their villainy only extending to corporate greed.

Apparently, Roxxon’s main purpose appears to be simply aiding in the connective tissue of the various movies and series that make up the MCU, such as with this new superstore serving as the base for Loki’s new villain. However, the conglomerate could have been so much more. While the desire for profit and high revenue by whatever means necessary is a powerful motivator in the real world by real companies, one can imagine the lengths Roxxon could have gone to achieve those goals, especially given the kind of universe they live in with the resources and power they could get their hands on.

In any case, it seems as though Roxxon will simply stay the corrupt and massive corporation they’ve always been in the background, never reaching their full potential as major villains in need of a takedown by Marvel’s heroes. At the present, it seems as though their only job is to have their logo featured in the background to remind viewers that “it’s all connected”. While it’s somewhat disappointing, there will no doubt be more exciting surprises and reveals in store as Marvel’s Loki continues.

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.