Who Is Zaniac? Loki Season 2’s Secret New Villain Explained

Loki season 2 looks set to include a secret villain from Marvel Comics by the name of Zaniac in the MCU. The official trailer for Loki season 2 has finally been released and teases the continuation of Loki’s adventures with the Time Variance Authority. While the ending of Loki season 1 and the post-credit scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania seemed to hint that a variant of Kang the Conqueror would be the main villain of the show’s second installment, the trailer confirms rumors of another secret villain that will be part of the Loki season 2 cast.

This villain is a Marvel Comics character named Zaniac. Originally, Zaniac’s inclusion in the show was rumored when images leaked from Loki season 2’s set. This spawned many theories that the show would adapt Zaniac from the comics, alongside the villainous presence of Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror – or Victor Timely in Loki season 2’s case. With the release of Loki season 2’s official trailer, these rumors of Zaniac are finally confirmed.

Loki Season 2 Trailer Confirms Zaniac Theories

While Loki‘s season 2 trailer focuses heavily on the return of the titular God of Mischief, it also highlights the many supporting characters of the show’s sophomore season. One of these supporting characters is an actor named Brad Wolfe, a fictitious actor who confirms the Zaniac theories for Loki season 2. At one point in the trailer, a premiere can be seen taking place in which Brad Wolfe exits a car onto a red carpet. Above the theater, a sign reading “Zaniac!” can be seen. This confirms the appearance of the Marvel villain and ties to his comic book origin story.

Zaniac’s Marvel Comics Origin & History Explained

The history of Zaniac in Marvel Comics is certainly interesting and links the in-universe actor of Brad Wolfe to a parasitic entity from the Dark Dimension. In Marvel Comics, the ruler of the Dark Dimension Dormammu – who appeared in the MCU’s Doctor Strange – sent a parasitic entity to Earth in order to possess a human and act as Dormammu’s agent. This entity then possessed a man in the 19th century and murdered five different women, becoming known as Marvel’s Jack the Ripper in a comic book explanation for the real-world serial killer.

The entity then leaped around various hosts throughout time, with each one adapting the moniker of Jack the Ripper as the host targeted primarily misogynistic males whose victims were primarily women. Brad Wolfe comes into the story when the entity possesses him, with the actor conducting work on a film named “Zaniac!” In the film, Zaniac was the name of the villain, a serial killer who targets women in retribution for being abused by his mother as a child – which links to Wolfe, as he took on the role due to having a similar upbringing.

During rehearsals for the film, Brad – infected with the entity – was caught in a nuclear explosion from the Manhattan Project that caused him to physically transform to match the appearance of Zaniac from his own film. Wolfe took on the name Zaniac and began targeting women to kill just as the entity’s earlier hosts had done before being stopped by Thor. Zaniac later returned in The Mighty Thor #371 and #372, which notably featured the first appearance of the TVA in the comics, possibly explaining Zaniac’s link to Loki season 2.

Given the Marvel Comics origins of Wolfe, Loki season 2’s trailer confirms his appearance. The premiere shown in the trailer is for the film “Zaniac!” and shows Wolfe attending. As such, it seems as though Loki season 2 will follow the origin of Zaniac from Marvel Comics fairly closely. Given Loki‘s tendency to be multiverse-oriented, it could also be the case that the entity that possesses Brad Wolfe in the comics is mentioned as a servant of Dormammu, especially given the prior appearance of the ruler of the Dark Dimension in the MCU in 2016’s Doctor Strange.

How Loki Season 2 Changed Zaniac

The MCU has already changed Zaniac in two integral ways – by setting Zaniac up as an enemy for Loki, and by setting his story seemingly far enough in the past that it’s unlikely he’ll appear again. Based on the Loki season 2 trailer, it also seems that the MCU may have changed the story of Zaniac by having him linked to the temporal shenanigans that the Phase 5 show hinges around, as one scene shows Loki and Sylvie appearing to detain Brad Wolfe for questioning with their powers. Given the entity that possesses Wolfe existed throughout phases of history, this would make sense, and could even show another being going through the “time-slipping” introduced in Loki season 2.

Zaniac’s Powers Explained

The Dark Dimension-based entity imbued Brad Wolfe with several superpowers when combined with the nuclear explosion that created Zaniac. One of these powers was longevity, with the entity allowing its hosts to live for much longer than regular humans. Similarly, Zaniac held the powers of superhuman strength and durability. Despite being much stronger than a normal human, Zaniac was no match for Thor in Marvel Comics which often resulted in the villain being one of Thor’s worst-received primarily due to the mismatch between the two.

Zaniac’s most prominent power though was the ability to shoot knives made out of pure energy from his hands. These energy knives often enabled Wolfe to kill his victims, as well as battle against Thor at various points. Given that Zaniac’s powers are not overwhelmingly overpowered, it is fitting that he will likely serve as a secondary villain for Loki season 2. Also, the energy knives link somewhat to Loki’s ability to create weaponry using his magic, which could make for a visually inventive action sequence between the two characters.

Who Plays Brad Wolfe In Loki Season 2?

When concerning who will bring Brad Wolfe to life in Loki season 2, the actor has already been confirmed. In July 2022, it was confirmed that Rafael Casal would be joining the cast of Loki season 2 in an unknown role. Various unconfirmed rumors stated that Casal would be playing a TVA agent who escaped the organization and became a Hollywood star in the 1970s under the alias Brad Wolfe which is where the rumors of Zaniac began. The trailer for Loki season 2 shows Casal very clearly as Brad Wolfe, from entering the premiere of “Zaniac!” to being cornered seemingly by Loki and Sylvie.

After the trailer for Loki season 2 was released online, plenty of fans took to various social media websites to voice their excitement after mistaking Casal for another actor. Large swathes of Marvel fans thought they spotted John Krasinski in Loki season 2’s trailer as Brad Wolfe, which would certainly have been interesting after his cameo appearance as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

However, the trailer makes it clear that Casal is the man bringing Brad Wolfe to life. While the trailer includes many hints at his villainous alter-ego Zaniac, it will be interesting to see if the earlier rumors about Wolfe being a former TVA agent come to fruition. If so, Zaniac could be tied much more intrinsically to Loki’s journey with the TVA than first thought, making Wolfe more of a Loki villain than one of his brother Thor like his comic book counterpart. Regardless, Zaniac’s true role will be revealed when Loki season 2 releases on Disney+ on October 6, 2023.