What, what are the Time Keepers again?

Entertainment

New 'Loki' Clip Could Tease a Possible Thor Cameo

by Ryan Britt
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Even though we know the next Marvel series Loki is about the titular trickster god who looks exactly like Tom Hiddleston, we still don’t really know exactly what the show is about. Owen Wilson is giving Loki some grief, there’s a cartoon clock in one of the posters, and some people think there is gonna be a ton of different Lokis running around, all messing with each other. So what’s really going on?

A new actual clip from the show lays out part of the premise pretty clearly, and in doing so, might contain a possible Thor Easter egg. Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, a pre-Ragnarok version of Loki nabs the tesseract and is picked up by an organization called the TVA; the Time Variance Authority. Okay, most of this, we kind of already knew. But in the new clip, Owen Wilson’s Mobius is formally introduced and Loki basically guesses what his job is. This is what Loki says:

“You’re part of the TVA’s dedicated and courageous workforce…you were created by the Time Keepers to protect the sacred timeline…the idea that your little club decides the fate of trillions of people across all of existence at the behest of three space lizards…yes, it’s funny.”

Wait? Who are these space lizards he’s talking about it? Well, in Marvel comics lore, the Time Keepers are pretty much as Loki described them: semi-immortal beings who watch over all of time. They are not to be confused with the Watchers, who are the folks with the giant heads. In the comics, the Time Keepers have evil counterparts called the Time Twisters, whose name and purpose are somewhat self-evident. Because the Time Keepers are mentioned in Loki and the show is set to be about time travel, there’s a good bet that some time-twisting (and actual Time Twisters) may appear.

But, on top of all of that, the God of Thunder himself might be in the mix. Here’s why. The timekeepers first appeared in Thor #282 in 1979 and he has a lot of dealings with the timekeepers and the time twisters throughout the comics. The timekeepers also have a bunch of dealings with Scarlet Witch. So, on some level a Thor cameo in Loki is just as likely as a Scarlet Witch cameo, which is to say, maybe not likely at all.

So, we can’t get carried away. Or, maybe we can. Loki is Thor’s brother so even without this Time Keeper reference, it’s not nuts to think he could show up.

Want to track down the first mention of the Time Keepers in the Thor comics? There are a few on eBay!

Loki hits Disney+ on Wednesday, June 9, 2021.

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