Marvel Fans Are Wondering What the Thanos-Copter Did to Get Pruned by the TVA

The Loki Disney+ series gave Marvel fans many Easter egg thrills from across the Marvel Multiverse – and one of the biggest standouts was no doubt the Thanos-Copter! Thanos’ iconic (and ridiculous) helicopter from Marvel Comics lore appeared in Loki Episode 5, “Journey into Mystery” Tom Hiddleston’s Loki was sent the realm where the Time Variance Authority sent all the timeline variants they pruned from the “Sacred Timeline.” That dumping ground of realities included a treasure trove of oddball Marvel Easter eggs – including the ruins of the Thanos-Copter. 

Now Marvel fans’ curiosity has gotten the better of them: they just can’t stop wondering how the MCU’s Thanos-Copter ended up where it did – or what it was used for that made the TVA prune it from the timeline! 

Responses to the Thanos Copter query on Reddit range from serious theories about the chopper’s significance to some hilarious jokes “explaining” how the copter ended up there. 

One of the most popular responses is that “It stopped the FF from stopping Kang, thus ensuring his victory,” a reference to Marvel’s Fantastic Four. While Kang the Conqueror was revealed to be the big bad waiting in the wings of Loki and the larger Marvel Multiverse, in the comics the Conqueror is closely tied to the F4 team. Those connections run as deep as Kang’s origin as a future descendant of Reed Richards, who repurposes old Doctor Doom technology to travel back in time and become several key figures throughout history. It’s actually not too crazy to make the MCU version of the F4 a team of characters from a reality where Kang rose to be the greatest (and unstoppable) threat. Weaving Thanos (and his helicopter) into that alt-universe history wouldn’t be the craziest thing ever. 

Another comment draws upon clues that Loki showed us for a possible explanation: “I was always hoping there’d be a scene with multiple Thanoses being brought into the TVA. Given the number of Infinity Stones lying around, I bet there’s been quite a few that have gone through the system.”

Indeed, Loki Episode 1 played up the joke that on the cosmic scale of the Marvel Multiverse (and those influencing it), Infinity Stones are but a minor power. It would be all too easy to extend that joke into an actual scene that saw any number of Thanos variants being arrested at the TVA for cosmic crimes and having their Infinity Stones confiscated – including the variant who flew the Thanos-Copter. 

What’s your theory?