Loki Producer Explains Major Thor Confirmation (Exclusive)

Loki Season 2 is, of course, going to have references to the God of Thunder as the titular character's brother is ultimately part of the goal for the story according to Marvel Studios. However, Loki decided to turn references to Thor and Asgard into confirmations with Episode 3 of its second season as (spoilers follow!) the 1893 World's Fair sequence confirmed the existence of Balder the Brave. As Loki and Mobius strolled through the fair, they came up an homage to Norse mythology, including Thor, Odin, and Balder. It was there where Mobius confirmed his own knowledge of Thor's long lost brother.

As it turns out, Balder has come close to debuting in the Marvel Cinematic Universe on several occasions. After being cut from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness late in the game, Loki decided to mention him. Loki's executive producer Kevin Wright opened up about the reference in an interview with ComicBook.com's Phase Zero channel. "Balder is always a funny one because he has not found his way into an MCU project to this point and it felt like that is part of the joke to us," Wright said. "It's 'Why not? Why is he seemingly being erased from history?' which we wanted to then turn a little bit at the World's Fair. We're always looking for ways to organically get those things in and not force it."

Erased from history has sadly been the fate of Balder in the live-action Marvel world for years. As the stories go, the character was going to be a member of Earth-838's Illuminati with James Bond actor Daniel Craig in the role for Doctor Strange in the Mutliverse of Madness. However, scheduling conflicts got in the way and Craig never made the journey to set. 

Strange's costume designer Graham Churchyard shared details of Balder's near-appearance with Phase Zero, last year. "We got very far designing Balder the Brave and then we were waiting, and waiting, and waiting on casting," Churchyard said. "I took it to a prototype stage, we were kind of in that design thing, getting fabrics together and ideas and waiting for an actor. Poor Balder the Brave, he almost made Thor 1, and Thor 2, and Thor 3, if I can simplify that. Then, it's just like, 'Yay! He's gonna get an appearance!' Poor guy. I've seen designs Marvel's archive book of Balder's helmet going back to Kenneth Branagh's Thor. So, he's been a long time waiting and I don't think he's gonna make an appearance any time soon."

It's not the first time Thor and Loki had a sibling the MCU and Odin didn't tell us (and possibly them) about. Thor: Ragnarok saw Hela show up as the secret sister seeking revenge in a very well-received story. Are you hoping to see Balder the Brave make an MCU debut? Share your thoughts in the comment section! The latest episode of Phase Zero, recapping Episode 3 of Loki's second season, is available now!