Whether it was intentional or not, Disney released Loki episode 2 on a day that is a massive meta Marvel reference. The latest Marvel Studios original series to hit Disney+ is Loki, featuring Tom Hiddleston back in the role of the God of Mischief. Even though Thanos killed Loki in Avengers: Infinity War, Hiddleston’s current iteration is the one from 2012’s The Avengers, meaning he is not the evolved version fans saw in the later movies.

The first season follows Loki as he works together with the Time Variance Authority, as a rogue version of himself is traveling from one timeline to another to wreak chaos. Even though WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier released new episodes on Fridays, Loki switched to Wednesdays, with marketing dubbing it as “Wednesdays are the new Fridays.” Whether intentional or not, this new release schedule set up a great reference for Marvel fans.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

Because it came out on a Wednesday, Loki episode 2 made a clever meta-reference to the Marvel comics. The second episode, titled “The Variant,” came out on Wednesday, June 16, making its day-month come out as 6/16. That number combination is something most hardcore Marvel Comics fans recognize as it spells out the Earth designation for the main continuity in the books. It would really be hilarious if one of the main reasons Disney+ and Marvel Studios had Loki moved to Wednesdays was so that they could have one of their episodes come out on June 16.

Outside of Loki, this would also not be the first time the MCU has toyed around with the Earth-616 concept. Thor: The Dark World name-dropped Marvel’s primary Earth designation through Dr. Erik Selvig’s blackboard, where he had written “616 Universe” as part of his ramblings. Even Avengers: Endgame included an Easter egg to Earth-616 as Scott Lang’s van was kept in a storage unit 616.

See also  The Office: 10 Times Fans Were Too Hard On Karen

In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Quentin Beck, a.k.a. Mysterio, originally tried to make himself come off as a superhero from an alternative universe. Throughout his stunt, Quentin claimed that the MCU was categorized as Earth-616. Even though Mysterio lied about his origin, it’s fair to assume that as the MCU explores the Multiverse, it will more or less be regarded officially as Earth-616. If this wasn’t intentional by Marvel Studios and Disney+, it still allowed Loki’ssecond episode to get to land on a date that referenced 616 cleverly.

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday, only on Disney+.

Key Release Dates
  • Black Widow (2021)Release date: Jul 09, 2021
  • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)Release date: Sep 03, 2021
  • Eternals (2021)Release date: Nov 05, 2021
  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)Release date: May 06, 2022
  • Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)Release date: Jul 08, 2022
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever/Black Panther 2 (2022)Release date: Nov 11, 2022
  • The Marvels/Captain Marvel 2 (2023)Release date: Feb 17, 2023
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)Release date: Jul 28, 2023
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)Release date: May 05, 2023
Billy The Kid Show Poster Reveals Vikings Creator’s New Series

About The Author


Andy Behbakht
(1039 Articles Published)

Andy is a senior writer at Screen Rant as he has covered the world of entertainment journalism since 2010, including superhero/comic book media. In addition to his work as a reporter, Andy co-hosts The Flash Podcast while running and producing the entire DC TV Podcasts network. He is also the founder/editor-in-chief of The Marvel Report since Fall 2015. Andy has previously written for sites such as FanSided, KSiteTV, TV Fanatic, It’s Just Movies, Heroic Hollywood, TV Overmind, and more.

See also  Netflix's Seinfeld Release Restores Larry David's Newman Dialogue

More From Andy Behbakht