In the last week or so, a rumor has started flying around the areas of the internet where Marvel Studios fans tend to congregate — one that is, in one sense, so straightforward and common sense that it seems less a rumor or prediction, and more a statement of fact. After all, given the current state of play, it only makes sense that Tom Hiddleston’s Loki will return as part of the conclusion of The Multiverse Saga… but the complication we’re raising in this week’s Marvel Matters is suggesting, what if he didn’t come back as Loki?

No, really, it makes sense, kind of. I promise.

Loki’s Happy Ending as was, his Glorious Purpose

When audiences last saw Loki at the end of his Disney+ series, he surrendered himself to becoming the new figure overseeing the multiverse and