Thread by @MsLm_97

So here's my theory on what COULD happen next in the MCU after #Loki and #LokiSeason2 in regards to God of Stories Loki specifically and, naturally, Mobius as well

Brace yourselves for this one cause it's a big #WhatIf

p.s. it's way more than 25 tweets so bare with me pls

So I started working my way backwards on this theory as soon as it hit me that, suspiciously, "What If" seasons 1 and 2 have/are both coming out immediately after seasons 1 and 2 of Loki - they are also THE ONLY Marvel Disney+ shows to be slated for 2 seasons from the start

Could be coincedental since one is more of an anthology series, which could run forever, while the other clearly isn't, and you could argue they both deal with multiversal events/storylines more than any other MCU property so far so of course they'd come out one after the other

BUT I think not - the two shows are clearly more interconnected than any of us may have realised until now

They both deal with love, purpose, belonging, space & reality and focus on a faulty understanding of the nature of time, which is what they've trinked the audeince into too

I'm suggesting that the events of the What If series and the very existence of The Watcher Uatu take place in a somewhat distant future of the multiverse - a future long AFTER the events of Loki s1 and s2, even perhaps all of phase 6, including Kang Dynasty in particular

A future, where after the threat of Kang has been dealt with and the multiverse has been reorganized anew, Loki, like HWR, finds his successor in The Watcher, makes him swear an oath & steps down from his seat at the end of time to live the life he now knows he wants and deserves

Why? Well clearly the Loki storyline has been building up to the ultimate conflict with and eventual defeat of Kang across all universes, which we'll see in the movies - that's the whole reason Loki took the throne in s2, to change the equation and help save everyone from HWR

It'll probably take an eternity but I imagine Loki and the TVA will find a way to contain/eradicate all Kang variants and isolate all branches of the multiverse so that a multiversal war and mass extinction can never happen, at least not as easily as before when HWR was in charge

Because the shape of the multiverse now is the world's tree, the nexus Yggdrasil, interconnected & branching out thanks to Loki

In What If it's presented as an endless hallway/maze of stained glass window-like realities next to one another, which stretches in both directions

You may say what we see in What if is just a visual representation of the Nexus of all Realities, as decribed in the comics, but in the comics Uatu wasn't the only watcher and he was meant to be watching over Earth primarily, not the entire multiverse all alone as in the show

So to me this points to a new reorganized order out of the chaos of the multiverse we now know - one, where free will still exists and shapes every universe but one all-knowing, all-seeing being still sits atop it all and interferes only when absolutely necessary to protect all

As a sidenote to back my theory, speaking of stained glass windows, watching over people and shining a light on them, now is a good time to remind you all of these FIRST AND LAST SHOTS of Mobius VS these shots of Uatu trying to guide Groot towards the last seed of Drez-Lar

Now back to some more clear evidence to support my claims - to showcase the clear underlying themes present in both shows, here are the opening and closing lines of Loki seasons 1 and 2

What If literally opens each and every one of its episodes with these words - time, space, reality

Can't speak for season 2 of What if just yet, but season 1 ended on these words, sound familiar?

Time, space and reality represent not only 3/6 of the infinity stones but could arguably all be linked to a single person now - Loki, ruler of time, king of space, guardian of all realities in the multiverse

And the Watcher's task in What If is identical to Loki's - oversight

There are also clear parallels in the writing and phrasing of the key characters in both shows, some more obvious than others, and their attitude on key themes of love, belonging, purpose, duty, following and breaking the rules when necessary or just out of compassion

But the craziest connections is perhaps this one, which flies under the radar in What If season 2 as a silly joke and is NEVER addressed by anoyne present in the conversation again

After Nick Fury with appearances in 4 episodes, Loki is the next most featured morally grey character in the show with 3 eps - coincedence?

Not according to comics, where Fury works for The Watcher, kills him and even briefly takes his place at the Citadel on the Earth's moon 👀

So could even Fury become The Watcher's successor one day in the same way that Loki succeeded HWR and The Watcher will probably succeed Loki eventually - possible but not so likely in the MCU and not the focus point here

The point is the interconnectivity of these characters

In the comics Uatu appears in Secret Invasion too - that obviously didn't happen in the MCU

He's only appeared in I am Groot s2ep5 outside of What If and that episode could have taken place in any universe at any point in time

This supports my theory that he doesn't exist yet

Yes, we've seen The Watchers race in the MCU back in 2017 in GOTG 2 but that was moreso their classic comic depiction - Uatu in What If is alone presiding over the multiverse, not in a citadel or on a moon and doesn't seem to even be in contact with others of his own race

Also in the comics Uatu swears his oath of no interference to his father & his people - they hold him accountable but the MCU show never makes it clear who/what he's sworn his oath to, only that he breaks it when a Kang level threat arises through Ultron with the infinity stones

We also see The Watcher utilize mirror-dimension-like pocket universes to contain threats such as Doctor Strange, Arnim Zola and Killmonger, and preserve the multiverse in the same way we've seen time loops/time manipulation be used in Loki s1 and s2

Even the way he goes about solving a problem is similar to HWR and Loki - he searches across all of time in the mutliverse to find the one person to help him resolve the issue and it always turns out he needs more than one - it's always two or more needed to save the mutliverse

Another curious point of connection amongst beings who came to see and hold power/pose a threat to the mutliverse is mastery over both science and magic

Just like Thor said in the very beginning in Thor 1, he comes from a place where science and magic are one and the same

In the comics Uatu is a fifth-dimensional being, part of a highly advanced humanoid race, who acquired magic after mastering science

Ultron is an AI, who conquered Earth through science and then used the magic of the Infinity stones to see The Watcher and attack the multiverse

Dr. Strange was a man of science, a surgeon, before he turned to the dark arts and become the most powerful sorcerer in his universe

HWR was a brilliant scientist first and then eventually through control over time found ways to tame magic as well by adding dampeners at the TVA

Loki took centuries to study science and become an expert in the temporal loom long after he’d already become a master sorcerer

So it’s clear you need both, along with compassion and a strong moral compass, to ascend to Keeper of all time/Protector of the Multiverse status

And since the MCU has been jumping around in time/universes with projects since The Blip happened and The Watcher technically sits outside of time like Loki does, I wouldn't be surprised if What If events are actually taking place in a distant future long after Loki, as I suspect

Another interesting point of connection between Loki and The Watcher are the Fantastic Four - both Uatu and Mobius make their first appearances in Fantastic Four comics and both characters kinda bend the rules for them, Uatu doing it several different times in the comics actually

In fact The Watcher in the comics, much like Loki in the MCU, was heavily focused on Earth/humans, breaking his oath about 400 times to help them - may be a reach but when's the last time you heard that number mentioned? OB (a comic Mobius variant) said it to Mobius in Loki s2

Suspiciously, for a movie that starts filming in less than 2 months and is STILL set to release in about 1.5years, we barely know anything about the Fantastic Four project – not even the cast is confirmed

All we know from Kevin Feige is that it won’t be another origin story

So since The Watcher’s first appearance in the comics was in F4 and he was the one to warn a comic version of The Avengers about Kang variants, his potential appearance in F4 or the following Avengers films could break my theory that he's not watching over the multiverse just yet

Given what we’ve seen so far in the MCU it seems more logical and likely that God of Stories Loki will be the one to take on this role in these films and will perhaps make his presence known to F4 through a messenger – Mobius as he was first introduced in the F4 comics

It would make sense if Loki is still trying but unable to master enough magic to leave his throne and face Kang himself so through the TVA and his most trusted person, Mobius, seeks to unite enough heroes across the multiverse to stop Kang and end the multiversal war in time

It would bring Mobius back into the fold satisfyingly, give him purpose again and might explain why another actor will be playing Mr. Paradox (a comic Mobius variant) and representing the TVA in Deadpool 3 instead – still our Mobius could show up there too, who knows

So, as I said, my theory is that after Kang’s eventual defeat/containment Loki and the TVA will find a way through magic, science, or both, to separate and organize the universes safely next to but apart from one another to prevent another multiversal threat from destroying them

The TVA may or may not continue existing after this but I feel Loki would step down, perhaps even forfeiting all his magic and god status to the multiverse and his successor because The Watcher’s list of abilities are suspiciously similar to Loki’s

marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/The_Watch…

And as Loki does so, he’d make The Watcher swear an oath to him and to the multiverse to watch over everyone and keep them all safe – we know now Loki couldn’t walk away without knowing his job is done and the multiverse is in the right hands, he feels responsible

Once he’s sure of this, I expect he’d choose to go back to Mobius and the two of them would live out the rest of their days together as mortals on a branched timeline somewhere somewhen, because Loki did what he had to do but he never got what he wanted or needed in the end

That sense of belonging he was after is still not his even after all his growth and sacrifices and, in addition to saying he’s never really done with the role, Tom Hiddleston has said he doesn’t want to "break" the character

This could be his rumoured final sacrifice in phase 6

Giving up power to finally be with his loved ones

If we’re talking about healing & satisfying HARD EARNED endings for Loki & Mobius who are both left open-ended as of s2 and will probably spend eons more freeing the multiverse of Kang, I feel THIS would be deserved for them both

A simple life to share, finally free of burden and glory, where their only purpose is to love one another – it would be not only fulfilling but a very logical place to take the narrative

But it all depends on what transpires in Deadpool 3 and Fantastic Four so I guess we’ll see