10 details you missed in 'Loki'

The MCU frequently homages and nods back to its rich past and "Loki" continues that trend.

Director Kate Herron told Insider's Olivia Singh that in the opening moments of episode one, there's a direct homage to the MCU's first everymovie: "Iron Man."

"That first shot of Loki in the desert, for example, I wanted that to be an homage to 'Iron Man,' when he wakes up in the desert, so there's little teases like that across it," Herron said.

This one was already spotted in the trailer, but it's still neat to see a Skrull pop up in the show.

The Skrulls are an alien race of shape-shifters who made their MCU debut in 2019's "Captain Marvel." They've since appeared in "Spider-Man: Far From Home" and now one of them has found themselves in trouble with the Time Variant Authority.

Fans thought Mephisto, Marvel's answer to the devil, was being teased throughout "WandaVision," but he never appeared.

This stained-glass window, then, excited fans greatly — it seemed a direct, obvious reference to the devious, deal-making demon. Sadly not.

Director Kate Herron told Entertainment Tonight that it was actually just "a super weird coincidence" and not a reference to Mephisto.

"It's genuinely a reference to Loki — the horns, he was cast out of heaven, that's what it's a reference to," Herron said. "It's more relevant to the themes of our show and it's not a nod to that character."

Marvel's God of Mischief has been confirmed as gender fluid in the comics since 2014, but we've had to wait a while to get official confirmation of this in the MCU.

A file containing information on Loki is given to Owen Wilson's Agent Mobius, who gives the dossier a look over. In the category reading "sex," it says "fluid" next to it.

In an interview with Insider, Herron said: "He's gender fluid in the Norse mythology and the comics and it felt like an important thing to, as you say, make sure it's canon."

Some references will be clearer and more obvious than others. This one is a little lighter in certainty, but it could still allude to a very important Marvel Comics villain who could potentially appear in the MCU.

Nightmare is a classic Doctor Strange villain and the two have crossed paths multiple times. With the multiverse being set up by "Loki," it seems that "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" will be linked to this show — so it's not crazy to think that Nightmare could be being teased here and will be the villain of the "Doctor Strange" sequel.

That, or it could just be Mobius' dry sense of humor.

When Mobius takes Loki to the Time Theater screening room to show him some clips from his life, there's two cans of a very specific energy drink waiting for Mobius: Josta Cola.

Made by Pepsi, Josta Cola was only available from 1995 to 1999, so Mobius had to specifically go to a store on Earth in the mid-to-late 90s to get himself the drink. Supposedly, him doing this doesn't damage the sacred timeline — unlike Loki's actions.

During Mobius' tour of the God of Mischief's life, he mentions the moment of Loki hijacking a plan as his favorite.

Here, Loki takes on the mantle of D.B. Cooper and boards a plane with a bomb, hijackes it, makes a stop at an airport to pick up a bag full of cash and a parachute, and then makes his escape mid-air using said parachute.

But D.B. Cooper is actually a real life person who did all of this and was never actually caught by the authorities. Known only as Dan Cooper, the potentially false name he used to book his airline ticket, the man hijacked a Boeing 727 on November 24 1971.

He escaped with $200,000 in cash and was never captured. It's unknown how he escaped, but he probably didn't escape in the same way Loki did — being transported back to Asgard via Heimdall and the Bifröst Bridge.

The Infinity Stones in the desk drawer are actually a big moment here for Loki, and the powerful stones are what attracts the eye.

But there's actually a whole host of interesting confiscated objects in this desk, including an old photo of soldier, a military medal, a casino chip, and a crucifix. Who knows if any of these items mean anything or not, but that upside-down crucifix looks real Mephisto-y. Kind of.

There's lots of posters scattered around the offices of the TVA but two stand out the most.

The first is this one, which seems to show a Time-Keeper with the words "always watching" above the picture.

This gives off a slightly sinister vibe, indicating that the Time-Keepers are aware of everything and are keeping on eye on everyone, almost like Big Brother. Are the Time-Keepers actually good guys or not? We don't know yet.

The second notable poster is this one, which shows a picture of a timeline being snipped by a giant pair of scissors.

Next to the graphic are the words: "Nexus Events Must be Pruned."

A Nexus event is an incident that isn't supposed to happen, which causes a branch in reality. This could, theoretically, cause the realities to branch off into "madness" and cause the multiverse.

The TVA don't want this to happen, so all Nexus Events and variants (IE Loki) must be pruned and reset to protect the sacred timeline.