Spoilers for the latest episode of Loki Season 2, “Breaking Brad,” lie ahead, so read on at your own risk.
Loki brought on even more multiversal madness during the second episode of Season 2. “Breaking Brad,” which we reviewed and analyzed, saw the titular antihero and his allies attempting to track down the missing Sylvie while also uncovering the machinations of some of their colleagues at the TVA. Someone who had information on both fronts was Hunter X-5, who was revealed to be in a very interesting position at the onset of this installment. Hardcore comic book fans likely appreciated how his circumstances nod at Marvel lore, and they may have also been pumped over the mid-credits scene the episode’s director told us he wanted to shoot.
CinemaBlend had the opportunity to speak with Dan DeLeeuw, who has served as a visual effects artist and second unit director on a plethora of Marvel Studios productions. His episode of the TV show (which is streamable with a Disney+ subscription) sees the God of Mischief along with allies Mobius and Hunter B-15 traveling to 1970s London on the Sacred Timeline to find X-5. It’s there fans learn the AWOL hunter has established himself as a famous actor named Brad Wolfe, who’s celebrating the release of his latest movie – Zaniac. In the comics, Wolfe took on that same fictional role but, in that case, he was possessed by a demonic swarm of bugs while in costume and became a sadistic villain.
While speaking with Dan DeLeeuw we asked him about having the opportunity to put a spin on such a niche character. He seemed to relish the opportunity to usher Wolfe into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, he enjoyed it so much that he was planning to shoot a mid-credits scene dedicated to him, and it sounds both campy and fun:
We wanted to get a character that [people] maybe hadn't heard of too much. You kind of go down the path. We were, for a while – and I thought we were going to do it – we were talking about doing a tag on the end of one of the episodes where we did like an ‘80s movie trailer, like Friday the 13th or something, but for Zaniac. I would've loved to shoot that, but we got busy.
It’s funny because, during the scenes set around the movie premiere, I kept wondering if we the viewers would actually get to see a snippet of the faux film. Alas, those who streamed Loki and waited for such a moment didn’t get that wish. The proposed mid-credits scene admittedly would’ve been more of a fun add-on as opposed to a moment that would truly move the narrative along. However, it would’ve been cool to see nonetheless. Of course, I also enjoyed Werewolf by Night (which left me with questions), so I’d be down for any horror-tinged moment in the context of the MCU.
Zaniac aside, though, there were plenty of other notable moments in Season 2 to keep fans entertained. There was Loki’s reunion with Sylvie as well as their fight to stop the rogue General Dox from destroying various timelines. One development also tied back to He Who Remains, as it was revealed at the end of the episode that Sylvie is in possession of his TemPad. Fans will have to wait and see how she continues to wield that immense power.
As far as X-15 (or Brad Wolfe) goes, it appears his days playing Zaniac are over. That is unless the bigwigs overseeing the MCU decide to have Brad return to the role and even possibly become the villain his comic book counterpart was. I’d say the chances of such a development happening are slim, but it’s still fun to think about that as well as the mid-credits scene Dan DeLeeuw was planning.
Loki drops new episodes on Disney+ every Thursday as part of the 2023 TV schedule. Those who are already curious about other small-screen fare from the sprawling universe can read up on upcoming Marvel shows.
