Is 'Loki' Reclaiming a Classic Marvel Story From 'Rick and Morty'?

Unless you immediately flipped over to Netflix to see if their sexy mutant abomination dating show had dropped yet, following the end of Loki, we got one of Marvel’s trademark post-credit scenes. This one found the recently “pruned” Loki waking up in some kind of mysterious city where he meets a whole bunch of other Loki variants, including one who resembles the classic comic character, played by Oscar-nominee Richard E. Grant, and one who is a literal friggin’ crocodile.

This turn of events has reminded a lot of fans of a famous Rick and Morty storyline, the “Council of Ricks,” a powerful organization comprised of alternate dimension versions of the titular mad scientist. This isn’t a huge leap to make, considering that Loki’s showrunner Michael Waldron was a writer and producer on the popular cartoon. Fans even made this connection back when Loki was still being cast.

But the Council of Ricks was actually a nod to a 2009 Marvel comics plot point: the Interdimensional Council of Reeds -- basically the same concept but with Marvel’s greatest, less belchy scientist: Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. The council began with three Reeds who somehow managed to finagle themselves an Infinity Gauntlet. And really, if there is truly an infinite number of parallel realities, presumably there’s also a world where the Infinity Gauntlet belongs to (shudder) Chuck Norris. Sidenote: Marvel, please never give us the Interdimensional Council of Chuck Norrises.

And if Loki ends with the reveal that it’s really three Lokis behind the TVA’s universe-shaping machinations, it will especially be clear that Marvel hired a Ricky and Morty guy and ended up reclaiming their own storyline after it was popularized by a non-Marvel property. Which is totally fine. It would be like if, back in the ‘80s, George Lucas hired Mel Brooks to make a Star Wars movie because everyone thought lightsabers were invented for Spaceballs.

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Top Image: Marvel Studios