Avengers: Endgame theory: Fans think Thor and Rocket will save Loki

Fans are feeling their theories about Thor and Rocket rescuing Loki are being reinforced by a certain clip from Avengers: Endgame’s special look teaser.

In an emotional teaser filled with bittersweet reunions and expected fake or altered clips, the lasted Avengers: Endgame teaser has every Marvel fan updating their theories and gearing up to fight Thanos themselves. There’s a lot to focus on and sift through in the trailer. One such scene takes place between Thor and Rocket. Like many fan theories, fans are focused on the details in the clips and expanding it to create some hopeful hypotheses.

Based on the background in this Endgame teaser, some fans are convinced that there’s some Asgardian magic happening in a certain scene, and it could help Thor bring back his brother. Given that we’re shameless Loki fans, we naturally support this potential scenario. So, let’s discuss.

From Reddit users to Twitter users, there’s a resurrection-heavy fan theory that’s gaining some popularity. It’s at the 0:44 timestamp in the Avengers: Endgame special look trailer where you can start to see their theories form. There’s some apparent ancient scripture on the floor and in the background as Thor and Rocket appear to discuss an ominous plot.

Although Asgardians aren’t from Midgard, they have traveled to Midgard over the centuries, so it isn’t unlikely that the Allfather (or the Allfathers before Odin) left behind some relics and places of worships as a gesture for the Earthlings who used to worship them.

Redditor cuddlebirb notes that during what could have been Endgame filming in May 2017, Tom Hiddleston (who portrays Loki) and Rene Russo’s stylist (Russo plays the mother to Thor and Loki, Frigga) were spotted around Durham, England. Durham is the location where Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie), Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/Hulk) were also spotted filming — at Durham’s castle and Norman cathedral. While this could have been brushed off as last-minute filming for Thor: Ragnarok, the Reddit thread also noted that a Rocket stand-in was at the castle, and fans got a chance to take a picture with the puppet Rocket and Mjolnir.

There’s a particular photo from inside the castle/cathedral with the Rocket stand-in that looks exactly like the glimpse of him that we see in the trailer. In the set photo, you’ll notice there’s a green screen floor, which is likely to make sure the editors can use CGI to give the floor the Asgardian glyphs that are in the trailer.

From the set photos alone, it makes it clear that something is going down as our Revengers plus Rocket reunite, but there’s more evidence to also back up these Loki-resurrecting theories.

The recent release of Avengers: Endgame The Pirate Angel, The Talking Tree, and Captain Rabbit supplements parts of Thor, Rocket, and Groot’s excursion to Nidavellir. While Rocket and Thor don’t share any casual banter about zombifying the God of Mischief, the book does catalog some dialogue where a grieving Thor shares some lighthearted memories of his brother. Having some time to bond during their journey to Nidavellir and their post-Infinity War time spent grieving, the jump to Thor and Rocket’s journey to rescue Loki from someplace in the afterlife doesn’t seem like that tall of a leap.

“Someplace” meaning that Loki might be Hel or he might be in Valhalla. We’d like to think Loki’s final selfless act to attempt to protect Thor would earn him a spot in Valhalla. However, we also know that his comic book counterpart has a history with Hel, and it allows him to cheat death even more so than his MCU incarnation.

At one point during the Siege events in the comics, Loki convinced Hela to honor a deal with him where she would eventually remove his name from the Book of Hel. Why? So, he could continue his villainous ways without any repercussions in his Norse afterlife. Being the trickster he is, Loki altered his end of the deal by making it so he could be reborn into a different revision of himself every time he died.

This narrative likely won’t take place in Endgame, given the bigger threats, but Thor and Rocket could at least save him from Hel, which could implicitly parallel the events of Siege. Having Thor and Rocket retrieve him from there would add another layer to the classic arc, but that’s to be expected after Infinity War borrowed some inspiration from bits of dozens of Marvel comics, as well as some unique storytelling.

The MCU isn’t against changing Loki’s comic backstory or his cinematic character trajectory. With Loki’s Disney+ series on the way, it might be more reasonable to expect that Avengers: Endgame will only leave vague clues for fans that hint at Loki’s wellbeing and future in the MCU.

After all, Marvel seems pretty committed to the idea that Loki (or at least this version of the trickster) is allegedly dead, so Marvel could be pulling a long-con until his series officially comes out on the upcoming streaming service.