Loki: Sylvie's headed towards familiar territory for comic book fans
No, you're not mistaken: that town is pretty important to comic book Thor canon
There’s something worth noting about where Sylvie ends up at the end of the first episode of Loki season 2 on Disney+. By that, I don’t mean 1982, nor the fact that she’s specifically noted to end up in a branched timeline, although that latter part is surely going to factor into future episodes. I don’t even mean that she’s eager to try everything in a McDonalds, because who amongst us has never had that particular experience. Nope, what is very interesting is just where that McDonalds happens to be: Broxton, Oklahoma.
Reading that, an entire section of comic book fans went, “Wait, Broxton?” excitedly.
For those not in the know, Broxton is a pretty big deal when it comes to Marvel’s comic book canon, and to the Thor/Loki/Asgardian part of that canon specifically. Starting in 2007’s Thor #1 — which brought the God of Thunder back to life after a years-long slumber post-Ragnarok — the small town was the home of a rebuilt Asgard that floated only slightly above the ground, allowing for an awkward but often charming interaction between regular folk and the divine, albeit a divine that talked in faux Shakespearean dialogue, as Marvel’s comic book Asgardians tend to.
Of course, the MCU already has a reborn Asgard on Earth: it’s in Norway, as has been seen in Avengers: Endgame, and Thor: Love and Thunder. Think of it as Broxton: European edition, if you have to.
Whether or not the MCU debut of Broxton — albeit a branched Broxton, so all bets are off about what might actually happen there — is meant as anything more than an Easter Egg for comic book fans is something that is currently open to question, but there are a couple of comic book plots concerning the town that might be worth mentioning in case they offer hints about where Loki season 2 might go. Firstly, the comic book Broxton became the focus of the Roxxon Corporation — as seen in Agent Carter, Iron Man, and other MCU projects to date — in an attempt to gain the attention of the Asgardians. Secondly, Broxton was essentially destroyed by the God of Hammers, an elder god seeking to undermine and punish Thor.
Could the branched MCU Broxton be headed for a similarly apocalyptic fate as some force — Kang? The TVA? — seeks to cause pain for Loki and Sylvie alike? We’ll have to stay tuned for future episodes of Loki to find out for sure.
Loki debuts new episodes every Thursday on Disney+ through November 9.
Maybe you’re less interested in Sylvie’s new locale than you are O.B. You wouldn’t be alone.
