LOKI Episode 2 Villain Zaniac and Ending Explained

Zaniac and Episode 2 ending of Loki explained. Spoilers Ahead!

Marvel Studios has always been known to sneak in easter eggs when it comes to their films and Disney+ series. Loki season 2 is no stranger to contain hidden ones and even though we are currently on episode 2, there’s no doubt we will find more as we continue in the season.

A fair warning for those who haven’t watched episode 2 of Loki: This article will contain some spoilers.

THE ENTITY ZANIAC

At the very beginning of the episode, Mobius and Loki are seen looking for Sylvie. They travel to a timeline that lands them in London in the 1970s. Here is where they meet Rafael Casal’s Hunter X-05, who is Brad Wolfe in this timeline. He’s a famous movie star and he is at a film premiere for his upcoming flick called “Zaniac.” If you’re a regular viewer, this may not be a very important moment in the series but die-hard comic book fans would beg to differ.

Zaniac is an evil entity that is featured in Marvel Comics. It’s a swarm of demonic, parasitic creatures that originated in the Dark Dimension. The entity would possess a host and cause them to develop an overwhelming bloodlust and desire to kill women. This horrifying being was sent by Dormammu to Earth in the late 19th century to possess its victim. The first victim it possessed was a character named Tom Malverne who hated the world and when it became possessed, it went on a murder spree where he killed multiple women and became known as Jack the Ripper. Casal’s character, Brad Wolfe did become possessed in the comics.

Brad Wolfe is an actor and while he was filming a slasher movie, he was caught in a nuclear explosion. It gave him superhuman strength. The entity was strong and it caused Wolfe to become insane, kidnapping a woman named Shawna Lynde who was a friend of Thor’s alter ego, Dr. Donald Blake. In the end, Wolfe ends up getting killed due to killing “Thug” Thatcher’s ex-girlfriend and the entity ends up being destroyed.

Zaniac is an interesting entity to be featured in Loki. We have already met Dormammu in the first Doctor Strange film and knowing that Zaniac can be swarming its way through a timeline is frightening.

SYLVIE’S MYSTERY OBJECT

***Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie in Marvel Studios’ LOKI, Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth Gatrell. © 2023 MARVEL.***

Sylvie’s and Loki’s reunion brought in much chaos. While Loki wants Sylvie to help him and Mobius to fix the timeline, Sylvie doesn’t seem interested. Their reunion takes place in a McDonald’s in Broxton, Oklahoma in 1987. According to Sylvie, she says she’s much happier but from what we see at the end of the episode, maybe she’s not. At the end of the episode, Sylvie is seen sitting on the hood of her car when her colleague Jack asks her if she will be in for work tomorrow. She assures him she will and right before the credits roll, you can see her fiddling with something in her hand.

What is the mystery object you might ask? Turns out that the object is He Who Remain’s time-twist bangle. This bangle is a super powerful device that combines the same qualities of the TemPad and a Time Twister. The TemPad is where the user can create timeline-crossing portals while a Time Twister gives the user the ability to teleport. According to director Dan Deleeuw, Sylvie is still a Loki and if she’s able to get the keys of the universe, she wouldn’t easily give that away.

“I think she always suspected this might come back, and I think that ties in with a lot of the reaction of Loki in the McDonald’s as well. She knew she was on borrowed time, I think, and kept it because she knew, eventually, Loki would show or some other Loki would show up, some other variant of He Who Remains or something like that, that she’d have to ultimately deal with.”
-Director Dan Deleeuw-

There’s so much craziness that is happening in the series and questions that we hope get answered as we continue with the season. Episode 1 and 2 of Loki Season 2 is available to stream exclusively on Disney+. The rest of the episodes of the season will be released on Thursdays at 6 pm PST.

About Loki Season 2

Release Date: October 6, 2023
Directed by: Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead, Dan Deleeuw, Kasra Farahani
Head Writer: Eric Martin
Executive Producers: Kevin Feige, Stephen Broussard, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad
Winderbaum, Kevin R. Wright, Tom Hiddleston, Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead, Eric Martin, Michael
Waldron
Co-Executive Producer: Trevor Waterson
Production: Marvel Studios
Distribution: Disney+
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Sophia Di Martino, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wunmi Mosaku, Eugene
Cordero, Rafael Casal, Tara Strong, Kate Dickie, Liz Carr, Neil Ellice, with Jonathan Majors, Ke Huy Quan
and Owen Wilson

Synopsis
“Loki” Season 2 picks up in the aftermath of the shocking season finale when Loki finds himself in a battle for the soul of the Time Variance Authority. Along with Mobius, Hunter B-15 and a team of new and returning characters, Loki navigates an ever-expanding and increasingly dangerous multiverse in search of Sylvie, Judge Renslayer, Miss Minutes and the truth of what it means to possess free will and glorious purpose.

What do you guys think? Do you think we will see the entity of Zaniac in Loki? What about Sylvie’s motive for keeping the time-twist bangle? Also, how do you like the series so far? Let us know and don’t forget to check out our socials! If you like articles like this, make sure to follow us for more content.