Marvel fans spot touching Loki tribute in Thor: Love and Thunder trailer

Marvel have dropped the first full electrifying trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder, the fourth solo adventure for Chris Hemsworth’s God of Thunder – only this time, he’ll be missing a little mischief from Loki. 

Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, the b**tard, trickster brother of Thor, is one of the most popular characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Alas, to Thor’s knowledge, Loki died at the giant, purple hands of Thanos in the brutal opening of Avengers: Infinity War.

Of course, viewers have since seen Loki in Doctor Who mode on Disney+ after the events of Endgame set his past self free. However, in this timeline and universe, Thor’s somewhat villainous sibling is dead – so a touching tribute will have to do.

Thor: Love and Thunder trailer features blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Loki tribute

After a brief, vibes-only teaser, this trailer marks a proper look at what to expect Taika Waititi’s Thor sequel – including Russell Crowe as Zeus.

Towards the end of the trailer, Thor appears to be in a spot of bother. He’s tied down with lightning ropes, and believing him to be wearing a disguise, Zeus flicks off his robe, rendering him butt-naked in front of the crowds. Naturally, this prompts fainting from the women in Mount Olympus.

However, if you can draw your eyes away from Hemsworth’s pixellated backside for a quick moment, there’s quick nod to Loki: Thor is now sporting a back tattoo of the mischief-maker’s famous horned helmet.

Among other excited reactions to the trailer on social media, fans were quick to notice the tribute. “Thor and all his little ways he pays tribute to Loki I love him so much,” one user tweeted, while another wrote: “Me eating my lunch and crying about Thor’s tribute tattoo to Loki so how’s everyone’s day going so far.”

Another wrote: “NOT A BROTHER TRIBUTE LISTEN IT’S HALFWAY THROUGH THE DAY I CAN’T GO THROUGH THIS.”

• Read More: Marvel’s Avengers gets surprising Thor: Love and Thunder connection

A third tweeted: “Let’s just not focus on what’s bellow Thor’s waistline and look at his back. Those are clearly tattoos and one is for his brother Loki. His signature horn helmet. Thor paying tribute to his dear brother.”

Given the multiversal madness at the play in the MCU, there’s always a chance we could see Hiddleston return in Love and Thunder. As you’d expect, he hasn’t confirmed nor denied any such appearance.

In an earlier interview with Total Film, he said: “I’m living in a question mark. It’s all unknown. You know, I used to think that I could predict these things, but I literally have no idea. And I’m not even doing an Andrew Garfield! I just don’t know.”

It’s not just the tribute that’s caught people’s attention: there’s more of Natalie Portman’s highly-anticipated Mighty Thor and Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie, now serving as King of New Asgard; and notably, we’ve got our first look at Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher, the movie’s main antagonist.

Thor: Love and Thunder hits cinemas on July 8, 2022.