Within hours of WandaVision hitting Disney+, Marvel fans started running wild with theories that Mephisto was the “Big Bad” manipulating the show’s strange events from behind the scenes. (Heck, we even got in on the action.) However, as the series came to its emotional climax, Marvel’s version of the Devil was nowhere to be found because, at the end of the day, it was nothing more than a fan theory. In fact, WandaVision‘s creator, Jac Schaeffer, didn’t even know who Mephisto was until she saw the speculation spreading like wildfire online as the show was airing.
With Loki‘s first episode now available on Disney+, the creative team behind the Trickster God’s new series are already getting ahead of the Mephisto rumors and shutting down the image that started it all: that stained glass window. Back in December 2020, Marvel unveiled a trailer for Loki, which included a scene from the first episode where the Devil is depicted in a stained glass window. It’s plain as day, and it was an impetus for the Mephisto rumors that started plaguing WandaVision. Fans just assumed that Mephisto was going to be in Loki, so it only makes sense that Marvel would slowly tease his arrival. Not so much.
In an interview ahead of Loki‘s premiere, director Kate Herron explained that the stained glass window never had anything to do with Mephisto and is actually a reference to the show’s main character. Via Entertainment Tonight:
“It’s honestly just a super weird coincidence. Like, it’s genuinely a reference to Loki — the horns, he was cast out of heaven, that’s what it’s a reference to. Because we filmed that a long time before– I think WandaVision must have been in post when we filmed that. I did see all the stuff about that online and I was like, ‘Oh, this is going to be interesting.’ [Laughs] But no, it’s more relevant to the themes of our show and it’s not a nod to that character.”
And there you have it. Despite what WandaVision taught us, the devil is not in the details. At least, not literally.
(Via Entertainment Tonight)