Loki Season 2 Has A Spider-Man Villain Easter Egg Only Marvel Fanatics Caught
When it comes to setting up "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty" and "Avengers: Secret Wars," few Marvel projects are as critical as "Loki." Season 1 did an excellent job of showing how the fabric of the multiverse was in danger, and Season 2 is ramping things along nicely, even introducing viewers to the Kang variant Victor Timely (Jonathan Majors). But there are plenty of other nods to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe, including a character with ties to Spider-Man from the comics.
In "Loki" Season 2, Episode 3 — "1893" — Victor sells a Temporal Loom prototype to someone referred to as Robber Baron (Richard Dixon). He may come across as a stereotypical 19th-century businessman, but Robber Baron is an alias of a character from the comics — he's the great-grandfather to Norman Osborn, who eventually becomes the Green Goblin. His real name is Alton Osborn, Sr., the founder of the Osborn family fortune who made his first appearance in flashback sequences in 2000's "Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin" #2. He certainly follows in a villainous vein, as he chases after Victor in the episode after getting scammed.
It seems like a long shot for the character to have any ties to Green Goblin, especially seeing how the MCU doesn't have a Norman Osborn of its own yet. Willem Dafoe's version appeared in "Spider-Man: No Way Home," but he's from another dimension so that doesn't count. Could Robber Baron set up the proper introduction of the Osborns in the MCU?
Both Robber Baron and Alton Osborn, Sr. sport some mean mutton chops
There are some physical similarities to Robber Baron on "Loki" and Alton Osborn Sr. from the comics. The most prominent is the inclusion of mutton chops connecting via the mustache. This must've been a popular facial hair style toward the end of the 19th century. But if one really wants to dive into this random cameo, Robber Baron's presence may explain why we haven't met Harry and Norman Osborn yet in the MCU.
In the comics, Alton's grandson, Amberson Osborn, lost the family fortune after an invention he made with unknown uses was stolen. While we don't see Amberson in "Loki," Robber Baron makes a very unfortunate business decision by investing a ton of money into the Temporal Loom prototype, which turns out to be a scam. It's possible he also lost much of his fortune through that transaction, forcing the Osborn family to work their way back up. It could explain why the MCU doesn't have Oscorp yet; it's possible the Osborns may be fairly wealthy in the modern day, just not to the level people are used to seeing them.
It's a long shot and probably isn't accurate, but that's the fun of making fan theories. "Loki" has incorporated many deep-cut Marvel Easter eggs into Season 2 already, from a movie about Zaniac to a reference to Balder the Brave. There's a rich web of Marvel history at play that only the most devoted of fans would pick up on.