Warning: This article contains spoilers for Loki season 2 episode 2
In Loki season 2 episode 2, Rafael Casal, known as the Time Variance Authority agent X-5, goes rogue. Though he’s supposed to be on a mission to locate Sophia Di Martino’s Sylvie, he ends up dipping out into what was apparently his previous life on the timeline before being told that he had to join the TVA instead. Through this misadventure, we come to know the name “Zaniac,” but who is that and what presence does the character have in Marvel comics?
We come to know that X-5’s real name is Brad Wolfe, an actor. Brad escapes from the TVA and goes to 1977 Earth during his own movie premiere for an in-universe film called The Zaniac. Eventually, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Owen Wilson’s Mobius track him down and bring him back to the TVA. But does the name Zaniac hold any significance from the comics?
Zaniac’s comic book origins, explained
It turns out that both Brad Wolfe and Zaniac have their origins in comics. Specifically, they originate from early ’80s Thor comics, as we previously explained. True to the source material, Wolfe was an actor in the pages of Thor. His most infamous movie role was that of a serial killer called Zaniac. However, Brad soon became the victim of the dark spirit of the killer, who possessed him.
As one fan theory has already divulged, people think Brad’s introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe may be a way to resurrect Doctor Strange villain Dormammu as a major threat once again. You see, Zaniac actually has cosmic origins. The demonic entity was actually sent to Earth by Dormammu as someone who would sew the seeds of chaos by way of possessing humans and turning them into killers. This trend dates all the way back to the Victorian era when Jack the Ripper himself was a Zaniac host at one point.
We’ll have to see if there are more hints about Dormammu’s potential MCU comeback when Loki episode 3 debuts next Thursday at 6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET.