This week’s episode of Loki has earned its keep at the watercooler with yet another nugget of comic lore for diehard Marvel fans to discuss. The penultimate episode, titled “Journey Into Mystery,” not only gave viewers several Loki variants from comics both old and new, but head writer Michael Waldron (Heels, Dr. Strang and the Multiverse of Madness) and the team paid homage to one of Thor’s most endearing iterations with the quick cameo of Throg.
According to Inverse, the Frog Thor appeared for only mere seconds as we followed Tom Hiddleston’s (Thor 2: The Dark World, The Avengers) Loki and his merry variants to an underground shelter to escape The Void’s guardian, the Alioth. Buried deep within the soil with other discarded items, including a variant version of Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, was a frog trapped in a glass jar. The amphibian was fully clad in a miniature version of Thor’s classic cape, armor, and helmet. The jar was even labeled “T356,” a nod to the comic book in which Throg first appeared, Thor #365.
Comicbook.com reports Throg was created by long-time Thor writer, Walter Simonson (Thor: Omnibus, The Mighty Thor). The web-footed hero occasionally accompanied the human God of Thunder on missions. He would eventually join an all-animal team known as the “Pet Avengers.” This roster of heroes included Kitty Pryde’s dragon Lockheed, Sam Wilson’s winged buddy, Redwing, and the Inhumans transporting canine, Lockjaw.
Twitter was ecstatic to see the mini Avenger make it to the small screen, with many fans posting images of the caped frog along with photos from the comics, according to Comicbook.com. See a few of the tweets below:
This appearance of Throg in the Marvel series only fuels rumors of what could come in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Inverse reports the next Thor sequel, Thor: Love and Thunder, will allegedly feature variants of Odin’s oldest son. We could even see an alternate timeline’s Throg fight enemies alongside Chris Hemsworth (Extraction, Marvel’s What If…?).
The season one finale of Loki airs Wednesday, July 14 only on Disney+.