Marvel’s Thunderbolts* Trailer Has a Major Connection to Loki and The Avengers

Fans have spotted an Easter egg for the first Avengers movie in the teaser trailer for Thunderbolts*. The newest team to make its Marvel Cinematic Universe debut is filled with outcasts and castoffs, with the Thunderbolts seemingly being assembled by Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. With characters such as Yelena Belova, Winter Soldier, and Red Guardian as part of the Thunderbolts, Marvel fans should stay on their toes because who knows what will happen. But since Thunderbolts* does take place in the MCU, that means there are connections to previous movies and shows. And Thunderbolts* has connections to both Loki and Marvel’s The Avengers.

Around the 2:20 minute mark in the Thunderbolts* teaser trailer, we can see Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) attending a Battle of New York exhibit. Of course, the Battle of New York is where the Avengers assembled for the very first time to combat Loki and the Chitauri invasion. Fans even got to see the Battle of New York through fresh eyes during the time heist in Avengers: Endgame. So back to the exhibit…. up front in a display case by the stairs is Loki’s scepter, which he used to mind control Hawkeye and Erik Selvig. Avengers: Age of Ultron would later reveal that inside the scepter was the Mind Stone, which Vision would ultimately take possession of before Thanos ripped it out of his skull in Avengers: Infinity War.

The MCU journey of Loki’s scepter

Similar to the comics, Loki is responsible for the formation of the Avengers. In his quest for power, Loki turns to Thanos, who gifts the God of Mischief the scepter holding the Mind Stone. Loki uses the scepter to take control of Hawkeye and Erik Selvig’s minds, twisting them to his will. The Chitauri invasion is repelled by the Avengers, with Thor taking Loki back to Asgard to stand trial.

The next time we see Loki’s scepter is in Avengers: Age of Ultron, where Baron von Strucker and Hydra used it to perform experiments on Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, granting them their superhuman abilities. Though as we learned in WandaVision, Wanda always had her powers, and the scepter only jumpstarted them. Once the Avengers defeated Strucker, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner used the scepter to complete the Ultron Program. The scepter was taken by Ultron to finish his programming as well, opening it up to reveal the Mind Stone inside it.

It would appear that the Loki scepter has found a new home inside an exhibit dedicated to the Battle of New York. Since it looks like Valentina is the new mystery owner of Avengers Tower, she may also be the owner of Loki’s scepter and is the one throwing the exhibit to show off her new toys.

Thunderbolts* arrives in theaters on May 2, 2025.