Before Loki‘s first season premiered, its trailer showed that Tom Hiddleston’s character was D.B. Cooper (the one who hijacked a flight from Portland to Seattle on November 24, 1971).
Cooper demanded $200,000 and parachuted out of the plane with all the money. His case still remains unsolved to date, because he was never seen since then.
In the last season of Loki, it was revealed that Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is D.B. Cooper, and he hijacked the plane because he lost a bet with Thor. With the ever-changing timeline in Loki, other characters may have secret pasts linked to real-world unsolved mysteries. And it’s true.
Casey’s Alcatraz Escape Is Based on This True Story in Loki Season 2 Episode 5
In Loki Season 2, it’s revealed that TVA employees—including Mobius (Owen Wilson), Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku), and even Casey (Eugene Cordero)—are all variants with no memory of their past lives. So, as the Temporal Loom collapses, they return to their original timelines. But in Episode 5, Science/Fiction, Casey’s true identity surprises viewers.
In that episode, it turns out that Casey’s life on the timeline is based on Frank Morris, an Alcatraz escapee. He was convicted of theft and burglary before he was sent to Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary (the infamous prison island in the San Francisco Bay in 1960). Frank escaped Alcatraz in 1962 with brothers John and Clarence Anglin.
Loki Season 2, Episode 5 Links Alcatraz Escape with Casey’s Life
To escape the prison, the real-life trio created fake heads from cotton sheets, soap, paint, and human hair to fool guards. They also carved holes through their cells to access the utility corridor using spoons and a makeshift drill. Frank’s accordion practice helped to drown out their digging.
The real escapees crafted a boat from raincoats and handmade resin using what they learned from magazine articles in the prison library. Despite (seemingly) leaving the island, there’s no record of them reaching the shore.
A discovered raft with personal effects tied up in a plastic bag suggested that the inmates didn’t successfully navigate the water. This historical context aligns with the Loki Season 2, Episode 5 storyline involving the escape from Alcatraz and Casey’s connection to Frank Morris.
Various theories speculate that the Anglin brothers survived and are residing in Brazil. But the FBI declared them dead in 1979, with an open case by the U.S. Marshall.
Anyway, it’s fun to see that (yet again) Loki creatively weaved the real-world event into the character’s backstory, which added an intriguing layer to the whole narrative.
