Warning: spoilers ahead for Thor: Ragnarok! You've been warned!
Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok made headlines recently when it was announced that Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie was actually the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first LGBT hero. However, the moment was also tempered somewhat by the later realization that it's not explicitly addressed in the film. Now it seems that this almost wasn't the case, as an earlier cut of the film featured a much more overt reference to Valkyrie's bisexuality.
Tessa Thompson recently opened up to Rolling Stone and explained that Thor: Ragnarok actually included a brief moment highlighting her bisexuality in one of the film's earlier cuts. Specifically, the scene involved a shot of a woman walking out of Valkyrie's bedroom, thus heavily implying some initimate activity between them. Waititi apparently kept the moment in the film for as long as he could, until the folks behind the film eventually decided that it distracted from the scene and the exposition provided to the audience.
The basis for this moment was actually rooted in the source material. Tessa Thompson looked to Valkyrie's print relationship with archeologist Annabelle Riggs as the foundation for coming up with this idea. Riggs has not officially been introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet, but Thompson's own interest in exploring this LGBT path for Valkyrie means that it's not outside the realm of possibility.
That said, some moments still exist in the film that could be read as LGBT, if you're willing to interpret them that way. More specifically, Tessa Thompson opened up and explained how one of the Valkyries killed by Hela in the film's flashback sequence was (based on Thompson's reading of the scene) her lover. The actress said:
There were things that we talked about that we allowed to exist in the characterization, but maybe not be explicit in the film. There's a great shot of me falling back from one of my sisters who's just been slain. In my mind, that was my lover.
Unlike that cut sequence of a woman leaving Valkyrie's bedroom, that fallen lover moment is only something that you would pick up on if someone would explicitly tell you about it. It has no bearing on the film. In fact, the two Valkyries don't even share a line of dialogue during this moment. However, if the idea does eventually catch on, then it's entirely possible that we could one day see confirmation of it as canon in the MCU -- perhaps during that all-female Marvel movie that Thompson recently pitched.
Thor: Ragnarok will open in theaters on November 3, and Thor: Odinson will reunite with the rest of the Avengers on May 4, 2018 for Infinity War. Make sure to get your tickets for Thor: Ragnarok now, and take a look at our 2017 movie premiere guide and our 2018 movie premiere guide so you don't miss any of the most highly-anticipated film release dates!
