The Marvel Cinematic Universe is constantly growing, and Phase Four has already been a wild ride. One of the most highly anticipated projects coming down the line is Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder, which marks the first time a hero has been given a fourth solo movie. And Thor star Tessa Thompson recently spoke about getting to explore Valkyrie’s sexuality in the upcoming MCU film.
Actress Tessa Thompson made her MCU debut in Thor: Ragnarok, before crossing over for Avengers: Endgame. She’s set to return in Love and Thunder, where she’ll be ruling as the King of New Asgard. Thompson has been open about how her character is queer, clarified comments about her powers, and is now teasing how the sequel will explore her sexuality. As she put it,
It’s totally exciting. We talk so much about representation and obviously, in terms of the LGBTQIA community, there’s still so much work to be done. But if you look at the comics in the canon, there are so many queer characters! It’s hard because Taika [Waititi] and I would’ve even liked to go further, but in the context of the movies, there’s only so much we can do. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of time invested in love stories in Marvel movies in general. I think that will be a little different on the new “Thor,” which is exciting. And getting to play a character that historically is not written for somebody that looks like me, all of that felt exciting.
Well, there you have it. It seems that the full scope of Valkyrie’s character will be shown in Thor: Love and Thunder, including how and who she loves. There were opportunities for this that were cut from Ragnarok, so this is a thrilling update for both the actress and the LGBTQ+ community.
Tessa Thompson’s comments to The Wrap offers one small tidbit of what’s to come with Thor: Love and Thunder. Following Taika Waititi’s success with Ragnarok and his Oscar win for Jojo Rabbit, it seems like he could take the cosmic story seemingly anywhere. Luckily, we’re just a few months away from the blockbuster’s release in theaters.
In Tessa Thompson’s comments about her role in Thor: Love and Thunder, she also made it clear that Valkyrie’s romantic life isn’t necessarily a huge plot of the movie. Still, it’ll help further flesh out the Asgardian badass, and be another major step forward in regards to making the MCU a more inclusive place. Representation does seem to be taking major steps forward in Phase Four so far.
As previously mentioned, Tessa Thompson had mentioned she wanted to have Valkyrie find her Queen of Asgard. Perhaps that’s where the plot line is coming together. There was also a popular fan theory about Valkyrie ending up with Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel, but Taika Waititi didn’t seem on board.
Thor: Love and Thunder is currently set to arrive in theaters on July 8th. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
