Warning: Minor Thor: Love and Thunder spoilers ahead.
Though 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok never explicitly referenced the sexuality of Valkryie — and reportedly had a scene cut out that did — the character is still considered the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first major LGBTQ+ character. Tessa Thompson confirmed as much in a 2017 tweet, revealing she approached the Asgardian warrior-turned-king as bisexual in being faithful to the comics.
And while both Thompson and Marvel chief Kevin Feige teased Valkyrie could find her queen in this summer’s Thor: Love and Thunder back at 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, fans may want to temper their expectations when it comes to any romantic subplots involving the king of New Asgard.
Still, in a new interview with Yahoo Entertainment (watch above), Thompson says Valkyrie’s sexuality was a major point of discussion with co-writer and director Taika Waititi.
“We talked about it a lot, it was big topic of conversation,” says Thompson, who is bisexual IRL. “Because I think rightfully there’s this real want in audiences to see characters be very clearly queer or LGBTQIA inside these spaces. And I think it’s hugely important to have representation.
“And also as humans I think that we are not defined by our sexuality, and by who we love. And so sometimes I think to hang a narrative completely on that is a way of actually diminishing the humanity of the character. Because you don’t allow them to be anything else.”
Love and Thunder features the long-awaited return of Natalie Portman’s Jane, who evolves into Mighty Thor. Beyond rekindling sparks between Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Jane and the central mission at hand — with Thor, Mighty Thor, Valkyrie and Korg (Waititi) on a mission to stop Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) from, well, butchering gods — Thompson indicates there simply wasn’t enough space to meaningfully explore Valkyrie’s love life. Though she’s also confident that will come in due time.
“It becomes the only storyline, particularly in a movie like this where you don’t, frankly, have a lot of room for storyline,” Thompson says. “So there was a lot of conversation in terms of how to treat that with Valkyrie. And I feel really good, personally, about where we got to. I hope that she’s a character that fans continue to connect to, that we have a lot of time to explore her, in all of her humanity. But whether or not she finds love in this movie doesn’t mean she’s not still a fabulous queer character that is open to finding love when it makes sense.”
Thor: Love and Thunder opens Friday, July 8.
— Video produced by Anne Lilburn and edited by Jimmie Rhee
Watch the trailer:
