Tessa Thompson says Valkyrie’s sexuality is huge focus of Thor: Love and Thunder
Tessa Thompson feels “really good” about how Valkyrie’s sexuality has been explored in Thor: Love and Thunder. (YouTube/Marvel Entertainment)
Tessa Thompson has said Valkyrie’s queerness was a “big” talking point in Thor: Love and Thunder, hinting her sexuality may be explored in the new film.
Valkyrie was hailed as the first LGBTQ+ character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but a scene confirming the character’s sexuality was cut from 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok. Thompson fought to represent Valkyrie all aspects of the warrior-turned-king’s identity and tweeted that Valkyrie’s bisexuality informed how she played the character.
The actor, who is bisexual in real life, told Yahoo Entertainment that Valkyrie’s sexuality was a “big topic of conversation” during production of Thor: Love and Thunder.
She said there is a “real want” in fans to see characters be openly “queer or LGBTQIA inside these spaces” because 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,” Thompson said.
“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.”
Tessa Thompson felt “really good” about how the new Thor film explored Valkyrie’s bi identity. But she said fans shouldn’t expect to see a queer romance any time soon as wasn’t a “lot of room” for such a storyline in the film’s final cut.
“I feel really good, personally, about where we got to,” she said. “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.”
She continued: “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.”
Tessa Thompson told fans at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con that Valkyrie, as the new ruler of Asgard, would be “looking for a queen” in a future film.
“That will be her first order of business. She has some ideas. Keep you posted,” Thompson said.
A short while later, Jaimie Alexander — who played Sif in Thor — volunteered to be Valkyrie’s queen in a future Marvel film, which would honestly be amazing.
Thor: Love and Thunder hits cinemas on 8 July.
