Valkyrie Featured as Marvel’s First LGBTQ Main Character in Thor: Love and Thunder
Here’s the scoop on a few things if you’re not all caught up with what happened over this weekend during San Diego Comic-Con. Most notable was the Marvel Hall H presentation on Saturday. Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige announced that Thor: Love and Thunder will be happening.
The film will be directed by Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi, and will feature a female Thor, played by Natalie Portman. It will follow the Jason Aaron run of comics where Jane Foster picks up Mjolnir to defend Earth against an onslaught of frost giants.
However, what was recently revealed about the film has gotten even more traction online. The film will be a first in delving into LGBTQ representation through one of the lead characters, Valkyrie, played by Tessa Thompson.
Thompson is openly bisexual.
Representation in Film
Feige stated earlier last year that Marvel films were working more to have LGBTQ representation in future works. In a press junket with io9 for Avengers: Endgame, he spoke about it earlier this year:
“Well it’s accurate in that we’ve talked about [it for] a long time. You look at the success of Captain Marvel and Black Panther. We want the movies to reflect the audience and we want every member of our global audience to see themselves reflected on the screen. And that’s what we’ve been doing for a long time. And certainly, that’s what we’re focusing on going forward.”
With the announcement for Valkyrie, it’ll be the first Marvel film to delve into the LGBTQ realm. They almost did it for Thor: Ragnarok, as Valkyrie was supposed to be represented as bisexual in that film. However, we never saw any explicit mention of it in the final product. Thompson spoke about it in an interview with Rolling Stone:
“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.”
Another Thor
With that being said, I didn’t expect Jane Foster to take up the mantle of Thor in the upcoming film in the franchise. But I expected Thompson to return as ruler of New Asgard. In the announcement in Hall H, she talked about being ruler of the small community, and looking for her queen.
“First of all, as king, as new king [of Asgard], she needs to find her queen. So that will be the first order of business. She has some ideas. I’ll keep you posted.”
But what about Thor Odinson/Chris Hemsworth? And what about Jane Foster/Natalie Portman, who is now starting to hit the gym to get into shape for the role?
Hemsworth’s Thor, as we saw in Avengers: Endgame, will be aboard the Benetar with the Guardians of the Galaxy. What Jane Foster has been up to for the last few years is still a mystery. And what gets her to pick up Mjolnir remains a mystery as well. She actually might end up in a love triangle with Tessa Thompson and Thor Odinson. And Portman is no stranger to lesbian portrayals on screen, as she has done in Black Swan in 2010.
But what do you think about Marvel’s decision to open up about Valkyrie’s sexuality for the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder? Does it make or break the film? What role do you think Jane Foster will play in all of this? Where do you think Chris Hemsworth fits with all that’s going on? Sound off in the comments below or let’s talk about it on social media!
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