Thor: Love and Thunder finally premiered, and brought back a Marvel fan-favorite – Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson). Thompson first made her debut in Thor: Ragnarok, where she first appears under the disguise of a bounty hunter called Scrapper 142. However, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) soon recognizes her as Valkyrie, a member of the legendary force of female warriors who were killed fighting Hela (Cate Blanchett) centuries ago. Despite still struggling with the trauma of losing her fellow warriors at Hela’s hands, she eventually chooses to join Thor in fighting the villain once more.
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Later, when Thor fell into alcoholism and despondency after failing to kill Thanos (Josh Brolin), it was Valkyrie who took over as the de-facto leader of the Asgardians. She leads them in the final battle against Thanos and was the key to relocating and integrating them into New Asgard on Earth. After Avengers: Endgame, her leadership became official with Thor naming her King of New Asgard. She’s a legendary warrior, nearly as strong as Thor, who is wickedly funny, sarcastic, and charming, and also a capable leader.
As if that wasn’t enough to sell her character, Thompson has confirmed that Valkyrie is also bisexual, just like her comic book counterpart. Initially, a scene in Thor: Ragnarok would have addressed Valkyrie’s sexuality. A scene reportedly briefly showed a woman leaving Valkyrie’s bedroom, but was ultimately cut from the final film. With Valkyrie’s return in Thor: Love and Thunder, many were holding out hope of Valkyrie officially having a queer love interest in the film.
Why Valkyrie doesn’t have a girlfriend in Thor: Love and Thunder
Unfortunately, Valkyrie’s lover was noticeable absent in Thor: Love and Thunder. The film does confirm her sexuality though, when Korg (Waititi) mentions that Valkyrie’s girlfriend died in battle. There is also a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene in which Valkyrie kisses another woman’s hand. However, that is really the full extent of Valkyrie’s bisexual storyline.
Thompson herself weighed in on why this was. She told the Los Angeles Times that there were definitely conversations about Valkyrie having a relationship. However, she didn’t want her character’s sole identity to revolve around her sexuality, just because she’s bisexual. She points out that there are many facets of her character to explore and to remain hyper-focused on just one aspect of who she is minimizes her humanity. Check out her statement below:
We’ve had lots of conversations about it. I think there’s a lot of folks that are righteously very hungry for that representation to exist in these movies, as am I. But I also think [it’s important] not to hang the character’s hat solely on her sexual identity just because she’s a queer character. I think that’s one way of minimizing her humanity, actually, if that’s the only facet that you get to explore her in.
Taika Waititi also weighed in on the situation and pointed out that Valkyrie did, tragically, lose the love of her life. Hence, she’s a person who is actually alright with spending some time alone. Right now, she’s at the stage in her life when she needs to understand who she is and learn to love herself, before she finds her queen.
Valkyrie’s future in the MCU
Chris Hemsworth also weighed in that there is plenty of room for a romance in the future. After all, Thor is returning in the MCU, so it is very likely we’ll see Valkyrie again. Hemsworth, Thompson, and Waititi all make excellent points. There’s no doubt that they know the character well and are advocates for her. There’s a strong chance that the MCU will build up to her having a relationship with a woman in the future.
Of course, that doesn’t exactly dissipate all disappointment. After all, Thompson and many Marvel executives were teasing her relationship in Thor: Love and Thunder. Natalie Portman even stated that the film was “so gay” and many felt the promises and teases were misleading. In a film that’s about finding love, where even Korg finds his gay rock lover, it doesn’t feel quite right for Valkyrie to be left out.
(via: LA Times, featured image: Marvel)
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