Tessa Thompson will be the new queer face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and LGBTQ people are here for it.
The popular Marvel films have been slow to include LGBTQ characters on screen, despite the comic books being inclusive for years.
The recent shift by Marvel to include more women and people of color is now expanding, adding a major queer character in the upcoming film, “Thor: Love and Thunder.” The film will also feature Tessa Thompson’s character, Valkyrie, as the MCU’s first LGBTQ superhero, and Oscar-winner Natalie Portman as the female Thor.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige made a series of announcements on the upcoming slate of films at this year’s Comic-Con on July 20th. The franchise is working to use women and people of color as directors as well as featuring them in iconic roles on-screen. Of the five films the studio announced at Comic-Con, only one is set to be directed by a white man.
The most popular films of the past few years, as well as the most lucrative, have come from Marvel. This year’s “Avengers: Endgame,” which co-starred Thompson, as well as 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Black Panther” are among the top grossing films of all time.
At Comic-Con, Feige heralded the shift in focus. “It’s about fresh voices and new voices and great filmmakers who can continue to steer the MCU into new places.”
The studio also promised more diversity on screen, which is where Thompson — already a main figure in the MCU for her portrayal of Valkyrie — comes in. Thompson portrayed Valkyrie in two Marvel films — “Thor: Ragnarok” (2017) and “Avengers: Endgame” (2019) — but the character’s sexuality wasn’t clarified. A scene that would have made Valkyrie’s sexuality overt was cut from “Thor: Ragnarok.”
It is all clear now. Thompson was ready to drop the tea on Valkyrie to Comic-Con goers as well as her 543k Twitter followers. When asked what her character will be doing in the new film, Thompson told the Comic-Con audience, “I think first of all as king, as new king, she needs to find her queen. That’ll be her first order of business. She has some ideas. Keep you posted.”
Thompson also said of Valkyrie on Twitter, “She’s bi. And yes, she cares very little about what men think of her. What a joy to play!”
Feige confirmed that Valkyrie will be involved in an LGBTQ storyline. “How that impacts the story remains to be seen with that level of representation you’ll see across our films, not in just ‘Thor 4,’” Feige said.
He has also teased more LGBTQ Marvel characters. In an interview in Collider, he hinted that “The Eternals,” which will hit theaters in November 2020 and stars Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie, will also feature an LGBTQ character.
Valkyrie has appeared in Marvel Comics since “The Avengers” #83 in 1970. The superheroine, based on the Norse mythological figure Brynhildr, was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema. She has been a main character among the superhero team known as the Defenders and a close ally and love interest of the superhero Thor. But in more recent comics, Valkyrie has been portrayed as bisexual. With Thor being female in the upcoming film, the plot twists to a bisexual Valkyrie.
“Captain Marvel” was released in March, starring Oscar-winner Brie Larson. It was the first Marvel Studios film centering a female character. Between “Captain Marvel” and “Wonder Woman,” interest in films with female heroes has been growing. MCU is capitalizing on that money-making formula.
Social media went wild over the news of Portman and Thompson’s looming pairing with tens of thousands of posts on Twitter. Emmy-winning black lesbian actress, writer and producer Lena Waithe summed it up in a tweet July 22, “Captain America is black. Thor is a woman, the new Blade got two Oscars, 007 is a black woman. And The Little Mermaid bout to have locs. [expletive] Just. Got. Real.”