Tessa Thompson Getting A Major Character Update In Thor: Love And Thunder
Valkyrie won't ever be the same!
This article is more than 2 years old
Valkyrie, played by Tessa Thompson, won’t be the same after the events of the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder. Some new merchandise for the blockbuster has confirmed that the Asgardian will be far more than just a warrior in the fourth entry of the Thor film series. Valkyrie will, as teased at the end of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, be the new King of New Asgard.
The confirmation comes from the release of the new LEGO Goat Boat set images, courtesy of 9to5Toys. Included with the set are figures for Thor’s flying goats Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder, the OG Thor, Jane Foster aka the Mighty Thor, Korg, and Valkyrie. But, as CBR notes, the description for Valkyrie doesn’t stop at “Valkyrie.” The box for the Goat Boat set calls the figure for Tessa Thompson’s hero “King Valkyrie.”
The combined events of 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok and 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War left the people of Asgard without a home. Those who survived the destruction of Asgard, Thanos and the Black Order’s assault on their ship in the opening of Infinity War, and Thanos’ snap at the end of the film made a new home in Norway called New Asgard. While technically Thor is King of his people, it’s Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie who is forced to take an unofficial leadership role when Thor retreats into a drunken haze after murdering Thanos in the beginning of Endgame. At the end of the film, before leaving for the stars with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor names Valkyrie the new King, rightly pointing out she’d already been doing the job.
There are likely those wondering why Valkyrie should be named “King” rather than “Queen” in Thor: Love and Thunder. We already know that Tessa Thompson’s hero will be openly LGTBQ+ in the film. Though she already saw her character as bi-sexual in Ragnarok, there was no opportunity to explore that side of her in the earlier movie. But does calling her “King” mean she identifies as either a man or as non-binary? Or is it simply because gender-coding renders “King” a more powerful word than “Queen,” so why not make it gender neutral? Either way, there is sure to be whining about so-called “unnecessary wokeness,” but since such accusations usually come from the sorts who lost their minds when a Black stormtrooper showed up in The Force Awakens, who cares?
As the new King of Asgard, Tessa Thompson will apparently be looking for her Queen, and there’s a fair chance her partner could wind up being Jaimie Alexander’s Sif. Sadly, the actress wasn’t able to reprise the role for Ragnarok, due to a scheduling conflict with her NBC drama Blindspot. But in July 2019, in a now-deleted tweet, Alexander volunteered to be Valkyrie’s royal partner. Alexander’s casting in Love and Thunder hasn’t been confirmed, but most believe she’s in the film. As ScreenRant reports, the actress was in Australia at the same time the rest of the cast was filming there.
We’ll get to see Tessa Thompson in action as King Valkyrie this summer in Thor: Love and Thunder. The fourth Thor film will hit theaters on July 8. Along with the returns of Thompson, Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and the return of Taika Waititi as Korg; the film will star Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher, Russell Crowe as Zeus, and the heroes of the Guardians of the Galaxy films.
