Now that the cosmic dust is beginning to settle from Thor: Ragnarok, and Taika Waititi and Co. watch on as the threequel soars to box office stardom, moviegoers are beginning to develop a newfound appreciation for Valkyrie, the badass Asgardian warrior brought to life by Tessa Thompson.
Introduced as one of the film’s many newcomers, Thompson’s characters made waves just prior to Ragnarok‘s U.S. release after it was confirmed that her Valkyrie was openly bi-sexual – the first LGBT person to appear in the MCU, no less. But despite originally including an LGBT scene, Ragnarok never explicitly addressed Valkyrie’s sexuality in any shape or form.
That’s a little disappointing, of course, but if there’s one thing that Taika Waititi and Co. deserve credit for, it’s the decision to nix the proposed Thor/Valkyrie subplot early on in order to give Valkyrie her own story. Screenwriter Eric Pearson reflected on the pair’s dynamic in a recent interview with Yahoo Movies, and how it evolved as Thor: Ragnarok fell into place.
Essentially, Pearson wanted to ensure that Valkyrie wasn’t beholden to the God of Thunder, thereby allowing her story (along with the platonic relationship with Thor) to unfold organically.
But we didn’t want to start from that place. It was like, Let’s give Valkyrie her own story that connects with Thor … and if it makes sense for them to get together, then great. You’ve got two really good-looking people who can fight and who’d probably be [good together] if the story went there, but it just didn’t. It became more about the mutual respect, and also dealing with her PTSD. She’s someone who’s drowning her sorrows in the bottle, and I just thought that was such a cool thing that you don’t often see in these movies: somebody dealing with extreme guilt and shame in a colorful, Taika Waititi[-directed] hilarious background.
Buoyed by a sea of overwhelmingly positive reviews – the Taika Waititi-directed threequel has since been crowned the highest-rated Marvel movie on Rotten Tomatoes – Thor: Ragnarok continues to go from strength to strength, which is all the more impressive when you consider that Marvel’s God of Thunder has always been the underdog of the MCU. And, well, you know what they say about never underestimating the underdog.
