Marvel Studios has been consistently teasing LGBTQ representation in the MCU for the past year, but it was only at last night’s San Diego Comic-Con panel that they dared to reveal a few details.
As you may’ve heard by now, Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi is returning to the helm for the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder, which will feature Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster as the next Thor. What’s more, we know that Tessa Thompson will be reprising her role as Valkyrie for the 2021 flick, and at last night’s event, the actress teased that the new ruler of Asgard will be “looking for her Queen.”
Though it was already hinted in Ragnarok that Valkyrie is bisexual, it seems that this aspect of the character will be made more explicit in her next outing. And in case Thompson’s tease left any room for doubt, Collider later caught up with producer Kevin Feige, who reaffirmed that Valkyrie will indeed be written as part of the LGBTQ community:
“Yes that’s the case, and will be the case not just with [Valkyrie] but with other characters in some of the movies we talked about today.”
When asked if The Eternals would also feature LGBTQ representation, Feige confirmed that this was the case, verifying a rumor that’s been making the rounds for several months now.
Who exactly the LGBTQ character(s) in Chloé Zhao’s upcoming film might be remains unclear, though the recently unveiled cast list at least offers a few candidates. So far, we know that The Eternals will feature Angelina Jolie as Thena, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, and Don Lee as Gilgamesh.
We’ll be seeing all these characters in action when The Eternals hits theaters on November 6th, 2020, before Valkyrie gets a chance to find her queen when Thor: Love and Thunder comes out on November 5th, 2021.
