Tessa Thompson is back. Just under two weeks before Thor: Love and Thunder lands in theaters, the 38-year-old has cleared up some confusion regarding her Marvel character, Valkyrie. At the end of Thor: Ragnarok, Valkyrie became the King of Asgard after the demise of Hela and the planetary relocation of Thor. After Loki died in Avengers: Infinity War, Valkyrie was the only remaining heir left to assume the throne. Thompson made her debut in Thor: Ragnarok alongside Cate Blanchett’s Hela, and for the third sequel, she reprises her role as Valkyrie with Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Taika Waititi as Korg, and newcomer Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher.
Marvel fans have been holding out on Thor: Love and Thunder for months, hoping the sequel will help build the foundations for future Thor films to integrate themselves into the MCU. There’s plenty of buzz surrounding Thompson’s Valkyrie, who has been hinted at receiving an LGBTQ+ romance in Thor: Love and Thunder after Thompson confirmed the character’s bisexuality. Thompson has already confirmed that Valkyrie will be a “kind king,” so there’s no denying that the former Scrapper 142 will rule with an iron fist in a velvet glove.
Tessa Thompson spoke to ScreenRant regarding Valkyrie’s rise to sovereignty. She said, “it feels great” to have a female ruler, especially since Thor was destined to be the King of Asgard, but after Thor became indisposed and preoccupied with interplanetary crises, he passed the baton to Valkyrie, who gladly rose to the occasion.
:You know, it feels great. I’m really into it. It’s funny, because I saw some stuff on the internet of people being very confused. They’re like, ‘King? But she’s a woman!’ Some people were [kerfuffled].
But it really just had to do with the fact that Thor would have been king. That would have been what he would have taken over [as], and then he didn’t want to do the job. Essentially couldn’t do the job. He said, ‘Do this job as a friend,’ and then that’s the title. So, she’s still a woman, but she just happens to be king. And I really liked that, because gender is kind of a construct anyway. I think it’s cool.”
As it turns out, Tessa Thompson and Valkyrie alike simply adore being King of Asgard, but Valkyrie would prefer to have less of the formalities and tedious responsibilities. Thompson also mentions that as Valkyrie navigates her kingly duties, she learns more about herself and discovers precisely what kind of king she wants to be. After spending so many years fighting Asgard’s battles, she appreciates the downtime to mingle with the Asgardians and enjoy the fruits of her labor.
“It’s fun to be king! Valkyrie really loves being king, mostly, but she just hates paperwork and doesn’t like meetings. I think, over the course of the film, she’s gonna have to figure out what kind of a king she wants to be. And the truth is, that actually has less to do with the admin work and has more to do with what you impart to your people in the spirit of Asgard. And that she understands that in her bones; she spent thousands of years protecting Asgard as a warrior. It’s incredible for her to get to relax and put on a three piece suit and hang out with her people.”
Check out Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie when Thor: Love and Thunder arrives in theaters on July 8.
