Will Valkyrie be in Avengers: Endgame? She got her own poster, and we know that Tessa Thompson was on set filming with Chris Hemsworth, but so far, Thompson hasn’t been on the press tour or shown in any footage. In a recent interview with the LA Times, she couldn’t even confirm that she was in the film.
Frustrated? Yeah, me too.
Still, we know there’s a future for Valkyrie in the MCU, as her Endgame poster all but guarantees some sort of appearance in the film. What that appearance is, we cannot say. I wouldn’t mind Valkyrie leading the charge with Okoye, Natasha, Nebula, and other women in a redo of the “she’s not alone” scene from Infinity War, but beyond that, outside of a hope that she will be Carol Danvers’ “gal pal,” I have no idea what to expect.
Thompson also shares my excitement for a female-centric MCU team-up, though she admits she was unaware of the Carol/Valkyrie ship when she retweeted fan art. “It didn’t even occur to me, legitimately, that it was necessarily a romantic thing. I don’t even know what happens in the canon in terms of those characters or if they ever intersect, but I just love the idea of more women Marvel characters getting to intersect. I just think it’s so cool and it’s time and why not? There’s so many compelling female characters inside of the MCU. ”
She added, “And just selfishly, when I get to see those women in passing, they’re all such cool women, so the idea of getting to spend time with them and hang out is so fun. I’m just excited that this new phase promises to have women and queer folks.”
Honestly, having an MCU actor openly talk about including queer characters into the universe thrills me, especially someone who might have some knowledge of Phase 4. Marvel has yet to introduce a major queer character in their 22 films released, which is a bit of a glaring hole. While it took 18 films for Marvel to feature a protagonist of color leading a film, and 21 for a white woman to lead a film, we don’t want another decade to pass before a queer character leads one.
Thompson’s Valkyrie could be the perfect bisexual heroine to lead her own spinoff. Let Valkyrie have some space adventures, kiss a girl, and be the kickass, flawed heroine we fell in love with in Thor: Ragnarok. It’s what the audience would want!
And speaking of Thor: Ragnarok, Thompson teased something very interesting about Phase 4.
“I heard that a pitch has happened for [another Thor film]. I don’t know how real that intel is, but I hear that the pitch has happened. I think the idea is Taika [Waititi] would come back,” Thompson teased, and goodness I hope her information is correct. Thor: Ragnarok is one of the holy trinity of MCU films that everyone can agree on being perfect, a stellar action-comedy romp with smart social commentary laced through the project. Who doesn’t want another one?
Of course, that lives and dies (quite literally) on whether or not Thor lives or dies in Avengers: Endgame. While the mantle and hammer of Thor have been passed along to Jane Foster in the comics, Jane has been very much written out of the MCU. The existence of a fourth Thor pitch implies Thor might survive Endgame, but we don’t know if the pitch came before Endgame, if it’s even real, or if this isn’t some sort of tactic to throw us off before Endgame opens.
Ultimately, we have to ask to: What does Thompson ship, if anything?
She’s a Carol/Maria fan. “I kind of ship them, but I would like to have a drink with them. I also have seen some other people shipping Thor and Captain Marvel, which, when they see each other, that’s kind of steamy. [But] I don’t think I ship any two characters. I’m just for everybody.”
We’re down for everybody too, Ms. Thompson. But especially Valkyrie.
(via the LA Times, image: Marvel)
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