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Tessa Thompson says Valkyrie's sexuality was a 'big topic of conversation' on 'Thor: Love and Thunder'

Warning: Minor Thor: Love and Thunder spoilers ahead.

Though 2017's Thor: Ragnarok never explicitly referenced the sexuality of Valkryie — and reportedly had a scene cut out that did — the character is still considered the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first major LGBTQ+ character. Tessa Thompson confirmed as much in a 2017 tweet, revealing she approached the Asgardian warrior-turned-king as bisexual in being faithful to the comics.

And while both Thompson and Marvel chief Kevin Feige teased Valkyrie could find her queen in this summer’s Thor: Love and Thunder back at 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, fans may want to temper their expectations when it comes to any romantic subplots involving the king of New Asgard.

Still, in a new interview with Yahoo Entertainment (watch above), Thompson says Valkyrie’s sexuality was a major point of discussion with co-writer and director Taika Waititi.

“We talked about it a lot, it was big topic of conversation,” says Thompson, who is bisexual IRL. “Because I think rightfully there’s this real want in audiences to see characters be very clearly queer or LGBTQIA inside these spaces. And I think it’s hugely important to have representation.

“And also as humans I think that we are not defined by our sexuality, and by who we love. And so sometimes I think to hang a narrative completely on that is a way of actually diminishing the humanity of the character. Because you don’t allow them to be anything else.”

Tessa Thompson and Natalie Portman in
Tessa Thompson and Natalie Portman in Thor: Love and Thunder. (Photo: Disney/Marvel)

Love and Thunder features the long-awaited return of Natalie Portman’s Jane, who evolves into Mighty Thor. Beyond rekindling sparks between Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Jane and the central mission at hand — with Thor, Mighty Thor, Valkyrie and Korg (Waititi) on a mission to stop Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) from, well, butchering gods — Thompson indicates there simply wasn’t enough space to meaningfully explore Valkyrie’s love life. Though she’s also confident that will come in due time.

“It becomes the only storyline, particularly in a movie like this where you don’t, frankly, have a lot of room for storyline,” Thompson says. “So there was a lot of conversation in terms of how to treat that with Valkyrie. And I feel really good, personally, about where we got to. I hope that she’s a character that fans continue to connect to, that we have a lot of time to explore her, in all of her humanity. But whether or not she finds love in this movie doesn’t mean she’s not still a fabulous queer character that is open to finding love when it makes sense.”

Thor: Love and Thunder opens Friday, July 8.

— Video produced by Anne Lilburn and edited by Jimmie Rhee

Watch the trailer: