Marvel Studios’ upcoming “Thor: Ragnarok” features the brand’s first openly-LGBT superhero. Actress Tessa Thompson, who plays Valkyrie in the new film, revealed on Twitter that her character is bisexual.
“She’s bi. And yes, she cares very little about what men think of her,” Thompson tweeted after a fan complained that early images of the character make her look like “typical sexless marvel tomboy.”
“What a joy to play!” the former “Creed” star added.
In the pages of the Marvel comic, Valkyrie has long been presented as bisexual and fans were concerned that this aspect of her character might be ignored on the big screen in favor of reducing her to the role of “Thor’s girlfriend.”
She’s bi. And yes, she cares very little about what men think of her. What a joy to play! https://t.co/d0LZKTHCfL
— Tessa Thompson (@TessaThompson_x) October 21, 2017
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In the new film, the third devoted to Chris Hemsworth’s godlike prince, Valkyrie is introduced as a warrior from his home planet of Asgard. But despite Thompson’s declaration, early moviegoers reported no explicit (or even implied) reference to her sexuality on camera in “Ragnarok.”
If Valkyrie bisexuality emerges in future installments, she wouldn’t be the first openly LGBT hero in the Marvel universe. On ABC’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” the Inhuman Joey Gutierrez played by Juan Pablo Raba is openly gay.
Previously, “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn has said that there may be gay characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, maybe we just haven’t seen them yet.
“Somebody asked me, ‘Will there be any gay characters in Marvel movies?’ And, you know, what I meant is there’s a lot of characters in the MCU and very few of them have we delved into what their sexuality is whether it’s gay or straight or bisexual. We don’t really know so I imagine there are probably, you know, gay characters in the Marvel universe and we just don’t know who they are yet.”
“Thor: Ragnarok” opens on Nov. 17.