All eyes have been on Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth as the leading Thors of Love and Thunder. Yet, we also have the returning Tessa Thompson as the wonderful Valkyrie. After taking over kingship following thor’s travel into space, she’s been quite busy and we’ll see a new version of the character. Thompson offered some insight during the official press conference into how she approached the character going in and what it means to be a hero.
It’s been really fun. I mean, the thing that I’ve really enjoyed about these films, and certainly I think something that Stan Lee talked a lot about, whether it’s a villain or a hero. The thing sometimes that connects them to their power, whether it’s used for good or bad, is actually their trauma.
Tessa Thompson
She also relates this approach when we first met Valkyrie in Thor Ragnarok, where she was down on her luck.
And so, when we first met Valkyrie, she had a tremendous amount of it, and she was dealing with that by drinking a lot. And for Taika and I, we talked a lot about, like, upending what it looks like…what a female superhero looks like. That you sort of have this moment where she comes out, and you think it’s gonna be sort of that badass thing. And then, she immediately falls over.
Tessa Thompson
She also highlights how the biggest challenge was bringing this character to life and letting a former soldier become a hero; even comparing herself to how Chris Hemsworth tackles it with Thor.
And that was really fun to both try to inhabit the spirit and the kind of physicality that it takes to be a hero, which is its own skill. It’s like, Chris is so tremendous at it. And you’re right. It’s not an easy thing to do. And that also, to allow her to be fun and sort of goofy. And it’s just been really nice.
Tessa Thompson
“Fun and sort of goofy” sounds exactly like what one can expect from a film directed by Taika Waititi. It’s definitely going to be interesting to see where her journey leads her and the trailers have offered a promising tease of what the future might have in store for Valkyrie as the King of Asgard.
