Representation in superhero movies will get a pretty significant boost in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While allusions were previously made to the fact thatTessa Thompson’sThor: Ragnarokcharacter Valkyrie was part of the LGBTQ community (both in the film and from Thompson’s public comments), when Thompson took the Hall H stage during Marvel’s 2019 San Diego Comic-Con panel to teaseThor 4, she announced that the sequel would find Valkyrie “looking for her Queen.” If you’ll recall, at the end ofAvengers: Endgame,Chris Hemsworth’s Thor passes his King of Asgard mantle on to Valkyrie, and it appears that storyline will be picked up heavily inThor: Love and Thunder, which will also findTaika Waititireturning to the director’s chairandwill bring backNatalie Portman’s Jane Foster as, yes,female Thor.
And while Thompson’s comments during the Marvel panel were unmistakable, it’s always nice to have explicit confirmation. So when Collider’s own Steve Weintraub caught up with Marvel Studios presidentKevin Feigebackstage after the panel, he asked Feige if he could confirm that Valkyrie will be explicitly part of the LGBTQ community inThor: Love and Thunder. He not only confirmed it, but teased other LGBTQ Marvel characters:
“Yes that’s the case, and will be the case not just with [Valkyrie] but with other characters in some of the movies we talked about today.”
When pressed if there’s an LGBTQ character inThe Eternals, Feige confirmed that yes, that’s the case.The Eternalsis one of the new Marvel movies hitting theaters in 2020 and adapts the truly strangeJack Kirbycomic to the big screen. The story revolves around a group of immortal beings as they consider what it means to be human, and the diverse ensemble featuresAngelina Jolie,Richard Madden,Kumail Nanjiani,Salma Hayek, andBrian Tyree Henry.
Feige and Co. snagged acclaimedThe RiderfilmmakerChloe Zhaoto directThe Eternals, which starts filming later this year, but it appears fans have yet another reason to look forward to this fascinating film. Feige didn’t reveal which character will be part of the LGBTQ community, but the cast of characters for the film are as follows:
Richard Madden as Ikaris
Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo
Lauren Ridloff as Makkari
Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos
Salma Hayek as Ajak
Lia McHugh as Sprite
Don Lee as Gilgamesh
Angelina Jolie as Thena
The Eternalsis slated to hit theaters on August 01, 2025, whileThor: Love and Thunderwill be released on July 29, 2025. Look for more from our Marvel interviews soon, and if you missed all the big Marvel news on Saturday peruse our list of stories below:
