Asgardian Pride: Valkyrie Is Marvel’s Best LGBT Character, And Here’s Why

If you have already seen Thor: Love and Thunder, I’m sure you agree with us on one thing: Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) asks for it. And he hits it hard, too. Overcoming her lackluster role in thor: ragnarok, the current king of New Asgard triumphs becoming one of the best assets of the film.

From now on we can affirm that the shield maiden is, in the face of a sad lack of precedent, Marvel’s best LGBT character. Faced with a panorama presided over by euphemisms, anecdotal appearances to cover quota and other subterfuges, Thompson and Taika Waititi they have outlined a figure that people with a non-normative orientation can recognize and cheer from the stalls. At last!

The reasons for this are many and varied, so we’ve listed them below. Just a warning before we start: if your reaction to this report is to cry out against an alleged dictatorship of political correctness or to speak of an alleged “LGBT lobby”, we will be clear about two things. The first, that you are heterosexual, and rather closed-minded. Second, that you have very little idea of ​​Marvel comics.

Reason 1: You don’t need to come out of the closet

Currently, among members of the group, the expression “come out of the closet” is being highly questioned, not to say disapproved. And, without wanting to get into this debate, let us point out that Valkyrie is outside of it for a very clear reason: she has never been inside.

Yes ok ragnarok dispatched the sapphic orientation of ‘Val’ in an unnoble way (through a detail in a flashback that had to be looked at with a magnifying glass), in love and thunder the character goes happily to the clear. Thus, there is no longer any doubt about the fact that he lost his girlfriend in the battle against Hello, and that he wouldn’t mind finding a young, single, good-looking woman (judging from what was seen in the film, that she speaks classical Greek is a plus).

Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) watches her girlfriend die in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’.
Marvel

But best of all, this comes naturally into the dialogue and action, without any big reveals or closet drama that they are worth Future Marvelite heroes may have to go through that ordeal, but luckily things work differently in Asgard.

The only intensely emotional moment that raises this condition occurs during the conversation between ‘Val’ and Korg, when the latter advises her friend to stop drowning the sorrows of widowhood in alcohol and move on with her life. In that same talk, moreover, the heroine confesses to being a member of the “team jane”, something no one could blame her for: we talked about Natalie Portman wielding a mystical hammer, people.

Reason 2: His character is faithful to the comics

In these postmodern times we live in, it’s ironic to have to explain to people that “faithful” and “literal” are not the same thing. But that’s how it is: although the film Valkyrie doesn’t match the original (to begin with, she’s not blonde), it turns out to be a very neat adaptation of the character.

Because, beyond his physical appearance or his place in continuity, the traits of ‘Val’ that his fans remember are the following: he is more brutal than a moldboard plow (check), ride on a winged horse (check) and is one of the most fearsome warriors of both Asgard and Midgard (check). As for what he likes girls, just look at the bullet points below.

Valkyrie and archaeologist Annabelle Riggs ('Fearless Defenders' #1, 2013).
Valkyrie and archaeologist Annabelle Riggs (‘Fearless Defenders’ #1, 2013).
marvel comics

So, waiting for Marvel to include the archaeologist Annabelle Riggs (the girl with brown hair) in its list of characters, and that it gives Valkyrie and her a happier ending than they had in the comics, two things should be added.

The first, that Thompson’s character has appeared in the comics, where we’ve learned he’s called high and we have seen her make out with brunhilde (the canonical Valkyrie). The second: that there are not many heterosexuals among elite Asgardian warriors has been an open secret among Marvel authors, and among the ‘marvel zombies’, at least since the 80s. So that now four offended people come to cut the roll.

Reason 3: She is a rascal and a lady

As we have pointed out, openly LGBT characters in the mainstream media tend to suffer from defects such as a lack of relevance in the plot and, above all, an excessive propensity for melodrama around their sexuality. Things that, although they sometimes make sense, are expendable in a superhero movie, and even more so in a Thor one.

Because, if the story is about beefy gods with a hammer, we are talking about an escapist fantasy. And, if in said fantasy we have an alien warrior who, in addition, is a lesbian, what comes is to show her as a heroine of arms who devastates among the maidens of the Nine Kingdoms and beyond as if she were an RPG character The avid sapphic swordswomen it was treated

Because of this, that moment in which the heroine puts the eyes of a wolf on one of the canéforas of Zeus (Russell Crowe) during the heat of the battle, immediately proceeding to kiss the lady’s hand before leaving the room. city ​​of omnipotence With the satisfaction of the duty fulfilled, it remains as a milestone in the history of the MCU.

Because while drama is still sadly necessary when it comes to addressing non-normative orientations, it’s refreshing and heartening to see that not apply in the case of Valkyrie. Above all because it makes us think that, perhaps, it should not be applied in ours either.

Adding all of the above, we hope that, in the future, the biggest problem that our adventurer suffers due to her orientation is not understanding the young woman in question when she tells her “sagapo” between ardent glances and libations of Olympic nectar.

Reason 4: It is not an excuse or an anecdote

Perhaps, the recent evolution of Valkyrie catches our attention because Marvel has not been especially lavish when it comes to showing us LGBT characters. What’s more: it is possible that the census of non-heterosexual characters in the MCU has had, until now, a lot of bungling.

If we look back: what do we find? With an insignificant character in Avengers: Endgame (performed by co-director Joe Russo), with the daughter of a homoparental couple whose identity as a lesbian has remained in elliptical reference (America Chavez –Xochitl Gómez–) or with the marriage between Ben Y Phastos (Eternals), that would have caught our attention more if the movie hadn’t been so boring.

Of course, we will always have the Loki of Tom Hiddleston, but he doesn’t count too much either: his polymorphous sexuality has only received a mention in the TV series of the same name, ten years after the character debuted facing his blond little brother.

Valkyrie, on the other hand, is a full-fledged character who is not fully defined by her sexuality, although it appears without subterfuge. And that, in addition, is memorable and well written. Something worth mentioning in itself… but that we would like to take into account, rather, as a precedent.

Reason 5: It is the first of many (we hope)

wiccan, the son of Scarlet Witch. Hulkling, the Kree-Skrull hybrid. Moon Dragon, the martial artist daughter of Drax. vivid vision, the (artificial) offspring of our favorite synthezoid. North Star, one of the fastest and most edged mutants in the world. What two things do all these characters have in common?

Well, indeed, they all belong to the canon of Marvel comics, and they’re all lesbian, gay, or bisexual. And, like them, many more, in an ever-longer list whose members, we hope, will one day be part of the MCU. When that happens, hopefully the mention of his guidance will follow in the footsteps of Valkyrie, in order to avoid embarrassment.

In the superhero genre, knowing how to alternate between the recognizable and the surprising is a capital virtue. And, in a world where the existence of LGBT people is a true fact (“accepted” is something else, unfortunately), the best way to reflect this is not to present an anecdotal appearance as an achievement, but to understand that sexual-affective diversity supports brawls to save the universe.

Marvel should understand that in the future, fitting its non-heterosexual heroes and heroines naturally and without fuss, getting rid of clichés and fitting each hero or heroine in the tone that their stories ask for, like ‘Val’ in the saga of the God of Thunder.

So having a gay son should be the least of problems for Wanda Maximoff, and what Drax should care about when Moondragon introduces him to his girlfriend Phyla Vell is finding out your daughter is dating… a fucking Kree! If not, what will happen when X Men –the most queer supergroup in history– debut in the MCU? and when it appears dead pool looking for a chimichanga? Let’s be serious please…

Any other perspective would not only be a blunder on the part of the studio, but worse: it would be typical of supervillains. And, as we ‘marvel zombies’ know, supervillains are there to be beaten up by heroes.

Do you want to be up to date with all the latest movies and series? Sign up for our newsletter.

We wish to thank the author of this write-up for this amazing web content

Asgardian Pride: Valkyrie Is Marvel’s Best LGBT Character, And Here’s Why