Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie Confirmed As First LGBTQ Hero For Marvel Cinematic Universe

SAN DIEGO The origin story for LGBTQ superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a long one, and its finally coming to a close.

During the Marvel panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, Tessa Thompson was asked what her character, Valkyrie, would be up to as the new king of Asgard in the upcoming fourth Thor movie, Thor: Love and Thunder .

Her answer: I think first of all as king, as new king, she needs to find her queen. Thatll be her first order of business. She has some ideas. Keep you posted.

The comment seemed to hint Valkyrie would be involved in an LGBTQ storyline in Thor 4, and after the panel, Marvel head Kevin Feige confirmed it.

Feige told iO9 , The answer is yes, adding, How that impacts the story remains to be seen with that level of representation youll see across our films, not in just Thor 4.

Thompsons been open about her character being bisexual in the Marvel movies, as she is in the comics, so the reveal isnt out of the blue. However, her bisexuality hasnt been explicitly addressed in the movies thus far, and a previous scene in Thor: Ragnarok showing she had a female lover didnt end up making the final cut .

Shes bi. And yes, she cares very little about what men think of her. What a joy to play! https://t.co/d0LZKTHCfL

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Shes 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

In addition to Valkyrie, more queer characters are said to be on the way for Marvel, with reports that the upcoming movie The Eternals , which opens before Thor: Love and Thunder, had a casting call for a gay hero.

This news from Marvel seems to make good on Feiges previous comments claiming that future LGBTQ characters would be both ones youve seen and ones you havent seen though it doesnt seem there will be unexpected revelations made about other current Avengers.

Speaking with HuffPost in May, Avengers: Endgame writer Stephen McFeely said more LGBTQ representation would undoubtedly be added, but he didnt believe a characters past would be retconned.

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Itll more likely be part of the rollout of the character and itll just be an accepted part of that characters backstory, McFeely said.

The first openly LGBTQ character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was technically director Joe Russos short cameo as a gay man grieving his missing partner in Avengers: Endgame. Now, with Thompsons and Feiges comments, Valkyrie becomes the first confirmed LGBTQ superhero in the MCU.

Long may she reign.