There was originally going to be a small scene making reference to Valkyrie’s bisexuality, but this was cut from the final film.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Tessa explained that she filmed a scene where a woman walks out of Valkyrie’s bedroom, heavily suggesting that they had been intimate with each other.
The moment was ultimately cut from the film as it “distracted from the scene’s vital exposition.” A further scene saw Valkyrie’s all-female warrior clan slaughtered, but the film passed over one of the members being Valkyrie’s lover.
Speaking to the Independent about the controversy that arose, Tessa Thompson explained: “One thing to clarify about that… is it was so in passing. I hope we get to that space, where someone’s sexuality is as immaterial as me drinking this green juice.
“It wasn’t Marvel or Disney or anyone extracting that because it was an issue… it just was like, that particular moment didn’t make sense in the context of the scene. And there were other beautiful things where you get a sense of her back story.”
Tessa also spoke about the flashback scene, saying: “The woman that dies is her lover. In performance we were, like, ‘That’s your lover.’ So in my mind it isn’t cut; I played her as a woman that’s queer.
“I hope that we get to a space, in terms of the stories that we tell, where that’s something that gets to exist, and it doesn’t have to be noteworthy.”
YouTube
Tessa also spoke about her sexuality during the interview. Earlier this year, the actress announced that she has dated both men and women, saying: “I can take things for granted because of my family – it’s so free and you can be anything that you want to be.
“I’m attracted to men and also to women. If I bring a woman home, [or] a man, we don’t even have to have the discussion.”
Speaking about this, she said: “The thing for me is, I was just speaking candidly. Some people categorized it as coming out or something. And I have never been in, so I don’t know what that means.”
She added: “There were a lot of people that said, “Oh she’s bisexual”. I never said that word, because I don’t think in those binaries.”
Although Deadpool 2 featured pansexual anti-hero Deadpool, and revealed that Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio were in a relationship, those films don’t play a part in Marvel’s extended universe which hasn’t featured an LGBTQ character in over 20 films.
However, Marvel has made sounds toward featuring LGBTQ characters in the future. Back in June, the president for Marvel Studios, Kevin Fiege, confirmed that two LGBTQ superheroes would be making their ways to our screens, with one them being an already established character, comments that were echoed by producer Stephen Broussard back in August.
It’s speculated that Valkyrie could be the established character who is revealed to be LGBTQ, and if Marvel needs any help deciding what other LGBTQ superhero they could bring to the big screen, we’ve got a handy list right here.
Latest
