Thor: Ragnarok - Valkyrie Revealed As The MCU's First LGBTQ Character
More positive progression for Marvel...
As stated in our review of Thor: Ragnarok, Taika Waititi's excellent, funny MCU debut is a film about difference. It's nothing like the majority of what comes before it in the MCU - including the two movies it follows as a sequel; it's far funnier than anything else in the franchise (and it's a straight comedy really); and it actually does well to give its female characters something to do.
Now there's another thing to add to that list of positive differences, as it seems it's the first MCU movie to include an LGBTQ character, according to star Tessa Thompson.
She took to Twitter to reveal that Valkyrie will follow Juan Pablo Raba’s Joey Gutierrez from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Carrie-Ann Moss’s Jeri Hogarth as an openly gay Marvel screen character. And also that she was a great character to play:
As fans of the comics will already know, Valkyrie has been bi on the page for years, having had relationships with both male and female characters, and it's an important part of her character that didn't need to be changed. You won't see any overt expression of her sexuality on-screen (there's no need to really, because they're all in the midst of an escape from Sakaar and then the siege of Asgard - stopping to canoodle would have just been irresponsible). But it's still a positive strike.
And hopefully there will be something more overt in her future appearances that help with representation a little more.