Tessa Thompson made her MCU debut as a former Asgardian Valkyrie (who now goes by the name Valkyrie) in Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarök, before reprising the role in the less well-received Love and Thunder. She also appeared in Avengers: Endgame, and had a cameo in The Marvels for a scene with Brie Larson's Carol Danvers (more on that later).
Thompson was not among the 27 actors announced for Avengers: Doomsday, but we'd be very surprised if she didn't show up in Secret Wars. The Hedda star has expressed interest in suiting-up as Val in the past, but, like most of her MCU colleagues, is always careful not to say too much.
During a new interview with EW, Thompson was asked what the future holds for Valkyrie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
"Call Kevin Feige," she chuckled in response. "I really like playing the character, and I like her. What's so fun about those films and why there is still an audience appetite is the combination of characters, and how they change in relation to each other. So there's tons of things I love about Valkyrie, but it's about Valkyrie in relation to who."
If and when Valkyrie does return, Thompson says she's most looking forward to working with Pedro Pascal, who debuted as Reed Richards in this year's The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Thompson says she loves "the idea of getting to play with my friend Pedro Pascal. It's real playtime, and exploring that with people you admire. You stretch different muscles, it's really fun."
Valkyrie's The Marvels appearance led to some speculation that the King of New Asgard may have been romantically involved with Danvers, and the movie reportedly cut a scene that would have confirmed that they are (or were) in a relationship.
In the Captain Marvel sequel, Carol calls on Valkyrie to help relocate some Skrull refugees, and the scene they share certainly seems to suggest that they are very close. It doesn't outright confirm anything, but there is clearly a strong emotional connection there, and Valkyrie plants a kiss on Carol's cheek as she departs.
Rumor has it that several moments were filmed but didn't appear in the final film (some of which were shown in the trailers) that would have made it very clear that Carol and Val were "explicitly together." There's a chance that this plot point will be picked up in the upcoming Avengers movies, but with everything else going on, we wouldn't count on it.
How would you like to see Valkyrie utilized in the MCU going forward?
"In Marvel Studios’ The Marvels, Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol’s estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau. Together, this unlikely trio must team up and learn to work in concert to save the universe as The Marvels.”
The film also stars Zawe Ashton and Park Seo-joon. Nia DaCosta directs, and Kevin Feige is the producer. Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Mary Livanos and Matthew Jenkins serve as executive producers. The screenplay is by Megan McDonnell, Nia DaCosta, Elissa Karasik and Zeb Wells.