From its opening moments, Thor: Ragnarok was clear in its message of "out with the old, in with the new" when it came to just about everything you were familiar with about Thor's world. One of the new additions to the film's cast was Valkyrie, played with a drunken swagger by actress Tessa Thompson. The character became a huge hit with audiences upon the film's release, and now screenwriter Eric Pearson has revealed a few elements that were planned for Valkyrie but ultimately scrapped.
In an interview with Yahoo, Pearson explained that the initial twist of Hela (Cate Blanchett) being Thor's sister was not planned by Marvel, and was actually devised in the writing process to be delivered by Valkyrie. Pearson admitted he was nervous about making the change from the comic mythology (where Hela is the daughter of Loki). “When they did that first read, I was like, ‘Oh, man, if they don’t like it, we’re screwed.'”
However, it turns out Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige loved the change. “[VP Brad Winderbaum] showed me Kevin’s note, and [the reveal] was circled with ‘WHOA!’ [spelled out next to it],” Pearson said. The final film saw the familial connection revealed by Odin (Anthony Hopkins) to make use of his minimal role, along with making Valkyrie's role less reliant on Thor. “I was just so happy that it played out, because we were taking a risk,” said Pearson.
Pearson also explained that Thor and Valkyrie were supposed to have a more romantic connnection, but that too was discarded in favour of focusing on Valkyrie having turned her back on Asgard. “It was like, Let’s give Valkyrie her own story that connects with Thor … and if it makes sense for them to get together, then great. You’ve got two really good-looking people who can fight and who’d probably be [good together] if the story went there, but it just didn’t," Pearson said. "It became more about the mutual respect, and also dealing with her PTSD. She’s someone who’s drowning her sorrows in the bottle, and I just thought that was such a cool thing that you don’t often see in these movies: somebody dealing with extreme guilt and shame in a colorful, Taika Waititi[-directed] hilarious background.”
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