When actress Tessa Thompson was first announced as playing the character of Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok, it was assumed she was playing a new version of Marvel Comics’ long running version of the character, Brunnhilde. But as it turned out, Thompson was playing an entirely new character, who just so happened to also be one of the Norse pantheon’s legendary female warriors. Now, Marvel Comics has announced, via CBR, Thompson’s version of the character is set to join the comic book Marvel Universe, in the pages of the all-new Exiles series.
Recently, the publisher announced that the creative team of writer Saladin Ahmed and artist Javier Rodriguez were bringing the classic team of reality-hopping heroes back, with an all new line-up of characters. The first image from the Exiles series included four of the five team members: Iron Lad, Wolvie, Blink, and Khan, an older version of Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, but they kept the identity of the fifth Exile a secret. Now Marvel has revealed that Valkyrie, as she appeared in Ragnarok, is going to be the final member. You can see her, along with the rest of her teammates, in the image above by artist David Marquez.
In a statement from writer Saladin Ahmed, he said “Valkyrie’s a character who’s always appealed to me. Her iconic warrior-woman look — spear! sword! flying horse! — but also the juxtaposition of a kickass ancient fantasy hero operating in contemporary New York City. She’s a classic Marvel heroine. But the Exiles version of Valkyrie is a bit different from what we’ve seen in comics thus far. Our Valkyrie is known as the Lone Defender of Asgard, and she’s a tankard-draining, maiden-wooing, giant-slaying thunderbolt of a woman. Though she’s not technically from the Marvel Cinematic Universe reality, she’s basically the literalization of the larger-than-her-physical-frame swagger that Tessa Thompson displayed in Thor: Ragnarok, turned up to 11.” You can check out the Valkyrie-centric cover to issue #2 below.
Although Thompson did confirm via Twitter that her version of Valkyrie was bisexual, scenes that would have shown that aspect of her character all ended up on the cutting room floor. But new Exiles writer Saladin Ahmed confirmed, also via Twitter, that is this new series, Valkyrie is indeed going to be portrayed as queer. This should come as a relief to many fans who felt slighted by the lack of acknowledgment in the movie version.
Exiles #1, written by Saladin Ahmed and illustrated by Javier Rodriguez, will hit stores on April 11, 2018. You can see more images from the new Exiles launch down below.
Are you as excited as we are to see Thompson’s version of Valkyrie officially become a part of the Marvel Comics Universe? Be sure to share your thoughts with us down below in the comments.
Images: Marvel Comics / Marvel Studios
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