At Marvel Studios Hall H presentation, Thor: Love and Thunder star Tessa Thompson indicated Valkyrie would finally get to be explicitly queer in the film. However, she's not the only LGBTQ character coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Phase 4.
Answering questions after the panel, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was interviewed by Collider. During that interview, he confiremd Valykrie would be explicitly part of the LGBTQ community in Thor: Love and Thunder. However, he teased she wouldn't be the only one, saying, “Yes that’s the case, and will be the case not just with [Valkyrie] but with other characters in some of the movies we talked about today.”
Feige then confirmed, as previously rumored, there's also an LGBTQ character in The Eternals, though he didn't go into details.
Before casting began for The Eternals, Marvel Studios was rumored to be seeking an openly gay actor for a leading role in the film. While a fair amount of casting was announced yesterday, there are still a few key roles to be cast in the film, including Sersi and, presumingly, the rumored role above, which is speculated to be that of Hercules.
Ahead of the release of Avengers: Endgame, Feige teased the addition of LGBTQ characters in the MCU. However, the (minimal) gay representation in Endgame made many fear the day might be farther away than Marvel Studios made it seem.
Directed by Chloé Zhao with a screenplay by Matthew and Ryan Firpo, The Eternals stars Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Don Lee as Gilgamesh and Angelina Jolie as Thena. The film arrives in theaters on November 6, 2020.
Directed by Taika Waititi, Thor: Love and Thunder stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie and Natalie Portman as Jane Foster. The film arrives in theaters on November 5, 2021.