Thor will probably be making googly eyes at one of his fellow warriors as he fights for his life as a gladiator on Sakaar. In the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok — the third installment in Marvel’s movies starring Chris Hemsworth as the Asgardian god of thunder — Thor will road-trip with the Hulk and throw down with the Valkyrie, who he’s a little enamored with.
“Thor is a bit of a fanboy for the Valkyrie, the elite women warriors,” Hemsworth said. This fanboy mentality will apparently persist despite Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie turning Thor into the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), the ruler of Sakaar. But Thor has obviously proven himself to be a forgiving person in the past — just look at how much shit Loki’s gotten away with over the years.
In Marvel’s comics, Valkyrie is the leader of the Valkyrior, an elite group of warrior goddesses who preside over human battlegrounds and choose who among them is worthy to be taken to Valhalla upon their death. Valkyrie, hand-picked by Thor’s father, Odin, to lead the Valkyrior, is a hardened warrior who wields an enchanted sword called Dragonfang.
So, Thor’s fanboy behavior is well-placed in Ragnarok. But the adoration might also have to do with his one-time romantic relationship with Valkyrie in the comics. Their romantic subplot gets tangled up in Hela’s evil web at one point — much like it probably will in Ragnarok with Cate Blanchett’s Hela — and it ends when Valkyrie is killed, resurrected, and then forced into being a servant of Hela. So, it’s very complicated and woeful, but it also acts as potential fodder for the upcoming film.
Thor: Ragnarok premieres this November.
