DEAR WHITE PEOPLE was a strong showcase for the young actors who played both the white and black college kids at that film’s center, but it was Tessa Thompson, as the incendiary, militant, and thoroughly hypocritical militant radio DJ, who had the flashiest role, and has received the most attention since. She then got a ton of strong notices for playing another DJ, this time with hearing loss, in CREED. With a ton of love for her tough female characters on her back, Ms. Thompson is now joining the MCU.
There’s no official word on who she’s playing, but we do know that it’ll be a superhero of some sort and that she’ll be making her debut in THOR: RAGNAROK next year. Apparently, they were originally trying to get Lupita Nyong’o for the character, but the STAR WARS/Marvel universes aren’t destined to collide just yet (aside from Serkis, that is).
We also know that Natalie Portman’s not returning as Jane Foster, so maybe Thompson’s character will be Lady Sif’s new rival for the bulging man-pecks of the God of Thunder himself.
The rumors have Thompson as Valkyrie a.k.a. Brunnhilde, an Asgardian appointed by Odin to lead the group of all-female Valkyrior tasked with overseeing the battles of man. It would fit her flinty persona, and would please all the WHITE PEOPLE fans who dug her rah-rah racial jabs and aggressive self-righteousness in that film.
I’m personally not Thompson’s biggest fan, and frankly found her turns in both WHITE PEOPLE and CREED rather grating and ineffective, but there’s no doubt she’s got a lot of love both with critics and out there with the people. Getting her for the MCU, potentially as a key love interest, is a smart play, considering her street cred, and having her as a strong female character is a positive move away from the kind of exclusivity that kept Black Widow off of toy store shelves last year.
THOR: RAGNAROK will hopefully lack any corny jabs at the music white people listen to on November 3rd, 2017
