First, Natalie Portman will be back... as Thor. Looks like Thor's sticking with the GotG for the long haul, and Portman will take his place, adapting the female Thor arc from the comics.
https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/7/23/2 ... ighty-thor
Also, they've confirmed Valkyrie is bisexual, and will have a lesbian romance plot in the next film (in keeping with her comics characterization):Marvel took over San Diego Comic-Con this year with a glimpse into what’s called Phase 4 of its gigantic Marvel Cinematic Universe enterprise, the studio’s upcoming slate of movies and television shows for the next few years. The studio revealed during its lengthy panel that new characters will enter the MCU (including a vampire-slaying daywalker), and familiar ones will be return for new adventures. But arguably the biggest surprise involved how one returning character will tilt the axis of power in the MCU.
Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster, last properly featured in 2013’s Thor: The Dark World, will return in 2021’s Thor: Love and Thunder, and will have the thunder god’s powers.
While Foster never technically left the universe there are a few lines about how she’s off being a scientist (Avengers: Age of Ultron), or that she and Thor broke up (Thor: Ragnarok), to explain why she didn’t appear. It was thought that Portman was done with the MCU, making this news a huge surprise. Add to that the reveal that Foster is going to lift Mjölnir (Portman posed with the mythical hammer at SDCC) and wield the powers of the Asgardian stormcaller, and it raises even more questions as to what Portman will be doing in Love and Thunder, along with Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, and director Taika Waititi.
What we do know is that Marvel’s comic books have set a precedent for a woman taking up the Thor title, and it could help give us clues about what Love and Thunder will hold for Jane Foster and the rest of the cast.
The question at the heart of this story: How can Jane Foster be Thor if Thor already exists?
Unlike in the movies, Marvel comics have played with the idea of multiple beings being able to wield Thor’s hammer Mjölnir; meanwhile, only Captain America and Vision have been able to lift Mjölnir onscreen. But on the page, characters as diverse as the Silver Surfer (a character primarily known in the Fantastic Four universe), Storm (X-Men), and Beta Ray Bill (Omega Flight) have all wielded the weapon.
Being able to lift Thor’s magic hammer means then that those characters have been deemed “worthy” enough to harness the power of a god, and trusted to not abuse that power. The gist of that is more or less captured by the inscription (the pronouns sometimes change based on its possessor) on Mjölnir, which reads: “Whosoever holds this hammer, if (s)he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor”:
Thor himself being worthy — brave, selfless, noble, kind — enough to wield the Mjölnir has long been a recurring story for the Asgardian, like in 2011’s Fear Itself comic book event, when the fate of humanity hinges upon Thor’s sacrificing himself to save Earth. In Fear Itself, Odin wants to ravage Earth to save the universe from a villainous force known as The Serpent but Thor believes in humanity and, with the help of the Avengers, leads a last-ditch effort to protect the world (which proves his worthiness).
The same themes are present in the 2014 crossover event Original Sin. That storyline is about the murder of the Watcher named Uatu, who just so happens to have observed entire history of Earth and all of its valuable secrets. In Original Sin, issue 7, Nick Fury whispers something to Thor which makes him Thor unworthy to wield his hammer.
We find out later that Fury tells Thor a soul-shattering revelation: that mankind is better without gods. This immediately makes Thor realize that gods do not deserve the worship or adoration of from humans, changes his worldview about wanting to be a god, and becomes “unworthy.” Thor — a.k.a. Odinson — chooses to live as a normal Asgardgian.
This sets into motion the ascension of a woman into the role of Thor, picking up the Mjölnir to defend Asgard.
At first, the new Thor’s identity is a mystery. It isn’t until Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman’s Thor No. 8, published in 2015, that we find out who this woman is. And they introduce her through a nifty bit of storytelling, in a story about female heroes, mainly Avengers, teaming up to defeat the Destroyer.
One by one, female superheroes appear alongside Thor. Since they appear with her, they can’t be her, so it becomes a process of elimination:
Jane becomes known as the Mighty Thor as opposed to just bearing the name Thor, as the original Asgardian still wields that name — albeit he becomes known as the Unworthy Thor for a bit. But her ascension into godhood and becoming a superhero, detailed in Aaron and Dauterman’s Mighty Thor comic, comes with a twist.
She’s dying of breast cancer, as shown in the panel above, and wielding the powers of the Thunder God inhibits the chemotherapy treatments she needs to defend her body against the disease. In order to live, she needs to stop swinging Mjölnir. But if she doesn’t become Thor and defend the world, then who will?
Natalie Portman will portray Jane Foster and continue Mighty Thor’s legacy in the movies
The details surrounding Thor: Love and Thunder are pretty scant. Understandably so, considering the movie isn’t coming out until 2021, and we found out that Ragnarok director Taika Waititi had signed back onto the project on July 16, just one week ago. But Waititi tweeted after San Diego Comic-Con that Foster would be referred to as Mighty Thor, signaling that Aaron and Dauterman’s comic, which follows Jane’s adventures as Thor, may serve as the source material for the film:
Correction. She's called Mighty Thor.
— Taika Waititi (@TaikaWaititi) July 21, 2019
The other thing we know is that the idea of Thor reconciling his own worthiness first came up in Avengers: Endgame, and in a major way. After killing Thanos, Thor falls into a deep depression and begins drinking and eating heavily. It takes a toll on his psyche, and it’s not until he time travels back to the Thor: The Dark World era and talks to his mother that he is able to look into his soul and remember why he is the wielder of Mjölnir.
But at the conclusion of Endgame, Thor makes a major life change. He departs with the Guardians of the Galaxy for a bit of soul-searching and self-discovery. He leaves New Asgard in the hands of Valkyrie, shirking off the responsibility of defending his kingdom and perhaps, too, his godliness.
The curious thing about Portman’s Foster assuming the title of Thor is that Foster has been a non-entity in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for more than six years. Even in Endgame, which allows Thor to travel back to the day the dark elves attack Asgard in The Dark World, Portman’s Foster just barely appears.
Most surprising is that in 2016, Portman said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that she thought she was done with the franchise. “As far as I know, I’m done,” she said. “I mean, I don’t know if maybe one day they’ll ask for an Avengers 7, or whatever.”
But with Foster now having a meatier role in Love and Thunder, Waititi reinvigorating the franchise with Thor: Ragnarok, the winsome Tessa Thompson as “king” of New Asgard Valkyrie, and Hemsworth playing a Thor that’s more self-actualized and grounded than before, Portman returning as Jane Fos-Thor feels like a new start for the character and a new adventure for Thor. Both of them.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/22/entertai ... index.html
At least they're trying new things and keeping things interesting post-Endgame.(CNN)Asgardian warrior Valkyrie is now officially the first LGBTQ superhero in the Marvel cinematic universe. And who better to blast this barrier with a Freudian crotch cannon than real-life LGBTQ icon Tessa Thompson?
Thompson teased the news Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con during the reveal of "Thor: Love and Thunder," the upcoming fourth installment of the "Thor" franchise. Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige confirmed it to Gizmodo.
When asked whether "Love and Thunder" would have an LGBTQ storyline, Feige responded, "The answer is yes."
"How that impacts the story remains to be seen with that level of representation you'll see across our films, not in just Thor 4," he said.
This is great news for people who have fallen in love with Thompson's not-completely-straight portrayal of Valkyrie. Thompson herself expressed disappointment that material more clearly revealing Valkyrie as bisexual was cut from 2017's "Thor: Ragnarok," but even without the confirmation, her character radiated bi energy.
There's a very good reason for that: Just as anyone familiar with Marvel comics could have told you what happened after the big snap in "Infinity Wars," they could also tell you that Valkyrie's been bi -- for years.
In 2013's Fearless Defenders series, Valkyrie had a tense will-they/won't-they relationship with Dr. Annabelle Riggs, an archaeologist who made no secret of her attraction to the dreamy shieldmaiden. They literally kiss in the very first issue!
When Riggs (already in love) brings it up, Valkyrie delivers this devastating curve:
"I have lived for millennia," she says. "Do you believe you are the first person I've rescued -- man or woman -- who has rewarded me with a kiss?"
Annabelle is eventually killed when Valkyrie temporarily transforms into the Doom Maiden of Rage. (Valkyrie is really the spirit of the Norse heroine Brunnhilde inhabiting a line of different host bodies, and you can think of a Doom Maiden as a dark squad of Valkyrior).
Valkyrie is so devastated by Annabelle's death that she literally BRINGS HER BACK TO LIFE, and they SHARE A BODY. It gets even weirder from there, when Annabelle starts dating another lady, but still. It's bisexual, guys.
Marvel's LGBT roots
Although Valkyrie may now claim the title of the first LGBTQ superhero in MCU history, Marvel Comics has a few prominent LGBTQ characters in its lineup. The most famous is the X-Men franchise's Northstar, who is considered the first openly gay comic book superhero. (Northstar has been around for decades, but you may recall that the character made waves again when he married his boyfriend in 2012 in another first: a gay superhero wedding.)
And, by the way, Marvel doesn't have the market cornered on canonically LGBTQ characters. All the way back in 2016, Wonder Woman comic writer Greg Rucka confirmed that Wonder Woman is bisexual because of ... well, the logic of the whole "living your entire life on an island of ladies" thing.
"It's supposed to be paradise," he said during an interview with Comicosity. "You're supposed to be able to live happily. You're supposed to be able -- in a context where one can live happily, and part of what an individual needs for that happiness is to have a partner -- to have a fulfilling, romantic and sexual relationship. And the only options are women."
With that commentary, Diana's line from 2017's "Wonder Woman" movie pairs like a rare vintage wine: "When it comes to procreation, men are essential, but for pleasure ... unnecessary."
A new phase of representation
This weekend's announcement of the next phase of Marvel's TV and movie franchises has sparked serious conversations about representation. Aside from the Valkyrie news, the studio's upcoming slate of projects is far more diverse than previous phases, especially when it comes to women.
Black Widow is getting her own standalone film in 2020, and Captain Marvel will be getting a sequel. Even bigger news? Natalie Portman, aka Jane Foster, will take up Thor's hammer in "Thor: Love and Thunder." Other projects, like "Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," a second "Black Panther" film and the TV show "The Eternals," will showcase racially diverse heroes, both super and human.
There's no question that Marvel is aiming for more representation with its Phase 4 lineup, but when it comes to Valkyrie and her sexuality, the comics giant is just staying true to canon.
Now excuse me while I bask in the horrified wails of the Alt. Reich.
Oh, and its even better because Norse mythology and symbolism has often been co-opted by the Neo-Nazis. So there's something especially beautiful about the MCU's Asgard now having a non-white* bisexual woman for its ruler, and Thor now being a woman.
*Valkyrie's actor, Tessa Thompson, is about as multi-racial as they come. According to her IMDB page, her father is from an Afro-Panamanian background and her mother is part Mexican, part British.
