With a worldwide cume in excess of $843 million and scores of positive reviews to its name, Thor: Ragnarok will be remembered as one of the finest comic book movies of 2017.
The Taika Waititi-directed threequel was a stellar adventure with enough heart and humor to rival the Guardians of the Galaxy – the undisputed A-team of Marvel’s cosmic universe – so it’s small wonder why comic book fans are quietly rooting for Waititi to circle back to the MCU at some point in the future. A fourth Thor movie featuring The Last Jedi‘s Laura Dern, anyone?
Getting back to Ragnarok, though, Tessa Thompson’s stellar debut as Valkyrie was undoubtedly one of the film’s many highlights, and in honor of the actress’ performance, long-time Marvel artist Ryan Meinerding has shared a new piece featuring the original, ice cool bounty hunter.
Although I didn’t work too much on Thor: Ragnarok I got to have the first stab at Valkyrie. @constantinesekeris nailed the final design for the movie but they did decide to keep my idea of the white face paint. It was fun bringing her color scheme to life. @tessamaethompson is incredible in the movie. She does a fantastic job with the character.
In fact, Tessa Thompson was so good that there have even been rumblings of a Valkyrie-centric spinoff. Should the stars align, Thompson would like Gina Price-Bythewood (Silver and Black) to have a crack at the first openly bi-sexual character of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That’s not a phrase we take lightly, either, even if Ragnarok decided to nix its only LGBT scene from the theatrical cut.
Alas, Thor: Ragnarok is now officially the MCU’s 17th movie, which sets the stage quite nicely for the arrival of Black Panther. And after that? It’s showtime, as Avengers: Infinity War has been booked in for May 4th – exactly four months from now.