Westworld and Creed actress Tessa Thompson is portraying the tough, hard-drinking warrior Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok, and as part of Entertainment Weekly’s cover story, she shared a few morsels about what her character is doing on Sakaar and discussed her superhero costume — including a Dragonfang tease.
How does she describe her version of Valkyrie? “She is originally [from Asgard],” the Los Angeles native told EW. “When we meet her and she meets Thor in Sakaar, I can’t really say much about what she’s doing there but she does have a relationship with Jeff Goldblum’s character — it’s a business relationship. She finds Thor and brings Thor to the Grandmaster thinking he might be of interest. The rest is a secret.”
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To give her an idea of what he wanted Thompson’s Valkyrie physique to look like, director Taika Waititi sent her an image of Linda Hamilton as a buff and lean Sarah Connor in Terminator 2. Even though she describes herself as being unathletic, Thompson used the image as inspiration and hit the gym hard. By the time cameras were ready to roll, she got “really, really strong and buff” and “could do 10 pull ups in one set and take a break and then do 10 more.”
With new muscles, her costume must’ve felt light as a feather. “As far as the armor, she’s such a bad ass that she doesn’t need a lot of metal to protect her,” she explained. “I’m essentially in leather. I have some really cool, like, chain mail like basically with my arms I can sort of shield and use them as weapons as well. I wield two daggers, which are sort of attached to me. And I also have a very special sword.”
That “very special sword” is more than likely Dragonfang, an enchanted sword that Valkyrie wields in the comics. Legend has it, Dragonfang was forged from the tusk of an extra-dimensional dragon thousands of years ago by Kahji-da, an ancient wizard. It eventually ended up in the hands of The Ancient One, who passed it along to Doctor Strange, and he, in turn, bestowed it upon Valkyrie. Aside from being indestructible, the sword can destroy mystical barriers, remains invisible while sheathed, absorbs and redirects energy blasts, and allows the wielder to change their attire at will.
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Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok – the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization – at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger – The Incredible Hulk!”
The cast features Chris Hemsworth in the title role for the fifth time; Tom Hiddleston as Thor’s adversarial, adopted brother, Loki; Idris Elba as the Asgardian sentry, Heimdall; Sir Anthony Hopkins again portraying Odin, Ruler of Asgard; Mark Ruffalo reprising his role of Bruce Banner/the Hulk; Cate Blanchett as the mysterious and powerful new villain Hela; Jeff Goldblum as the eccentric Grandmaster; Tessa Thompson bring the classic hero Valkyrie to life on the big screen; and Karl Urban will add his might to the fray as Skurge.
Thor: Ragnarok is directed by Taika Waititi, written by Craig Kyle, and will open in theaters November 3, 2017.
