Thor: Ragnarok: How Valkyrie Differs From The Comics

Though Thor and the Valkyrie known as Brunnhilde have a long history in Marvel Comics, the latter has yet to appear on the big screen. And though that will finally change in Thor: Ragnarok with Tessa Thompson playing the character, there will be some changes to the character’s history and her relationship with Thor.

We visited the set for Thor: Ragnarok earlier this year and spoke with Marvel Studios producer Brad Winderbaum about the new character and how she’s different from what fans might expect from the source material.

“Well in terms of Valkyrie as an idea, Valkyrie in the comics is traditionally the character Brunnhilde who comes to be known as Valkyrie,” Winderbaum said. “And calling someone Valkyrie is like referring to someone as soldier. And our view of the Valkyrie in the MCU is that they were basically Odin’s special ops, you know, his SEAL team six.”

The Valkyrior in the Marvel Comics were tasked with finding the souls of slain Asgardians and guiding them from the battlefields to Valhalla. Given that the Asgardians are a noble race of advanced aliens in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and not literal gods, that aspect doesn’t quite fit into the new movie.

The Valkyrie that we’ll come to know in the new movie is in a bad point in her life, likely after suffering a tragedy at the hands of Hela if the trailer is a clear indicator.

“And Valkyrie as we meet her in this film definitely has suffered the trauma of war and we meet her in a really low place,” Winderbaum said. “So it’s not so much that we’re trying to create a one-to-one emulation of Brunnhilde from the comics. But certainly the idea of the Valkyrie and what they mean to Asgard and to Odin is something that we’re going to be leaning into a lot and draft a lot of ideas from the comics.”

Valkyrie has been described as something of a bounty hunter for the Grandmaster when we meet her in the film. The trailer shows her dragging Thor’s body, likely delivering him as a bounty to fight in the Contest of Champions.

We’ll learn more about why she’s helping the Elder of the Universe when Thor: Ragnarok premieres in theaters on November 3.