Thor: Love and Thunder Star Tessa Thompson Says Diversity Is a "Pretty Big Deal" for Phase 4

Diversity in future properties from Marvel Studios is something studio executives have promised [...]

By Adam Barnhardt

Diversity in future properties from Marvel Studios is something studio executives have promised for quite some time. Now, Thor star Tessa Thompson is doubling down on the promise. During a stop on a recent episode of Variety's Actors on Actors web series, Thompson told comedian Ramy Youssef diversity and representation was something that would be a "pretty big deal" for Kevin Feige and his team as they move forward in developing a massive new slate of properties.

"The truth is these movies travel globally in such huge ways, and if you can represent people that are of color, if you can represent people with disabilities, if you can represent the LGBTQIA community inside of these films, it's a pretty big deal," Thompson said.

She added, "I think it's really important for everybody, but for young people especially, to be able to show up to those movies and see projections of themselves. So I'm really excited that we're able to continue to push the bounds of that and that I'm able to do that with Valkyrie. Because there's so many cool queer characters in the comic books, and they should have a place on screen."

It wasn't until Ant-Man and the Wasp hit theaters in 2018 a woman hero was mentioned in the title of an MCU movie and Brie Larson's Captain Marvel was the first feature from the studio to have a woman director. Furthermore, Ryan Coogler's Black Panther (2018) was the first movie from the Burbank-based studio to feature a Black lead and Black director.

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier star Anthony Mackie criticized the studio earlier this month for the lack of diversity involved in its projects.

"When The Falcon and The Winter Soldier comes out, I'm the lead. When Snowpiercer comes out, you're the lead. We have the power and the ability to ask those questions," Mackie said at the time. "It really bothered me that I've done seven Marvel movies where every producer, every director, every stunt person, every costume designer, every PA, every single person has been white."

"But then when you do Black Panther, you have a Black director, Black producer, you have a Black costume designer, you have a Black stunt choreographer," the actor added. "And I'm like, that's more racist than anything else. Because if you only can hire the Black people for the Black movie, are you saying they're not good enough when you have a mostly white cast?

Thor: Love and Thunder is set for release on February 11, 2022.

What other Marvel characters do you hope to see pop up in Phase 4? Think it over and let us know your thoughts either in the comments or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!

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