Listen Up, Marvel: It's Time for an All-Female 'Avengers' Movie
If you were one of the thousands (and counting) who saw Thor: Ragnarok this weekend, then you’re in the know: Tessa Thompson‘s Valkyrie is the breakout star of the movie. This is not some boring love interest or worthless sidekick, there only to propel Thor’s story forward. Oh no, Valkyrie—or Scrapper 142, as we first know her—is many things: a badass warrior, a messy drunk, a bisexual woman, a protector of the innocent…to name just a few.
By the movie’s end, it’s obvious this won’t be the last we’ve seen of Valkyrie in the Marvel universe. But aside from some vague references to her past and a brief-but-awesome scene that teases her complicated backstory, there’s clearly so much more to learn about this character. So much so, in fact, that fans have been calling for a spin-off. (Personally, I’d love to see a prequel of the Valkyries’ battle with Hela. It’d be so badass, right?)
Here are just a few of the brilliant ideas floating around on social media:
https://twitter.com/VictoriaMahoney/status/927048052082327552
Tessa’s clearly on board:
https://twitter.com/TessaThompson_x/status/927376294433583105
It doesn’t stop there, though. Others would like to see an all-female Avengers movie with Valkyrie at the center:
And that latter idea actually has some legs to it. In an interview with CBR.com, Tessa revealed that she—along with fellow Marvel stars Zoe Saldana, Scarlett Johansson, Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan, and Brie Larson—approached Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige to pitch the concept. “We were just sort of all in a semicircle talking, and it just came up, because none of us really worked together…and wouldn’t it be nice if we could all work together?” she explained. “We were sort of speculating on they ways in which it might happen in Infinity War, or might not happen, and we thought, ‘No, we should just have a whole movie where we know every day we’re going to arrive and get to work together.’ So we just ran right up to Kevin Feige and started talking about it.”
According to her, “He’s really open to collaboration and wants to hear what we’re interested in.” There’s actually some precedent in the comics, too: In the ’70s, an all-female group called the Lady Liberators were created by the Enchantress. The team consisted of Black Widow and Scarlet Witch—and they were led by Valkyrie.
Of course, these are just pipe dreams until Marvel announces anything officially. The studio would be wise to listen to Tessa, though, because this is long overdue. Yes, Marvel’s action movies have been doing a better job lately of creating female characters who are more integral to the story and, perhaps even more importantly, the fights. (Take Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy, for a recent example.) Even better, we’re finally getting a female-fronted standalone with Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel in 2019. But let’s not forget that this is the same company that’s slept on a Black Widow solo film for years and rarely includes actions figures of her in Avengers toy rollouts:
But, end of day, money talks—and that’s where I’d like to direct Marvel’s attention to Wonder Woman. The film has made their rival, DC Comics, more than $821.75 million worldwide. So if that’s not evidence enough this could work, what is?
Related: Marvel Wouldn’t Allow the Villain in ‘Iron Man 3’ to Be a Woman for This Ridiculous Reason