Does Thor: Love And Thunder's Valkyrie Have An Actual Name?
Since her debut in 2017's "Thor: Ragnarok," Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie has quickly become one of Marvel's biggest and most entertaining badasses. And she's set to continue building her epic legacy in Taika Waititi's follow-up, "Thor: Love and Thunder," which hits theaters on July 8. However, there's still one major thing that fans don't know about her: Does the MCU version of Valkyrie have an actual name?
In the "Love and Thunder" trailers that have come out over the past few months, we have seen Thompson's shield maiden-turned-sovereign leader ruling over Thor's New Asgard in Norway. The once fierce warrior finds herself fighting her most frustrating foe yet — politics — which has her feeling her more human (and miserable) than ever.
"She's got to do all the things that they never tell you about when you're supposed to rule the people, which is deal with all of the infrastructure and figure out the economy and have delegates visit from other countries," Waititi told Entertainment Weekly in May 2022. "So, she's spending a lot of her time not fighting, and all of her new battles have to do with ruling her people."
Considering Valkyrie's new role, now is as good a time as any for Waititi to reveal whether the character has an actual name in the MCU. Of course, it would be pretty strange for an entire society to not know the name of its leader. According to Thompson, Marvel's explanation is an awesome one.
Marvel Studios knows Valkyrie's real name
Speaking at a "Thor: Love and Thunder" press event, Tessa Thompson revealed that Marvel Studios does, in fact, have an answer for Valkyrie's actual name. But she doesn't want to spoil it for everybody. "This is the thing: I can be bad at spoilers," Thompson told CinemaBlend. "I give spoilers sometimes and I don't mean to, and so I feel like I'm going to withhold that information. But I think that fans might think that we don't have an answer, and there is one. And it's cool."
Now on the surface, it sounds like Thompson is hinting at a "Love and Thunder" reveal for Valkyrie's actual name. Or perhaps she's just referring to a long-in-place plan by Marvel Studios to one day make the official moniker public, but not in the "Thor" sequel. Maybe a Valkyrie spin-off perhaps? Only time will tell. There is one thing that MCU fans can do, however, to possibly solve the name mystery. And that means taking a look at what Valkyrie's official Asgardian title is in the comics, which is where the biggest clues for Thompson's actual name and identity lie.
Meet Brunnhilde aka Marvel Comics' Valkyrie
It was Marvel's "Defenders" comic series from the early 1970s where Valkyrie's Asgardian heritage and actual name — Brunnhilde — were put on full display following more minor runs in the "Thor," "Incredible Hulk," and "Avengers" comics (via Marvel). In "Defenders," the character's memory is wiped and her mental essence, as Marvel describes it, is transferred to a human named Barbara Norriss. She subsequently learns that she was once a valkyrie named Brunnhilde, who also used to be a former love interest for Thor (via SyFy).
Now, while Marvel could very well use the Brunnhilde name for Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie in the MCU, the studio is also known for deviating from the source material. For instance, rather than serve as a lover to Thor, Thompson's Valkyrie was made the MCU's very first openly LGBTQ+ superhero (via IndieWire). Numerous comments by Thompson and director Taika Waititi suggest that "Thor: Love and Thunder" will portray Valkyrie in a queer relationship (via The Hollywood Reporter). It certainly stands to reason that Waititi could also be inclined to go with a more updated and unique route for Valkyrie's name as well.