See How Tessa Thompson Wants to Encourage Racial Diversity in Marvel Films
Tessa Thompson opens up about the significance of including racial and LGBTQ+ diversity within the Marvel Films.
In a segment of Variety’s Actors on Actors series, Ramy Youssef and Tessa Thompson discuss the importance of including racial as well as LGBTQ+ diversity in films. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thompson stars as Valkyrie, the first LGBTQ+ superhero.
Thompson tells Youssef, “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. There is a real feeling of responsibility when you’re the only one,” said Thompson. She continues, “There’s this burden of being exceptional. While I think you are exceptional and I hope I’m exceptional, too, I don’t think we should be the only ones. The work that we do should be inside a diversity of ideas around our identity because Muslims are not a monolith, and neither are Black people.”
Thompson notes that she doesn’t want to come off as a Black woman ambassador, “You look at the way that Black and brown people are portrayed in the media, and there’s a sameness — we’re obsessed with watching black pain and black and brown criminality,” she said. “I want for us to be able to exist in ways that we’ve never existed before.”
Back in 2019, Thompson spoke on Valkyrie at San Diego Comic-Con, explaining to the crowd that the comic character is bisexual.
Tessa Thompson on Valkyrie: “First of all, as king, she needs to find her queen.” #MarvelSDCC pic.twitter.com/XR1I2wsUNR
— Ryan Gajewski (@_RyanGajewski) July 21, 2019
The Marvel superhero hopes to increase diversity in films to create a more positive impact on future generations. “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,” she said.
“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.”
