It may be good to be the king, but nobody tells you about all the executive decisions and administrative tasks that really come with the job. We saw Tessa Thompson become the sovereign of New Asgard at the end of Avengers: Endgame but the start of Thor: Love and Thunder will find the Valkyrie facing a terrible enemy: the day-to-day drudgery of an admin job.
Valkyries come far from where she was when fans first set eyes on her in Thor: Ragnarok. The Asgardian shield-maiden had spent years in the gladiatorial arenas of the planet Sakaar, attempting to forget her past when Thor Odinson helped her regain her purpose. After Thor left the Earth, he named Valkyrie the leader of the New Asgard colony of survivors. And while she’s proven capable at the task — she was basically running the colony during Thor’s depressive five-year period in self-exile — being a leader isn’t exactly Valkyrie’s dream job.
“She’s, taken up the kingly duties, and it’s new Asgard, though. So it’s like Asgard on Earth, which is a different Asgard than we’ve seen before…” Thompson stated to Fandango All Access. Director Taika Waititi explained that
“She’s got all the responsibilities of basically running a town. and looking after your people that and where we find her is also missing the battlefield. Yeah, because she’s been in her entire life as a career soldier as part of the Valkyrie. And she’s kind of got an admin job, which she’s like, Yeah, a lot of meetings. a lot of bureaucracy, which is not really her favorite. She likes battle.”
From the looks of the trailer, she’s going to get what she likes, and a lot of it.
Thor: Love and Thunder will release theatrically on July 8.