A Thor: Ragnarok-Inspired, ‘Maiden-Wooing’ Valkyrie Is Marvel’s New Exiles Member

Last week, Marvel announced a new Exiles book, bringing with it a new team of reality-crossing heroes to fight alongside longtime Exiles member Blink. One was kept a secret, however, until now… and if you saw Thor: Ragnarok last year, she’s going to look very, very familiar.

Image: Marvel Comics. Exiles #1 variant cover by David Marquez

Valkyrie has been confirmed as the fifth member of the team, but it isn’t the traditional Valkyrie of the comics – the design, from series artist Javier Rodriguez, is a blend of the classic comics outfit of Valkyrie with Tessa Thompson’s portrayal of the character as seen in Marvel’s film Thor: Ragnarok, with the face paint and swanky half-cape to match.

As Exiles writer Saladin Ahmed explains, it isn’t just visually that the new Valkyrie resembles her Ragnarok counterpart, but in character too – she is even explicitly “maiden-wooing” in ways the movie character wasn’t allowed to be:

Valkyrie’s a character who’s always appealed to me. Her iconic warrior-woman look – spear! sword! flying horse! – but also the juxtaposition of a kickass ancient fantasy hero operating in contemporary New York City. She’s a classic Marvel heroine, but the Exiles version of Valkyrie is a bit different from what we’ve seen in comics thus far. Our Valkyrie is known as the Lone Defender of Asgard, and she’s a tankard-draining, maiden-wooing, giant-slaying thunderbolt of a woman. Though she’s not technically from the Marvel Cinematic Universe reality, she’s basically the literalization of the larger-than-her-physical-frame swagger that Tessa Thompson displayed in Thor: Ragnarok, turned up to 11.

Marvel’s usually a bit more reserved when it comes to acknowledging the influence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on its comics, but hey – Ragnarok struck a winning formula with its take on Valkyrie, so why not have fun with it for a loopy, alternate-reality caper such as Exiles? So far Thompson hasn’t commented on her likeness showing up in the book, but she usually catches on to these fun things pretty quickly.

Exiles #1 is set to hit shelves April 25.

[Comicosity]