Tessa Thompson Cast In ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ — That’s One More Black Actress In The Marvel Cinematic Universe


Tessa Thompson, who mostly recently starred in Ryan Coogler’s Creed, is now part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, reports Deadline. The Dear White People actress has joined the cast of Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok.

What role Tessa Thompson will be playing in the third Thor film is not yet known. What is interesting is that it seems like Thompson’s character is going to be a love interest for Chris Hemsworth’s Thor. At first glance, that seems like an odd decision for the story, given that Natalie Portman (who plays Jane Foster) has been Thor’s love interest for the last two films. Well, as it turns out, Natalie Portman won’t be coming back for a third Thor film, according to the Hollywood Reporter, which means that Tessa Thompson’s character could be the female lead.

Thompson’s character is briefly described “a kind of superhero,” and she won’t just be in Thor: Ragnarok. Tessa apparently signed a multi-picture deal, as her character will be appearing in more Marvel films in the future. This means that Tessa Thompson could be any number of female characters in the Marvel universe, not ones who are just associated with Thor. Because her character is “kind of” a superhero, she may not be portraying one of the major heavy hitters (Captain Marvel, etc.).

Tessa Thompson is currently filming the HBO series Westworld in a leading role. In addition, the actress has been cast in a lead role in Alex Garland’s Annihilation. Garland previously wrote and directed Ex Machina in 2015. Thompson will appear opposite Natalie Portman, oddly enough, who will also be in the film, which begins production at the end of July of this year.

Marvel Studio’s casting of Tessa Thompson, a black actress, was announced right after so many black women were upset that actress Nicole Beharie was killed off in the season finale of Sleepy Hollow. While it’s been reported that Behari made the decision to leave the show herself, her character had been underdeveloped. The actress herself even had to ask the show’s official Twitter account to follow her.

This is why Tessa Thompson’s casting is such huge news for people online.

There were similar reactions online when Zendaya was announced to have a role in Sony’s upcoming solo Spider-Man film starring Tom Holland. Marvel Studios has been making an effort to answer the call to Hollywood’s diversity/inclusion issue, and this certainly appears to be yet another step in that direction. Thompson is most certainly aware of that.

Tessa Thompson attended a high school in Santa Monica that was racially diverse and helped create a student group called Racial Harmony with a friend. The idea for the student group was for students to engage with one another on their experiences on campus.

“The idea was that you got 100 students together, 20 from each of the five basic racial groups, and you have them sit in a group together,” Thompson explained. “We’d sit in a room and you would, privately with just your group, write down the stereotypes that you had either heard, or that you believe about the other races. And then you’d see the other peoples’ lists and you would have these really candid, frank dialogues.”

Tessa Thompson Cast In 'Thor: Ragnarok' - That's One More Black Actress In The Marvel Cinematic Universe
Tessa Thompson with a few of her ‘Dear White People’ co-stars. [Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images]

“When I first started working, I was just working and seeing what happened,” Thompson said in late 2014. “And now I feel like I have a lot more clarity about the kind of work that I want to do. I feel way more integrated. It’s really easy to sometimes feel like a cog in something moving, especially as an actor, you’re a very small part of what becomes a big picture. Now, I feel more integrated.”

Thor: Ragnarok, directed by Taika Waititi, stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Jaimie Alexander, Mark Ruffalo, and Tessa Thompson. The film is set to debut in theaters on November 3, 2017.

[Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images]

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