Director Taika Waititi (What We Do In the Shadows) and a co-starring role for Mark Ruffalos Incredible Hulk aim to help bring the Thor solo films back to prominence with Ragnarok, after the somewhat forgettable Thor: The Dark World. Now, a new star has joined the production in a just announced key role: Tessa Thompson, last seen as the female lead of the Rocky-revival Creed.
No specific details have been provided as to what role Thompson will play in Thor: Ragnarok, including whether or not she is going to be stepping into the role of an established Marvel Comics character or if her role is a new figure created specifically for the film one which Waititi has (jokingly?) said will be even more comedic than The Dark World (itself, a buddy action/comedy for Thor and Loki at times), but might yet prove to be major divergence in tone, style and setting from the previous two Thor movies. Marvel has not officially confirmed anything about the casting, though many reports suggest that the character could be Thors new love interest, what with THR also reporting that Oscar-winner Natalie Portman (who plays Thors love interest/scientist Jane Foster in the MCU) is not returning for Ragnarok.
Deadline is reporting that Thompson will play a character in Ragnarok who is a kind of superhero and will appear in other Marvel films as well. If so, that raises the possibility that Thompson could be playing new imaginings of either The Enchantress (usually a villain) or Brunhilde (a heroine, like Thor culled from actual Norse mythology); two characters often framed as romantic interests in the Thor comics that fans have been eager to see join the movies. The other most-notable potential Thor partner, Lorelei, has already appeared in the MCU as a villain on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the past.
Known to TV audiences for a supporting role on Veronica Mars, Thompson is best recognized by movie fans for her roles in politically-charged dramas like Tyler Perrys For Colored Girls and the Sundance hit Dear White People. In 2015 she got perhaps her biggest exposure yet playing Bianca, an aspiring musician dealing with a chronic hearing-impairment, in Creed, the Rocky psuedo-sequel directed by future Black Panther writer/director Ryan Coogler. Shes also currently part of the cast for HBOs in-production series Westworld and will star opposite Portman in Annihilation, the upcoming sci-fi film by Ex Machina director Alex Garland.