You should cast people because theyre talented.

[With Valkyrie] I wanted to confirm we werent making a female character that was boring and pretty.

Ultimately I thought Tessa was the best person we found.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Describe this Valkyrie a bit.

Shes from Asgard.TESSA THOMPSON:She is originally.

She finds Thor and brings Thor to the Grandmaster thinking he might be of interest.

The rest is a secret.

What was the training like for this?Shes a real, real badass.

The training was intense.

Sometimes with him youre like are you joking or are you serious?

I dont do a whole lot when Im left to my own devices except wield forks and knives.

Taika sent me a picture of Sarah Connor in [Terminator 2].

Shes incredibly buff and really lean and in leather.

I took it seriously.

I was like, Cool, I want to look like Sarah Connor and do like 10 pull ups.

I got really, really strong and buff.

Tell me about the outfit a bit.

You also seem to be wearing war paint.That was sort of a Taika remix.

Marvel was really great, like Do what you will with these characters.

InRagnarok, youll see a Banner like youve never seen before.

Youll see Thor with the short hair, which happens when he becomes this gladiator for the Grandmaster.

But you really do get to see these established characters in a new way.

Obviously if they were really dedicated to the source material they would not have cast me.

Im essentially in leather.

I wield two daggers, which are sort of attached to me.

And I also have a very special sword.

This must have been so much fun!

[Laughs] Its so fun!

You dont anticipate things like just constantly tripping on your cape.

So it was really fun to have Chris and Tom Hiddleston be like Oh, get the short cape!

I was like, Oh I didnt know I could get the short cape!

Valkyrie is blonde in the comics that must have made this even cooler.Yeah, its really great.

We have so many conversations particularly now about representation in film.

Not just having characters that reflect the world we live in but how we represent the characters.

So we had a conversation of, what is a strong look?

Like, she should probably be in pants.

That probably makes more sense for the kind of work shes doing.

Im happy to join Idris Elba so he doesnt have to be the only one.

Is it possible that Valkyrie could show up in, like,Infinity War?

Could she return?You never know where people will pop up.

Shes part of the tapestry now.

Were all hopefully going to meet in one of these movies.

Thor: Ragnarokhits theaters Nov. 3.