‘Thor 3’ Rumors: Valkyrie Makes Debut, Hulk And Bruce Banner In ‘Scene Together’

Thor 3: Ragnarok will begin production in June 2016, and the film will feature another familiar face from the Avenger movies in the Hulk, according to several recent reports.

In addition to superheroes Thor and Hulk, Thor 3 may also include a new female superhero, Valkyrie.

Thor 3 will again star Chris Hemsworth as the Norse God, and Mark Ruffalo will reprise his role as Hulk. The movie is set to be released in November 2017. Filming for Thor 3 will begin in June 2016 in Australia. The Daily Mail reports that Thor 3 star Chris Hemsworth is especially excited about this as Australia is his native country. Chris Hemsworth had been living in Los Angeles for seven years, but he recently moved back with his family to his home country.

As The Guardian reports, Thor 3 will mark Valkyrie’s live action debut. She first appeared in comic book form in The Avengers in 1970. Valkyrie has been portrayed before as a love interest to Thor. There is no word yet on whether this will interfere with Thor’s love interest from the previous two movies, Jane Foster, played by Natalie Portman. Just which actress will play Valkyrie in Thor 3 has not yet been announced.

Valkyrie will tie into the plot of Thor 3, which purportedly will take Thor and Hulk on a cosmic road trip. While on this journey, they will come into contact with a group of people called Valkyrior, celestial beings who decide which fallen warriors will move on to the afterlife, called Valhalla. Valkyrie is the leader of this group.

Also rumored to be returning to his previous role is Tom Hiddleston, who plays Thor’s sometimes evil brother, Loki. Jaimie Alexander, who plays Thor’s childhood friend and fellow Asgardian warrior Sif has been cast for Thor 3. According to IMDB, Taika Waititi is set to direct Thor 3. Waititi directed horror comedy What We Do in the Shadows (2014), and his taking the helm of Thor 3 is hoped to bring some levity to the original, darker script.

How Hulk will factor into the plot of Thor 3 remains to be seen. Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo discussed his thoughts on Thor 3 with The Huffington Post, expressing his enthusiasm. “I am excited to keep coming back to this role,” Mark Ruffalo said of reprising his Hulk role. “I see a lot of space for it to grow.”

The interview is also where the rumors of Hulk and Bruce Banner made their debut. In it, Mark Ruffalo spoke of the relationship the two personalities have and how they might interact in the film.

“I feel like there’s a lot of cool stuff to explore still, especially the relationship between Banner and Hulk. Hopefully, we’ll see the two of them in a scene together. That would be cool!”

Although Hulk and Bruce Banner have always been the same person on film, in comic book form, a comic book character named Doc Samson was able to briefly separate the two. Whether Mark Ruffalo was hinting at this plot line for Hulk in Thor 3 or just offering idle speculation is not yet known, but the reaction to the teaser has been overwhelmingly positive. Yahoo! Movies posted a video to Twitter of Hulk smashing Thor in honor of the announcement.

With the release of Thor 3 still two years away, a lot more information about both plot and characters will most likely surface. But the fact that Hulk will be in Thor 3, and potentially in a separate body from Bruce Banner, is exciting news to legions of fans for the Marvel Universe.

What actress do you think should play Valkyrie in the 2017 film featuring Thor and Hulk? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

[Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]