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Tessa Thompson Doesn’t Just Want To Be A ‘Badass’ In Thor: Ragnarok


‘Badass' female characters in Hollywood movies are a dime a dozen. It's a role so stereotypical that it's practically the second most cliche role for an actress, the first being a basic love interest. Tessa Thompson is hoping that her role as Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok is more than just a simple ‘badass,' who just happens to be really attractive.

During a feature of the film's new characters in the LA Times, Thompson discussed how she hated seeing the word ‘badass' to describe certain female characters. She feels that it's a lazy way to make a female character tough, without giving her much of a personality. Apparently, she discussed this with the film's director and they were able to come up with a more interesting version of the comic book character.

Her full quote is as follows:

"There's one word I hate in all scripts in Hollywood at the moment in describing women, and that is the word "badass." That word has just crept into every script that is pushed around this town now. It's terrible, because it doesn't mean anything. It's a dumb male writer's way of saying, ‘Ah, uh, she's like, she, uh, she's tough.' Then straight after that it's like, ‘She's badass, but she's got a beauty about her. And she's sexy. Unconsciously sexy.'"

To Marvel's credit, most of their powerful female characters have interesting backstories. Black Widow was part of a program that turned little girls into assassins. Scarlet Witch volunteered for super powered experimentation after a war. If Thompson gets her way, it looks like Valkyrie will be more than just a tough, but pretty female.

Thor: Ragnarok will be showing in November 7. With Asgard fallen, Thor forms a group with The Hulk, Valkyrie and Loki to stop Hela and The Grandmaster. Classic Thor villain Surtur was also seen in one of the more recent trailers. Doctor Strange will also make an appearance in the film.

Read:Thor And Hulk Team Up Before Thor Ragnarok In Comixology Exclusive Digital Comics

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