Ragnarok Cut Thor/Valkyrie Romance

There was originally a budding romance between Thor and Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok. On top of being a great addition to Odinson's supporting roster of characters, Valkyrie also made the headlines when Tessa Thompson implied that she is bisexual -- making her the first such (known) character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, there was a deleted scene in Ragnarok that would have alluded to the idea, had it not been cut at the last minute.

In addition, there were originally plans to explore Valkyrie's love life in other ways during Ragnarok. The original script draft (written by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost) had Valkyrie and the God of Thunder himself cozying up with each other. It wasn't until screenwriter Eric Pearson came into the picture that said subplot was ultimately scrapped - and instead of being more flirty with one another, the pair's relationship became more like coworkers, in the actual film.

Pearson talked about the abandoned romantic angle in Ragnarok during an interview with Yahoo!. In it, he explained what ultimately convinced the movie's writing team to drop that plot point and go a different relationship direction for Thor and Valkyrie:

“But we didn’t want to start from that place. It was like, Let’s give Valkyrie her own story that connects with Thor … and if it makes sense for them to get together, then great. You’ve got two really good-looking people who can fight and who’d probably be [good together] if the story went there, but it just didn’t. It became more about the mutual respect, and also dealing with her PTSD. She’s someone who’s drowning her sorrows in the bottle, and I just thought that was such a cool thing that you don’t often see in these movies: somebody dealing with extreme guilt and shame in a colorful, Taika Waititi[-directed] hilarious background."

In hindsight, the decision to dial back on the romance was for the better of the film. Ragnarok was already a packed movie as it is - and incorporating a love story, while hell is breaking loose in Asgard and he is trapped in a junk planet, is the last thing Thor needed at the moment. While Hemsworth and Thomspon play well off each other in the film, Valkyrie's characterization and story arc in Ragnarok arguably benefit from her not being Thor's new love interest. It would also be odd for Thor to dive right into another relationship when it's not even clear yet why he and Jane broke up in the first place. That issue is only addressed in passing in Ragnarok, to the point that it felt like the film had undermined their history together. Thor and Jane's romance may not have been as effective as other Marvel relationships (a la Tony and Pepper or Steve and Peggy), but it would have been nicer if Ragnarok had offered a real explanation for why the pair went their separate ways.

This does not mean, however, that Thor and Valkyrie won't develop any romantic feelings with each other down the road, especially with the latter's stint in the MCU seemingly going to last for quite some time. Not only is she rumored to appear in Avengers: Infinity War, she might also headline an all-female Marvel film if the proposed project eventually gets greenlit. In the pages of the comic books, the two occasionally indulged themselves in a fling. Unfortunately, they are almost always hindered by an outside happening preventing them from being full-blown lovers.