Natalie Portman criticised for exaggerating how 'gay' Thor: Love and Thunder is

Thor fans have been left disappointed after Natalie Portman claimed the new film is “super gay” and have accused the actress of overexaggerating.

Thor: Love and Thunder is the latest film released in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and based on a Q and A ahead of the London premiere, fans may have been expecting some long overdue queer representation.

In 2017, Thor: Ragnarok was criticised over reports it had cut a scene that explicitly confirmed that Valkyrie, played by Tessa Thompson, is bisexual.

At the London premiere, Love and Thunder stars Thompson and Portman were joined on the stage by writer-director Taika Waititi to take some audience questions about the new release before the screening.

One audience member asked, “How gay is the film?”. The director gestured towards Portman to take the questions, and she replied, “So gay”. Waititi also chimed in, shouting, “Super gay!”, to applause from the crowd.

But after actually watching the film, some fans have begged to differ.

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Journalist Jack King, who was at the screening and heard Portman state it was “so gay” wrote on Twitter afterwards: “Before the THOR 4 screening last night Natalie Portman called it ‘so gay’. Devastated to report — and really, you won't believe this — that she lied.”

Another fan said: “this was the biggest lie of the century.”

Someone else described getting “queerbaited” by Marvel as “evergreen”.

In the film, there are two scenes that confirm that Valkyrie is bisexual. One scene references her girlfriend who died in battle and another where she kisses a woman’s hand.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Thompson said: “We’ve had lots of conversations about [Valkyrie’s sexuality]. I think there’s a lot of folks that are righteously very hungry for that representation to exist in these movies, as am I.

“But I also think [it’s important] not to hang the character’s hat solely on her sexual identity just because she’s a queer character. I think that’s one way of minimizing her humanity, actually, if that’s the only facet that you get to explore her in.”

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