Review: 'Thor: Ragnarok' gives us the female characters we deserve

With a severe lack of female characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe—that aren't two-dimensional love interests of the real characters—"Thor: Ragnarok," released Nov. 3, introduced not one, but two strong female characters who have complete backgrounds and are in no way arm candy for Thor. Not only are these women actual characters, but one of them is the first female villain that the MCU has seen.

Though her introduction to the film is a bit lazy and confusing—Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) being sent to Norway by an oddly included Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and finding their dying father, whose transformative death into a bunch of gold sparkly lights releases their previously unknown sister from the prison Odin (Anthony Thompkins) had placed her in—I didn't end up caring about that once Hela (Cate Blanchett) stepped on screen for the first time.

When Hela first meets her brothers, there isn't much of a family bonding, and Thor figures throwing his hammer Mjölnir at her is a good introduction. Well, Hela isn't having that. In a show of her ridiculous power and strength, she catches Mjölnir—even though no one except the righteous and worthy should be able to hold the hammer—and promptly crushes the weapon, ending the most meaningful and long-lasting relationship Thor has ever had.

And it only gets crazier from there. As Thor and Loki are lost in a world between pathways to the realms where all lost things end up, which is hilariously run by Jeff Goldbloom as the Grandmaster, Hela takes over Asgard while wearing the most amazing crown I've ever seen. Blanchett was a perfect choice for Hela, and her past experience playing a queen who goes a bit crazy at times in the "Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" trilogies doesn't hurt. The way Blanchett delivers her lines and portrays the character makes you both root for her and fear for what she'll do next.

While Asgard descends into ruins, Thor encounters a fellow Asgardian (Tessa Thompson) while lost, who sells him to the Grandmaster to fight in his gladiator-like battles. We find out that she used to be a Valkyrie, which was apparently an elite group of female Asgardian warriors who were all but wiped out by Hela back before Odin put her in a supernaturally long timeout. Though we never learn her real name, this character has been referred to mainly by Valkyrie. Not only is Valkyrie a new female character, but she is also a new character of color, joining Idris Elba's Heimdall and Tadanobu Asano's Hogun as the only Asgardians of color with lines.

The best thing about Valkyrie is that, like Hela, she is nothing like the typical female characters included in superhero movies. She's very tomboy, she drinks about as much as she breathes, and she doesn't give a shit about who Thor is and what he can do. She's a strong and capable fighter who rivals Thor in his ability, and the battle against Hela and her undead soldiers could not have been won without her.

Though the addition of both of these characters has slightly helped the lack of diversity in the MCU, "Thor: Ragnarok" almost did even better. According to an Oct. 31 Rolling Stone article, Valkyrie is supposed to be bisexual, but the scene that was filmed to confirm this on the behest of Thompson and director Taika Waititi was ultimately cut. Thompson said this storyline may be explored more in the future, as Valkyrie is rumored to be returning the "Avengers: Infinity War" set to come out in 2018.

With these new characters, there was a noticeable absence of a previously introduced female warrior character. Sif (Jamie Alexander), one of Thor's closest friends and most trusted allies, is completely absent from the film. Alexander had scheduling conflicts, according to Yahoo, which precluded her from filming for "Ragnarok," but not one character mentioned or seemed to notice her absence.

As an integral member of the group Lady Sif and the Warriors Three, you would think the Warriors Three would wonder where she was—well, they would have if they were given a chance to speak before being unceremoniously killed by Hela. Well, we can only hope that she wasn't on Asgard when it exploded. Maybe she was hanging out on Earth or one of the other planets the MCU has introduced.

But"Ragnarok" still does what all the MCU movies before it should have done and gave its audience female characters with actual storylines and personalities not based around a male hero. One can only hope that the last several MCU movies will do the same, and the trailers for "Black Panther" seem promising in that matter.

Photos courtesy Marvel Entertainment