Not Explaining Valkyrie Is A Major Avengers: Infinity War Failure

WARNING: This post contains SPOILERS for Avengers: Infinity War.

In Avengers: Infinity War, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and their allies face Thanos, but Thor: Ragnarok standout Valkyrie is nowhere to be found. As the beginning of the end to the first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Infinity War is tasked with bringing all the superheroes together. When Earth’s Mightiest Heroes first assembled in The Avengers, there were only six members of the team. Now after 10 years and 18 movies, the number of superheroes in the MCU is exponentially bigger.

As such, there are heroes who are notably absent from Avengers: Infinity War. Hawkeye is one Avenger notably missing, while Ant-Man and the Wasp are two others. However, one hero’s absence from Infinity War is noticeably glaring because it raises certain questions about their fate.

Related: Everything You Completely Missed In Infinity War

The hero in question is Valkyrie, played by Tessa Thompson, who joined the MCU in Thor: Ragnarok and became a standout character. In fact, she became so popular fans have wondered if Valkyrie will become the new Thor or if she’ll join an ensemble female superhero film. Surprisingly though, Valkyrie doesn’t appear in Avengers: Infinity War.

Where is Valkyrie in Infinity War?

Thanos’ plan to balance the universe entails wiping out half of it. As we see in flashback, he does this by visiting planets and separating their populations, killing one half and leaving the other. When Infinity War opens, he’s already decimated the Asgardian refugee ship, and Thor reveals through dialogue that Thanos killed half his people.

Although we don’t know for sure where Valkyrie is or whether she survived Thanos’ attack, it’s likely she’s with the half of the Asgardians who survived. Since Thor, Loki, Hulk and Heimdall are left behind to face Thanos and his Black Order, it’s possible Thor sent her to watch over the rest of his people and ensure they make it safely to Earth.

Related: Avengers: Infinity War’s Ending Explained

Since we don’t see Valkyrie dead on the ship where Thor faces down Thanos, we may be able to presume she’s alive. For her part, Thompson tweeted, “I exist in the overlap.” Fans have speculated it could be about Valkyrie, though what exactly it means is unclear. The fact is, Avengers: Infinity War doesn’t offer any concrete answer to where she is.

Valkyrie’s Absence Isn’t a Plot Hole – But It’s Still A Problem

As stated, although it appears from the opening sequence that all of Asgard has perished during Thanos’ attack – or at least in the aftermath when he blows up the remnants of the refugee ship – we do know that at least half of Asgard lives. It’s possible Valkyrie is part of the half that lives or that she left the Asgardian ship before Thanos showed up. There was an unspecified amount of time between the end of Thor: Ragnarok and its mid-credits scene (in which only Thor and Loki appear), so perhaps she went off on a different mission.

Essentially, Valkyrie’s absence isn’t automatically a plot hole, but her whereabouts are undoubtedly an unanswered question left by Avengers: Infinity War. And she’s not the only character inexplicably missing. Though Hawkeye and Ant-Man’s absences are at least explained through dialogue, Valkyrie, Korg (another fan-favorite from Ragnarok) and Lady Sif are nowhere to be found – and there’s no effort to explain where they are.

Though fans may be excited to see many of the MCU’s characters come together for Avengers: Infinity War, the sheer size of the sprawling superhero universe means some need to take a backseat – or not appear at all. That’s understandable. But the lack of explanation about characters from recent Marvel films, especially standouts like Ragnarok’s Valkyrie and Black Panther’s Nakia, is a major failure that will be glaring for fans of those heroes.

With that said, Marvel Studios will be back to continue the story threads from Infinity War with Avengers 4. Perhaps at that point fans will learn why certain beloved heroes were left out of the fight in Avengers: Infinity War, and will get to see them join the action in Avengers 4.

Next: Avengers: Infinity War End Credits Scene Explained