‘Thor 2′ Concept Art Reveals Valkyrie, Another Badass Asgardian Warrior

In the Marvel comic books, Thor has a ridiculous number of friends, foes and potential love interests, ranging from the bewilderingly cosmic to the mortal and mundane. Although the two 'Thor' films have done an admirable job of bringing an assortment of these characters to live, they've barely even scratched the surface of what Asgard has to offer. In fact, it turns out that 'Thor: The Dark World' originally featured another comic book mainstay, but she got cut early on in development. Thankfully, newly released concept art lets us take a look at what could have been.

Yes, comic fans, you are indeed looking at some early designs for what would have been Valkyrie, the female Asgardian warrior and potential love interest for the God of Thunder. Although we don't know why she got cut, we can only assume it was to keep an already overstuffed film from bursting at the seams.

In the comics, Valkyrie is a brave Asgardian warrior and a mainstay of the team known as The Defenders (kind of a weirder, more eclectic Avengers). In fact, she was the star of the recently cancelled Fearless Defenders, which saw her assembling an all-female superhero team to protect the earth from various threats. Although not too well known to the uninitiated, she's an interesting character, albeit one that could potentially feel a little redundant in a film series that already has Jaimie Alexander's badass warrior Sif.

For all we know, Valkyrie could still make an appearance in 'Thor 3,' but in the meantime, all we can do is look at this art and consider the possibilities. What do you think? Do you want to see her show up in future Marvel films?