Cate Blanchett was convinced to play the role of Hela in Thor: Ragnarok when she learned that one of the first things the villain does is destroy Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. Directed by Taika Waititi, the film stars Chris Hemsworth as the titular character in the third installment of the God of Thunder’s stand-alone films. Joining the Asgardian royalty this time around is his Avengers pal, Hulk/Bruce Banner in his first exploration of the cosmic world, as well as the introduction of new characters like Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum). Of course, established supporting players like Loki, Heimdall, and Odin are also going to be featured.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a great history of bringing in well-respected actors for villainous roles, like Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce in Captain America: Winter Soldier, Kurt Russel as Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Michael Keaton as the Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane in Iron Man. Now, Blanchett joins the ranks of these thespians while also being the first female main antagonist in the superhero series as she takes on the role as Hela.
After attending her first ever San Diego Comic-Con with the cast of Ragnarok and the rest of Marvel in Hall H last Saturday, Blanchett has revealed to E! News what intrigued and ultimately prompted her to take the villainous role as the Goddess of Death:
“That had me at ‘hello,’ actually. I thought that was really exciting that they were prepared to destroy Thor’s power in the first few minutes. So, yeah, it’s a nice entrance.”
The actress was referring to that electrifying meet-up of Hela and Thor featured in the first trailer for the film where the former breaks the latter’s hammer, Mjolnir, with seemingly little effort. And while the Avenger would have to deal with the loss of his iconic weapon of choice (at times even settling with a gun) and his subsequent arrival at Sakaar where he is due to battle the Hulk, Hela, on the other hand, will wreak havoc in Asgard as she tries to rebuild it under her leadership. It is then up to Thor to race back home to save it from total doom.
Joining Hela’s team is her assistant, Skurge (Karl Urban), who is as every bit as menacing as his superior. Although, fans of the comic books know that the warrior’s loyalty often changes, which could be pivotal when Hela and Thor’s imminent head-to-head goes down. Further, he, apparently, also has some sort of connection with regard to the mystery regarding Heimdall’s current whereabouts.
Despite us knowing that at least Thor, Hulk, and Loki will all live past the events of Thor: Ragnarok as they are all set to appear in Avengers: Infinity War, the fate of Asgard and the rest of the Asgardians remain to be seen. Likewise, if Marvel decides to combine Hela, the Goddess of Death, and the (separate) character Death in order to play out Thanos’ interesting comic-book infatuation, there could be more to the Goddess of Death than just being a one-off antagonist, and she could play a larger role in Thanos’ drive to collect the Infinity Stones.
