Marvelhas an established track record when it comes to bringing in Oscar-caliber stars into its massive superhero movie lineup. Most were surprised when the iconicRobert Redfordsigned on for a role inCaptain America: The Winter Soldier, and the tradition continued withGlenn ClosejoiningGuardians of the GalaxyandMichael Douglasplaying Hank Pym inAnt-Man. Last month, a report surfaced that Oscar winnerCate Blanchettwas in talks for one of thefemale leadroles inThor: Ragnarok, with speculation that she’s playing a villain. Today we have a new report fromGeek.com, which claims that the actress has officially signed on, while revealing what role she’s playing. There will be potential SPOILERS below, so read on at your own risk.
The earlier report speculated that thatCate Blanchettcould be playing either villainous characters such asAmora the Enchantressor Hela, Queen of the Dead, while others claimed that she could be playing the heroic Valkyrie, a.k.a. Brunnhilde. This new report claims that the actress is actually playing Hela, who, in theMarvel Comics, is the ruler of Hel and the realm of Niflheim. This character will be portrayed very closely to the comics, with Hela donning a cloak and wielding power over the undead in allNine Realms.
This report also claims that Hela will join forces with Loki, but while their motives are unknown, some interesting details were revealed. In Thor: Ragnarok, Thor eventually find out that Loki and Hela have teamed up, but when he confronts her, she actually destroys his mighty hammer Mjolnir, and banishes him from Asgard. This is said to be the incident that causes Thor to go on this “cosmic road trip” with Hulk that we’ve reported on in the past.
If the actress has officially signed on, she joinsChris Hemsworth(Thor),Tom Hiddleston(Loki) andMark Ruffalo(Hulk). Interestingly enough,Mark Ruffalohimself recently teased in an interview withIndieWirethat he recently ran into the actress and “begged” her to sign on, while teasing that she will play a villain. Here’s what he had to say below.
“I saw her at the Governors' banquet here and heard that maybe she was circling, they were talking to her about the part, so I ran up to her and I was like, ‘Please, please, please make this work!’ She’s just one of the best, and to have her play a baddie is going to be really exciting.”
There has also been speculation that Hela may play a bigger part in the MCU as well. There are rumors that Hela could replace the “physical embodiment of death that Thanos falls in love with” after he obtains the Infinity Gauntlet. If this is true, then the actress may be coming back forAvengers: Infinity War Part IandAvengers: Infinity War - Part II. What do you think about these new rumors aboutThor: Ragnarok?
