"Thor: Ragnarok" arrives in theaters in just a few weeks and Marvel has just released a featurette/trailer that focuses on the studio's first ever female villain, Hela. The character is played by Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett, who said in the video that she had "incredible fun" playing the Goddess of Death. In a recent chat with Collider, Blanchett shared that she worked closely with director Taika Waititi to develop her character and her powers and in the new featurette, viewers can see some behind the scenes footage of Blanchett and Waititi.
In fact, the director said in the video, "Cate [Blanchett] has destroyed the idea of your typical villain."
Hela is a lot like Loki
Aside from working with director Taika Waititi, Cate Blanchett also collaborated with another Marvel favorite who's also in the film, tom hiddleston. The actor reprises his role as Loki, who is definitely a fan favorite in the franchise. In fact, Hiddleston recently opened up about how he's surprised that he's still alive and has spanned several MCU films to date. Blanchett shared to Collider, "Tom [Hiddleston] and I talked about how Loki and Hela looked very similar. And I said, ‘OK, well how can we either make that a virtue or be a little bit more creative?’"
Cate Blanchett on creating memorable villains
In the new "Hela Good" featurette for "Thor: Ragnarok," Cate Blanchett shared, "The best villains are always those that you kind of love and hate what they do but you sort of understand it.
There's a logic to it." And logic, there totally is, as Hela has been banished from Asgard and kept locked away for a long period of time. That's enough time to brew some angry, resentful feelings towards Asgard and Thor in general, so when she does make her way back, she will definitely make those feelings known.
'Ragnarok' features the first MCU villain
While DC has gone ahead and featured a woman as the main character in a superhero film (see: "Wonder Woman," which earned over $800 million globally), Marvel is quite late to the game. Cate Blanchett's Hela in "Thor: Ragnarok" is the first female Marvel villain, but the studio is still working on a female-led superhero film with Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, due out in 2019.
That's two years after "Wonder Woman" smashed box office records globally this year. Nonetheless, it's a step forward for Marvel, which from the beginning banked more on its male superheroes and leads to bring in the blockbusters. "Thor: Ragnarok" is set to change that when it hits theaters on November 3.
