Cate Blanchett is the Mysterious & Powerful Villainess HELA! - Part 1

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This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]514855[/split]

 

[psylockolussus]

Cannot wait! I hope she'll be Hela Fierce!

Two-time Oscar®-winner Cate Blanchett (“Blue Jasmine,” “Carol, “Cinderella&#8221 joins Marvel Studios’ “Thor: Ragnarok” as the mysterious and powerful new villain Hela, along with Jeff Goldblum (the upcoming “Independence Day: Resurgence,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Jurassic Park&#8221 who joins the cast as the eccentric Grandmaster, Tessa Thompson (“Creed,” “Selma&#8221 who will bring the classic hero Valkyrie to life on the big screen, and Karl Urban (“Star Trek” trilogy, “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King&#8221 who will add his might to the fray as Skurge.

http://marvel.com/news/movies/26203...mbers_of_the_highly_anticipated_thor_ragnarok

 

[Loki882]

So it sounds like Cate is great (no surprise there), but perhaps doesn't get enough screentime or stuff to do (which also wouldn't be that surprising given Marvel's track record).

Again hopefully she's not a one and done villain.

 

[Finarfiniel]

So it sounds like Cate is great (no surprise there), but perhaps doesn't get enough screentime or stuff to do (which also wouldn't be that surprising given Marvel's track record).

Again hopefully she's not a one and done villain.

Yep, pretty much. I'm praying that she'll pop up in the MCU again (I still totally believe she can be IW), I love Hela so much already from the trailers and TV spots alone.

 

[Finarfiniel]

Also, yay new thread! t: I'll bring over my favourite reviews so far from the previous thread. Will add more when more come out.

And she would be the stand-out performance were it not for Cate Blanchett’s Hela. Although given scant screen time to work with (Thor: Ragnarok spends perhaps too much time on Sakaar and therefore away from Hela), she oozes charisma like no other. Her design is incredible – a sure fire cosplay hit in the coming years – and her dialogue delivery and conviction is unmatched. With just a bit more character work, she could have found herself as one of the all-time great villains in the MCU (though that is a short list)

https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2017/10/movie-review-thor-ragnarok-2017/

Still, even those moments are grounded in the performances of the film’s three leads — most notably, Cate Blanchett as Hela. The Oscar-winner brings a tremendous amount of gravitas to any role she takes on, but here she adds a delicious sense of scene-chewing malevolence to the mix. Hela is an incredibly powerful villain, capable of separating Thor from his hammer — but she also takes obvious, compelling delight in being as evil as she can at any given moment. In a different film, her attitude might come off as cheesy posturing. But given Ragnarok’s overall tone, it plays as a celebration, as if Hela is intentionally trying to one-up every villain in the universe.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/19...e-review-marvel-chris-hemsworth-taika-waititi

And although Thor is absolutely more interesting than he's ever been, it's stiff competition whether he's the most interesting player in the mix. Blanchett is endlessly watchable as the film's main villain, as deranged as she is sexy. With a sneering smirk and akimbo stance, hip perpetually cocked out, Hela seems simply bored by it all as she decimates entire armies, but Blanchett is having a blast doing it. Her Hela strut is everything.

http://www.etonline.com/thor-ragnar...orths-new-and-much-improved-god-thunder-89501

It's clear the actors are having a blast here, none more so than Cate Blanchett - who plays the film's big bad, Hela - with the two-time Oscar-winner rattling off exposition-filled monologues with set-chewing delight and proving a nice rebuff to Marvel's long-standing villain issue.

https://www.buzz.ie/movies-tv/thor-ragnarok-review-how-the-god-of-thunder-got-his-groove-back-258295

And if the old “Batman” gave us campy turns by Milton Berle as Louie the Lilac or Ethel Merman as Lola Lasagna, both Blanchett and Goldblum take full advantage of their Special Guest Villain status to go gloriously over the top. Goldblum’s trademark brand of stammering deadpan fits perfectly into this scenario, while Blanchett walks away with the movie; verbally, she plays like Dame Diana Rigg channeling both Joan Crawford and Eve Arden, and her physical slink (in one of Marvel Comics’ most wonderfully baroque costumes) calls to mind the sexy evil robot from “Metropolis.”

https://www.thewrap.com/thor-ragnarok-review-cate-blanchett-chris-hemsworth-mcu/

Hela, played wonderfully by Cate Blanchett, is a welcome addition to the film’s world. She turns in an amazing, sultry performance as the Goddess of Death who has her sites on Asgard and ultimately wants to rule beyond the nine realms. Her goals may be a bit simplistic, but she’s a complex character with a personal connection to Thor that heightens the movie’s dramatic appeal. Even though she seeks out destruction and rampage like many other Marvel villains, Hela feels like the most compelling MCU bad guy to hit the big screen yet.

https://heroichollywood.com/marvel-thor-ragnarok-review/

 

[Finarfiniel]

Loki trying the old 'Hela, we've come to bargain' thing. t:

 

[BigThor]

This Hela would kick comic Hela's ass handily, so there's that.

 

[Finarfiniel]

This Hela would kick comic Hela's ass handily, so there's that.

It's interesting that a lot of characters in the MCU have been downgraded power wise, but Hela has been powered way up. I'm not complaining. t:

It looks like some dude on twitter got himself a Hela tattoo:

That's awesome dedication. Everyone around here knows that I'm a huge Hela (and Cate) fan, but not even I would go that far. It's a really good tattoo though, the likeness is great.

 

[jaqua99]

I still have doubts she will be in IW. If she does, I don't think she knows Thanos yet.

But I prefer not, because it doesn't work for Thanos. The whole point of Thanos loving death is that death isn't a woman, Hela is. Death is an embodiment of an abstract construct. Thanos is in love with death itself, because it's the one security he has. Life and existence has no meaning. Thanos has no meaning. But beating, killing, that is something he can do, something that provides his existentially conflicted existence meaning and control.. a way to ignore his insecurities. His relationship with death represents a deep inner conflict of self loathing, loneliness and hopelessness and depth to the character that works out because death is an abstract concept. It isn't just a woman of affection.

So to replace THAT with Hela, the self proclaimed goddess of death who doesn't necessarily symbolize and reflect the abstract concept really takes away from the depth of Thanos' character and eliminates the existential mannifestation of his issues with this embodiment, because Hela is an Asgardian woman. It isn't Thanos AND Hela, it isn't Thanos AND Death. It is just Thanos. Death, and his relationship with it is part of HIS character. Putting Hela in there, who already has her own motives and character would not allow her to be there exclusively as a symbol of Thanos' character struggles, which is how Starlin wrote death INTO Thanos' character.

So with that said, if they are going for a Starlin-like Thanos, like they've said, they just can't use Hela as the death foil. To truly portray Thanos' existential relationship with death and nihilism, either an abstract entity needs to be used, or no love interest. I feel so strongly about this.

As awesome as Hela probably is, keep her to Thor movies and Thor sequels pleaseeeee. I have waited 8 yesrs for Thanos, don't give him the short stick like this.

Rant over

 

[Finarfiniel]

I totally respect your opinion Jacqua, and I always have. I completely get wanting to have your favourite character adapted faithfully (I have been a little disappointed myself that Hela hasn't been adapted completely faithfully in this movie, but I've since gotten over it), but I still don't think the whole Thanos loving an abstract entity thing is going to be adapted in this universe, because it's something that's incredibly difficult to accurately and faithfully represent in a 2-3 hour movie. The comics are completely different because they don't have the restrictions in time that the movies do.

I honestly think that Thanos being in love with Hela rather than Death itself just works better in this universe and these particular films that have to appeal to everyone rather than a just a small group of comics fans. As Hela is a character that already exists in the MCU and a majority of the audience will already be familiar with, it removes a whole load of unnecessary exposition that would otherwise be needed in IW if they introduced a whole new female representation of death character.

I do totally get what your saying though. Let's just hope that whatever they end up doing, we can both be satisfied with the end result.

 

[Loki882]

The problem is that, outside of one throwaway line in the mid-credits scene of Avengers. They've done absolutely nothing to establish the concept of Mistress Death whatsoever, in any way, shape, or form in the MCU.

So unless they're going to try and cram that explanation into IW as well along with the thousand other things going on there, simplifying things might be appropriate here.

 

[RoastBeast]

Well, if he doesn't get a good motivation other than mwa-ha-ha I'm going to take it all over it will be a pretty boring villain act from Thanos, so I hope they do more than that.

 

[Finarfiniel]

The problem is that, outside of one throwaway line in the mid-credits scene of Avengers. They've done absolutely nothing to establish the concept of Mistress Death whatsoever, in any way, shape, or form in the MCU.

So unless they're going to try and cram that explanation into IW as well along with the thousand other things going on there, simplifying things might be appropriate here.

Exactly. I just don't see how they'd have time in IW to introduce such a major new character (one that's never even been hinted at prior to the movie itself) along with the billion other things they're going to need to do. It's why using Hela makes so much more sense for the MCU, very little exposition needed there other than to establish how she and Thanos were originally acquainted.

Also, there's the fact that Marvel are still pushing Thanos and Hela as a couple in the comics at the moment (they literally just appeared together in The Mighty Thor #700) which I still don't think is a coincidence.

 

[RoastBeast]

^ yeah this.

She'll be familiar, she will not be abstract concept, and it leads to even more interesting character interactions- I don't think Hela would just be an appendage

 

[Finarfiniel]

^ yeah this.

She'll be familiar, she will not be abstract concept, and it leads to even more interesting character interactions- I don't think Hela would just be an appendage

Yep. It's still also too much of a coincidence to me that they decided to use Hela as the main villain in this film in the first place. Comics Hela has never been the main villain in any of the Ragnarok storylines (she's been a supporting character at best), that role has always gone to Surtur or Loki to a lesser extent. So why use her as the main villain here? Maybe to serve the dual role as the villain of Ragnarok and set her up to later be used in a key role in IW maybe? It all fits so neatly together.

In other news, a certain picture has gone over really well on reddit. Not surprising, she looks like an actual goddess.

I have to feel a little sorry for Cate's kids. One of the main reasons she cited as taking a role in the MCU was to please her kids who are big Marvel fans, it must be pretty weird/uncomfortable for them to go online and see fanboys and fangirls everywhere talking about how hot their mom is...

 

[RoastBeast]

Yeah, yuck! I remember when my mom picked me up from school in 8th grade and a couple boys were all on her hotness just like that. It gave me the yucks forever, because that just ain't right.

I think Thanos is going to be thrilled that Death has become more attainable. (and I think she'll play him well)

 

[Finarfiniel]

*falls over*

 

[Loki882]

I mean do you really think that they won't realize that when they see her in movies like Carol? "Aka, that movie where my mom has sex with Rooney Mara, who's also attractive."

"Cate Blanchett is really hot" is hardly a new sentiment.

 

[Eddie Dean]

Punish me, Mistress Cate.

 

[Finarfiniel]

I mean do you really think that they won't realize that when they see her in movies like Carol? "Aka, that movie where my mom has sex with Rooney Mara, who's also attractive."

"Cate Blanchett is really hot" is hardly a new sentiment.

I'm not saying it's a new sentiment, but Carol amd many films in Cate's filmography are hardly films that most teenage boys are going to be all that interested in. Ragnarok on the other hand... Her sons were already fans of the MCU and with the age they are they likely go online and read discussions about the films, e.t.c. Are you saying it wouldn't squick you out a little to go online and see a bunch of horny fanboys/girls talking about how hot your mom is and how they want to 'bang her' or let her dominate them? I'm sure it happens with lots of kids of attractive actors and actresses, I just never really thought about it until now.

 

[Mjölnir]

I'm not sure, someone posted it on tumblr with no other info so I've been trying to find out. It seems to be from one of the new Marvel Legacy books, and from the hammer logo at the top I'm presuming it must be the Thor one. I'll update when I find out.

I don't think we got back to this (where the comic panel with Thanos and Hela is from) and I just found it while reading Mighty Thor #700.

 

[Finarfiniel]

I don't think we got back to this (where the comic panel with Thanos and Hela is from) and I just found it while reading Mighty Thor #700.

Yep, I found it a couple of days ago. t: Fantastic issue, I'm excited about where they're taking the Thor comics right now and I can't wait to see what Hela and Thanos get up to next.

 

[Mjölnir]

Yep, I found it a couple of days ago. t: Fantastic issue, I'm excited about where they're taking the Thor comics right now and I can't wait to see what Hela and Thanos get up to next.

It was a very epic and sprawling issue, which was great. Giving the big arc the title "The Death of the Mighty Thor" also raised the stakes immensely so I this really feels like one of the highlights of Aaron's run.

I hope his run has a magnificent Ragnarok payoff and that we'll get a Jason Aaron's Thor Omnibus in the future, so I can pair it with my now ordered Simonson one. t:

 

[Loki882]

I'm not saying it's a new sentiment, but Carol amd many films in Cate's filmography are hardly films that most teenage boys are going to be all that interested in. Ragnarok on the other hand... Her sons were already fans of the MCU and with the age they are they likely go online and read discussions about the films, e.t.c. Are you saying it wouldn't squick you out a little to go online and see a bunch of horny fanboys/girls talking about how hot your mom is and how they want to 'bang her' or let her dominate them? I'm sure it happens with lots of kids of attractive actors and actresses, I just never really thought about it until now.

My mom hasn't been an high-profile actress for basically my entire life, so I don't know how I'd react in that situation honestly.

 

[Finarfiniel]

It was a very epic and sprawling issue, which was great. Giving the big arc the title "The Death of the Mighty Thor" also raised the stakes immensely so I this really feels like one of the highlights of Aaron's run.

I hope his run has a magnificent Ragnarok payoff and that we'll get a Jason Aaron's Thor Omnibus in the future, so I can pair it with my now ordered Simonson one. t:

Damn, same here! I really need to order the Simonson omnibus, but my bank balance needs to recover first. This movie is seriously bleeding me dry right now.