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

[Finarfiniel]

Id love to read that one day

I'll get around to posting it when I decide to stop being lazy, this weekend hopefully.

I do hope to see more of her. No doubt as that concept art shows...she's probably a bit messed up from that fight. But I think someone that powerful/stubborn isn't going away forever that easily.

Agreed. I keep reading people saying that there's no way that Hela could come back because without Asgard she has no power, but I completely disagree. That's no different to saying that Thor has no power without Asgard. Both Hela and Thor have their own natural power (as Odin's children), their connection to Asgard only amplified that power. Without Asgard, she would be less powerful, but she certainly wouldn't be powerless.

^^ Probably my favourite Hela moment. t:

 

[Finarfiniel]

Cate at the Dubai International Film Festival today

 

[Frankeh]

LOVED that moment.

 

[metaphysician]

Actually, my read is that occupying and holding Asgard would cause her powers to *grow*. . . but that's not the same thing as her powers weakening for the absence. I suspect if she returns, she'll be as powerful as she was in Ragnarok. She just won't *continue* growing in power.

( Well, okay, she'll probably be weaker in *some* ways. . . but not because Asgard got destroyed, but because Asgard got destroyed *while she was on it*. IOW, lingering wounds from eating a planetbusting attack in the face. )

 

[Finarfiniel]

Actually, my read is that occupying and holding Asgard would cause her powers to *grow*. . . but that's not the same thing as her powers weakening for the absence. I suspect if she returns, she'll be as powerful as she was in Ragnarok. She just won't *continue* growing in power.

( Well, okay, she'll probably be weaker in *some* ways. . . but not because Asgard got destroyed, but because Asgard got destroyed *while she was on it*. IOW, lingering wounds from eating a planetbusting attack in the face. )

You may well be right there, after all she was already super powerful before she even got back to Asgard if effortlessly destroying Mjolnir with one hand was any indication.

 

[Finarfiniel]

Good lord! Lucky Prof X...

 

[HammerDown]

 

[Finarfiniel]

Even better.

 

[Albright]

I have a feeling, that's it for Hela and she won't return for replacing Death in Avengers 3 & 4.
If I remember correctly Thanos starts his quest, because he knows Death all allong and tries to impress her. Hela just returned, when Odin dies and Thanos is already on his quest for the Infinity Stones to bring balance to live in the universe and getting love from Death.
Thanos motivations are either different then in comics or it will be Death and not the godess of death.

 

[Finarfiniel]

I have a feeling, that's it for Hela and she won't return for replacing Death in Avengers 3 & 4.
If I remember correctly Thanos starts his quest, because he knows Death all allong and tries to impress her. Hela just returned, when Odin dies and Thanos is already on his quest for the Infinity Stones to bring balance to live in the universe and getting love from Death.
Thanos motivations are either different then in comics or it will be Death and not the godess of death.

a) We have no idea how old MCU Thanos is, he could feasibly be thousands of years old (like his comics counterpart) which means that he could have known (or at least known of) Hela before she was imprisoned. For all we know, Thanos could have originally been gathering the stones in a bid to gain enough power to kill Odin and consequently release Hela from her prison. It's a little coincidental that Thanos sat around not doing anything for 10 years, but all of a sudden sparked into action at the exact same time as Hela re-emerged, huh?

b) We all know that Thanos loves Death in the comics, and Death and Hela are separate characters, that's not news to any of us. However, saying anything along the lines of 'but in the comics' is pretty much pointless when it comes to the MCU which has constantly changed stuff up and composited characters together since it's inception. For instance, Tony Stark is the creator of Ultron in the MCU rather than Hank Pym (who hadn't been introduced into the MCU yet during AoU), and Loki will pretty clearly be taking on Mephisto's role in IW, again because Mephisto doesn't exist in the MCU yet. Neither does Death, and they haven't made any effort at all to introduce her, or even hint to 'her' existence. Hela does exist in the MCU though, and makes a great deal of sense as a replacement in this universe which is full of more pragmatic adaptions of the comics source material. Oh and FYI, Hela and Thanos are actually a couple in the comics right now. If Marvel wanted us to know without a doubt that Hela was dead and finished with in the MCU, they never would have made her supposed 'death' scene so enigmatic and open to interpretation. They've done that deliberately, to bring her back if they wish to.

 

[Finarfiniel]

Here's something interesting. A couple of weeks ago Mark Ruffalo was a guest on Michael Rappaport's podcast and he was asked which actors he has shared scenes with that he most admires, talent wise. He firstly mentioned Joaquin Phoenix, and then Tilda Swinton and Cate herself, which sparked a few articles at the time because Ruffalo and Swinton have never been in the same movie so people naturally assumed that the Ancient One must therefore have some kind of secret role in IW and/or A4 as it's the only place that the two actors could have worked with each other. When it came to Cate, some just assumed that he meant working with her on Ragnarok, which never sat right with me seeing as Hulk/Banner and Hela never actually interacted with each other at all in Ragnarok. I listened to the podcast yesterday, and Mark's exact words were:

"Tilda Swinton I just worked with... Uh, I had a little bit with Cate Blanchett."

However, a new print interview with Cate was published a few days ago and she states that she never worked with Ruffalo at all when Ragnarok was being filmed:

So, either one of them is lying (which seems unlikely, why would they lie about that?) or they worked with each other in something other than Ragnarok. But (like Tilda Swinton), they have no other movies in common according to IMDb.

Throw that on the increasing pile of evidence that Cate has some kind of role in IW and/or A4. And also on the pile of stuff that Mark Ruffalo's big mouth may have accidentally spoiled. t:

 

[Bren]

I could imagine Hela working her way in as Thanos' advisor (ahead of Loki). I could see her weakened and injured from Surtur's attack and using Thanos to recover or even gain revenge.

Do I think this will happen? Not really, but I think it wouldn't be an unreasonable way to go.

(haha, imagine Thanos took both Hela AND Loki as advisors - imagine the potential dialogue )

 

[HammerDown]

 

[Lilbaz]

Actually, my read is that occupying and holding Asgard would cause her powers to *grow*. . . but that's not the same thing as her powers weakening for the absence. I suspect if she returns, she'll be as powerful as she was in Ragnarok. She just won't *continue* growing in power.

( Well, okay, she'll probably be weaker in *some* ways. . . but not because Asgard got destroyed, but because Asgard got destroyed *while she was on it*. IOW, lingering wounds from eating a planetbusting attack in the face. )

Her powers grew because she got her undead army. She was still powerful enough to kick loki and thors arse before she got to asgard.

 

[Lilbaz]

I have a feeling, that's it for Hela and she won't return for replacing Death in Avengers 3 & 4.
If I remember correctly Thanos starts his quest, because he knows Death all allong and tries to impress her. Hela just returned, when Odin dies and Thanos is already on his quest for the Infinity Stones to bring balance to live in the universe and getting love from Death.
Thanos motivations are either different then in comics or it will be Death and not the godess of death.

People saying she will take deaths role in infinity war mistake what deaths role in the comics was.
She was not thanos's love interest she was his tragedy. She was unobtainable. No humanity a natuaral force. Thanos was obsessed with her. But whatever he did or how powerful he became he could not have her it was futile. She would not even speak to him. This is not what hela is. She is flirty and power hungry.
Also bringing her back so soon would make a mockery of thor sacrificing asgard.
Lastly death is one of the 4 creators of the infinity gems along with eternity, infinity and entropy. You dismiss her, you dismiss them.

 

[Ragnaroknroll]

Also bringing her back so soon would make a mockery of thor sacrificing asgard.

This is a good point. As will be the total decimation of the Asgardians if that is what in fact happens as signaled by the appearance of Sanctuary II during the mid credits scene. I don't want to see that sacrifice end up being in vain as it would trivialize the entire Thor mythos in the context of the MCU. It's bad enough we lost the Warriors Three in such disposable fashion. Thor better save some of those people. I also feel Loki will be up to some shenanigans and will serve some role - for better or ill.

However, I for one would like to see payoff of the tease from the end of Avengers where the Other says to Thanos: "To challenge them is to court... Death" and Thanos smiles. I would also like to see more of Blanchett as Hela. The MCU has frequently melded ideas together so that's not a deal breaker and I just can't see the GA buying two separate embodiments of Death.

I remain hopeful that the writers of the MCU have found a creative way to deliver something that achieves a reasonably faithful adherence to the source material while achieving all of the above.

 

[Finarfiniel]

(haha, imagine Thanos took both Hela AND Loki as advisors - imagine the potential dialogue )

Just one of the many reasons I want to see Hela again in the MCU is my disappointment that she had no interaction with Loki in Ragnarok other than one line. They're two characters that absolutely need to have at least one good scene where they acknowledge how similar they are... and talk **** about Odin together. t: According to Hiddleston, such a scene was filmed for Ragnarok but it clearly never made the final cut, which is a crying shame. Maybe it will be among the deleted scenes in the home release, we can only hope.

People saying she will take deaths role in infinity war mistake what deaths role in the comics was.
She was not thanos's love interest she was his tragedy. She was unobtainable. No humanity a natuaral force. Thanos was obsessed with her. But whatever he did or how powerful he became he could not have her it was futile. She would not even speak to him. This is not what hela is. She is flirty and power hungry.
Also bringing her back so soon would make a mockery of thor sacrificing asgard.
Lastly death is one of the 4 creators of the infinity gems along with eternity, infinity and entropy. You dismiss her, you dismiss them.

Sigh, no we don't. I have read Infinity Gauntlet. Multiple times. I know exactly who/what Mistress Death is and what 'she' represents. I and the other people that believe that Hela will fulfill her role in the MCU (merely as the object of Thanos' affection, not as the personification of death itself) are simply realistic about how that story may be adapted in the MCU. If you think that IW and A4 are going to be exact page to screen adaptions of the IG comic, then I'm sorry but you haven't really been paying much attention to how the MCU has previously adapted comic storylines to the screen. Just compare the Civil War storyline from the comics to the screen for a prime example of that. Same basic plot, but beyond that the two stories divert wildly. IW and A4 are going to be no different.

You can think what you want, but the evidence that I have seen clearly points to Hela having some kind of role in IW and/or A4, Ruffalo's comment above being only one small piece of such evidence. Now, that role may end up having nothing to do with Thanos. It may be very small, nothing more than a cameo or a flashback. But I think that's highly unlikely. Josh Brolin has heavily hinted that Thanos does indeed have a 'love interest' in these films, using a character that the audience already knows rather than waste screen time introducing a whole new one makes so much more sense for the MCU. Not to mention that the two characters in question have actually been put together romantically in the comics as recently as this year, is that simply a coincidence do you think?

And I'm sorry, but your comment about 'dismissing' Death is dismissing the Infinity Stones makes no sense. Firstly, it's not dismissing Death in any way, it/he/she/whatever could very well still exist in some form in the MCU, using Hela in IW doesn't negate that in any way. Eternity was mentioned, but not actually seen in GotG 2, does that mean that movie was 'dismissing' the Infinity Stones?

However, I for one would like to see payoff of the tease from the end of Avengers where the Other says to Thanos: "To challenge them is to court... Death" and Thanos smiles. I would also like to see more of Blanchett as Hela. The MCU has frequently melded ideas together so that's not a deal breaker and I just can't see the GA buying two separate embodiments of Death.

I remain hopeful that the writers of the MCU have found a creative way to deliver something that achieves a reasonably faithful adherence to the source material while achieving all of the above.

Yep. This would hardly be the first time that the MCU has combined two or more different characters in the comics into one character in the MCU, and it's always worked before so I see no reason why it wouldn't work here given decent writing. Marvel Studios have earned the benefit of the doubt where this is concerned, they know what they're doing.

 

[Finarfiniel]

I'm guessing this means the first trailer will drop any day soon. Bring it. t:

 

[Finarfiniel]

What the hell, a teaser for a teaser trailer? God damnit, WB... Full trailer is out tomorrow.

[YT]QerVvvNem1w[/YT]

Blanchett and Bullock forever, I can't wait to see this pairing in action. Move over Clooney and Pitt. t:

 

[Finarfiniel]

I know it's pretty much me talking to myself in here at the moment (roll on TR home release!) but I just wanted to wish a very Merry Christmas to all the Cate Blanchett/Hela fans out there. It's been great fangirling with you all this year. t:

As a gift to you all, here's a lovely pic of Cate in seasonal red

 

[Nathaniell]

^^

Merry Christmas thank you for the pic Cate. Very lovely

 

[Finarfiniel]

It's been announced that Cate is chairing the jury for this year's Cannes Film Festival in May, she's only the 11th woman in history to do so. Awesome, I can't wait. t:

Also, 'Big Sis Hela' continues to be the best thing that has ever come our of tumblr:

 

[HammerDown]

That last one is pretty great. t:

 

[Nathaniell]

Haha awesome.

 

[HammerDown]