THOR: RAGNAROK Actress Cate Blanchett On Playing The Franchise's First Female Villain, Hela's Powers And More
Following on from yesterday's big Thor: Ragnarok reveals, we now have a new interview with Cate Blanchett, who will play the first female big-bad in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. More past the jump...
Though there have been female villains in other Marvel Studios movies (Maya Hansen in Iron Man 3, Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy), Thor: Ragnarok will introduce the first major female baddie in the MCU - and, as fans were delighted to hear back when the news was first announced, she's going to be played by 2-time Academy Award winner, Cate Blanchett.
"She’s a little bit cross," says Blanchett when asked to describe her character, Hela, during an interview with EW. "She’s been locked away for millennia, getting more and more cross, and then, with a mistake, she get unleashed and she ain’t getting back in that box."
The actress also reveals that it was mainly her desire to work with director Taika Waititi that initially drew her to the project, but she has since done plenty of research into the Hela character, and looks forward to putting the face of female villainy on the MCU map.
"There’s so much untapped potential villainy in women. It’s really exciting. I think finally it’s beginning to be acknowledged that women and men want to see a diverse array of characters, and that’s race, gender across the sexual spectrum.
Oh, and just in case you were worried that we wouldn't see the God of Death in that elaborate mask/headdress combo, Blanchett confirms that Hela will indeed "mask up" at certain points in the film.
"Yeah. She’s able to manifest weapons. Her headdress can be weapons. She can manifest weapons out of different parts of her body. I won’t tell you which — I’ll leave that hanging."
Tell us, are you looking forward to seeing Blanchett's take on Hela? Thor: Ragnarok smashes into theaters on October 25.
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Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.