this is the beginning of a rolling stone that's gonna gather a lot of female moss.
Of course, Marvel announced Captain Marvel. I mean, there's a huge female fan base and having a daughter myself, you want them to be able to identify with as well as the heroes. For you, when you signed on, did you feel any pressure about representing that?īLANCHETT: You only feel pressure if you think this is the only shot that women will have, which is ridiculous. There's been a lot of talk around Hela being Marvel's first female villain. It's like what if I shot this out? What if I play with my cape? Could stuff come out of that? It's been an organic thing quite loose actually. So the fact that very early on, I threw a lot of ideas into the ring with Taika and with the Motion Capture people and the Special Effects crew and then they took and ran with it. You'd just be stepping into the silhouette and the strings would be pulled for you.
a lot of unresolved issues with Asgard the more havoc she wreaks the stronger she becomes.īLANCHETT: You know, having not made a Marvel movie before, I thought it would all be set in stone. There's a side of Death, which can be gentle and kind, and there's a side of Death, which can be brutal and savage depending on whose death it is.
It's interesting to bring the concept of Death into a world that's ostensibly immortal. What can you tell us about what motivates Hela? I know she’s the Goddess of Death but is there a more personal reason ?īLANCHETT: She's been banished for a very long time and if you were locked under the Asgardian stairs for 5,000 years, you'd be a little bit cross. Like with any of the of the Marvel characters, they have really interesting and varied backstories… there was a really interesting process of discovery. Obviously, the deep, hardcore fan base knows a lot.
For the full interview, read below.ĬATE BLANCHETT: Well - she’s the Goddess of Death, but what I liked about playing her was that I really didn’t know anything about her.
In the following group on-set interview with Cate Blanchett, the actress discusses portraying Marvel’s first female villain, finding the right tone for the performance and whether Hela will factor into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. It may have taken sixteen films – but the MCU not only has its first female villain but also (seemingly) one of its best. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen an Oscar-winning actress, decked out with mo-cap dots and heavy Goth eyeliner, pantomime throwing force-field bombs with her hands. Blanchett, herself, seemed to be having a ball, chewing the scenery away from even Loki. On the set of Thor: Ragnarok, every actor – Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Tessa Thompson – all praised Blanchett, citing her performance as the gold standard for future Marvel villains. That all changes with Thor: Ragnarok as Cate Blanchett costars as the film’s heavy: Hela, The Goddess of Death. It’s pretty shocking that over sixteen films and nearly ten years, not a single woman has been the ‘big bad’. Sure, there have been female henchwoman (Nebula, Ellen Brandt) but the main villains – always a guy. Thor: Love and Thunder comes out in theaters on February 11, 2022.Strange but true: every Marvel Cinematic Universe villain up until Thor: Ragnarok has been male. Clearly, Love and Thunder plans to mine this scene for laughs just as it did with the play scene in Ragnarok…unless there’s a big twist coming we don’t know about. Melissa McCarthy is no slouch when it comes to drama - she got a lot of awards attention for her role in 2018’s Can You Ever Forgive Me? - but is obviously best known as a comedic actor, stealing the show in movies like Bridesmaids.