Thor: RAGNAROK is in theaters November 2 and is Rated PG 13
Check out Marvel’s upcoming Thor: RAGNAROK to see Cate Blanchett beautifully playing the Goddess of Death Hela. Cate is the very first female villain within the Marvel Cinematic Universe! Great choice! She does not disappoint.
The dark, deadly and mysterious Hela kicks some serious butt. I mean, she crushes Mjölnir, THOR’s Hammer, and tells her brothers to bow down to her.
Cate is fantastic, and her character really means business. Her goddess action sequences on screen are riveting. She kicks “major Agardian butt.” So, what was it like fighting versus Chris Hemsworth? Cate admits her fight scenes with Chris were enjoyable. The only downside was she didn’t get to do enough, and wanted to do more scenes.
So, how did she prepare? “I worked with Chris’ trainer, Zahki, for 20 minutes each day. Which doesn’t sound like much, but my god, it was intense. And Zoey Bell who is an extraordinary actress in her own right, and director in her own right – she was my stunt double. When I started, I had to manifest these weapons out of my hands. I had to throw them, and I could see Taika’s disappointment as I threw it. I said, ‘Ha.’ And I had to stop making the noises, because I’d go, ‘Ha.’ And so, I had to close my mouth. Eventually Zoey suggested that I put some sugar, which was deeply humiliating – sugar packets in my hand so at least I could throw something and be real. Zoey helped me with little things like that. She was a great action director. So, I moved from the humiliating to the exhilarating in a matter of five days.
With Cate’s theater background, did she refer to any Shakespearan references to prepare for her role as the dark goddess? “Yeah, so the language was quite different. But I – but personally, I went back to two things. I went back to the extraordinary images that are there in the original comics, and then I went to the fan base. There are all these Hela fan girls who are doing these extraordinary make-ups online. And so, when we were thinking about what she’d look like visually, I went to that. So, I started with the visual, rather than the textural.”
Personally, I love all the girl power in this film. Alongside Cate are Tessa Thompson and Rachel House who really help this Marvel story. The female characters are strong, independent, and of course have traumatic backstories that make them unique, and at maybe even relatable. Usually women in films, especially superhero films, are sidekicks. This film differs in the best way possible. The Hela character is the main antagonist in this film. What a breath of fresh air!
