Most people have all but assumed that Cate Blanchett‘s unconfirmed role in Thor: Ragnarok would be that of a villain like Amora The Enchantress or Hela. However, that isn’t a foregone conclusion to myself, and Cate herself. Some new quotes from the Oscar winning actress might be pointing to her playing a heroic role in the film, not a villain.
Here are some of her recent quotes concerning her potential Marvel role via USA Today and Jimmy Kimmel.
“I would love that. I’d love to get fit and punch people.”
“They’re just substituting one Australian for another. Gender equality! Why can’t you have a female Thor?“
This seems to give the impression Cate might be looking at a more psychical (heroic?) role than most have suspected. Sure Cate has played villains in the past, but also heroically rode horseback swinging swords in films like The Elizabeth: The Golden Age and Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood. She’s no stranger to the fantasy genre either being apart of both Lord of The Rings and Hobbit trilogies.
The key tease from her comments are wanting to “punch people” and a referencing being the “female Thor”, I think we can safely say who she might be referring to here.
Last year around the time it was revealed that Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk would be paired up with Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, we learned that fellow Avenger and heroine Brunhilde The Valkyrie might be apart of the lineup as well. The character appeared in concept artwork (pictured above) for Thor: The Dark World and was ultimately cut from the film, but Birth.Movies.Death believe she’s back in Ragnarok.
Valkyrie has actually teamed-up on occasion with Thor, Hulk, The Avengers, and even with fellow Defenders such as Doctor Strange. Having her joining the MCU could help add to the female superhero ranks beyond Captain Marvel, and could even take over for Thor if the studio wanted to give the character a break. Hulk’s Asgardian adventures are linked to her, so having her join as a supporting lead would make sense from a comics point of view as well. She also took the role of villain a couple times while under the control of both Amora and Hela.
Taking the place of Jane Foster as Thor’s female successor in the future works too, due to Natalie Portman’s distain to the franchise and fans admittedly unhappy with her performances.
I’m not saying Cate won’t play a villain (Valkyrie could play both sides), but these comments along with Chris Hemsworth lobbying Jessica Chastain (herself as well) to play a Marvel villain after working with her on The Huntsman: Winter’s War. Gives me the impression that Marvel might have other plans for her if she joins Ragnarok. It would be nice to see Chastain reunite with Hemsworth and her Crimson Peak co-star Tom Hiddleston. I don’t think many would argue Jessica would make an excellent Enchantress, a character Tom has been championing for a while now and was rumored since the first film.
Age of Ultron‘s inclusion of the vision of Hel, of course teased Hela as a potential villain as well. There’s room for plenty of these characters if Kevin Feige’s comments about scaling back the Earth scenes are true. Loki also referenced the realm in The Dark World.
SOURCE: JIMMY KIMMEL & USA TODAY