The Major Role Hela Might Play In Avengers: Infinity War

The trailer for Thor: Ragnarok has arrived and unveiled the first look at a cold, dark, terrifying portrayal of Hela as played by Cate Blanchett.

The villain is seen destroying not only all of Asgard and a considerable chunk of New York City but, more intimately, Thor’s hammer Mjolnir. Only a handful of characters in the Marvel universe have ever had the ability to control Thor’s hammer, let alone shatter it. In most cases, the characters who manage to wield Mjolnir are those with no souls — often artificial beings, such as the Vision.

Hela’s ability to control Thor’s hammer, paired her dark dressing on top of pale skin and apparent hunger for killing has lead some fans to believe she may be the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s portrayal of Lady Death. Given her possible draws from Gorr in Jason Aaron’s Thor: God of Thunder comics, it’s not unlikely that the first female villain in the MCU is a combination of several characters.

If Hela is going to draw from Lady Death, her role in Avengers: Infinity War will be a considerable one, and one which has already made an impact on the universe’s timeline.

As a refresher, Lady Death is all but the imaginary girlfriend of Thanos who refuses to hand over her love to him despite his constant wishes. He lives to serve her, killing relentlessly in an effort to appease her thirst. Thanos, the villain of the two-part Infinity War movies, has already effected the lives of several characters within the Marvel Cinematic Universe but none more than Drax the Destroyer of the Guardians. Drax’s family was killed by Ronan the Accuser while Ronan was working under Thanos, making the Mad Titan priority number one for Drax.

In Avengers: Infinity War, Hela might be an easier-to-digest version of Marvel’s Lady Death which will be seen teaming up with the big purple menace to acquire the Infinity Gauntlet, assemble all of the stones, and destroy the Avengers. It would not be the first time a Thor movie villain became the centerpiece of an Avengers movie, after all.

Being an abstract entity, Death would have the ability to control Mjolnir, with the actual destruction of Mjolnir being a part of Hela’s power set.

Thanos’ servant said it best in the Avengers post-credits scene which introduced the Mad Titan to main stream audiences. He told Thanos, to challenge the Avengers and the humans which they protect would be “to court death.” Thanos is always hoping to do just that but is Hela the woman whose affection he is after?

Thor: Ragnarok is directed by Taika Waititi from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Hopkins. Several of the cast members will return under the direction of the Russo Brothers for Avengers: Infinity War.

Thor: Ragnarok opens in theaters on Nov. 3, 2017.

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