Cate Blanchett on Why Hela Isn’t Necessarily Evil

Cate Blanchett may play the Goddess of Death as the villain of Thor: Ragnarok but the actress thinks fans should hold off before they declare Hela to be evil.

During a visit to the set of the upcoming film Blanchett made a case for Hela having more depth than the simple categories of good and evil because, she said, death can be both kind and cruel.

“You know, 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,” Blanchett explained. “But I think that there’s a lot of unresolved issues that she has with Asgard, that each step of the way, she doesn’t meet people who are receptive to her. And I think she’s quite bewildered as to why people are frightened of her. But the more havoc she wreaks, the stronger she becomes.”

It’s the whole wreaking havoc and growing stronger part that makes the idea of a “not evil” Hela a bit of a tough sell. In trailers for Thor: Ragnarok Hela is bent on making things difficult for Thor in her quest to destroy Asgard and remake it in her own image, and that includes declaring that the God of Thunder is in her seat when she finds him sitting on the throne.

Of course, there could be a larger purpose for Hela than just to destroy Asgard. With Thor: Ragnarok setting up for Avengers: Infinity War and some fans theorizing that Hela might just acquire — if she doesn’t already have — the final Infinity Stone, let’s just say that a Hela and Thanos team up would be a very bad idea.

Or maybe Hela just comes off evil because she’s been out of the picture against her will for so long.

“I think if you were locked under the Asgardian stairs for 5,000 years you’d be a little bit cross,” Blanchett said.

Thor: Ragnarok currently has a 4.19 out of 5 ComicBook.com User Anticipation Rating, making it the second most anticipated upcoming comic book movie among ComicBook.com Users. Let us know how excited you are about Thor: Ragnarok by giving the movie your own personal ComicBook.com User Anticipation Rating below.

Thor: Ragnarok opens in theaters on November 2, 2017.