Cate Blanchett made her MCU debut as Hela in Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok, and aside from early rumors that the character was set to appear in Love and Thunder, we've had no solid intel on the villain's potential MCU return.
Blanchett did return to voice the Queen of the Underworld for the second season of Disney+'s What If...?, but we may not have seen the last of the character in live-action.
In the latest Cosmic Circus Q&A, Alex Perez says he has heard that Marvel is interested "in bringing the character back, but I don’t think it’s for the Avengers movies. Maybe in Thor 5?"
Thor managed to defeat Hela (with a little help from Surtur) at the end of Ragnarök, but it's no easy thing to kill a god, so the character could quite easily be brought back without the need for much explanation.
Though there had been female villains in other Marvel Studios movies, Hela was the first major female baddie in the MCU, and certainly made an impression. Fans have been hoping to see her return to cause more problems for her half-brothers, but even if the studio does want to do more with the character, there's nothing to say that Blanchett would have any interest in revisiting the role.
The Academy Award-winner noted that Hela "looked pretty dead" when we last saw her, did also indicate that she might be tempted to suit-up again.
"There’s always a way back, but I’m sure there’s always a way forward, who knows? Sure. I never say no to anything," said the actress in a 2018 interview.
A fifth Thor movie has yet to be officially announced, but several different scoopers have claimed that the project is in the early stages of development. Even so, Chris Hemsworth recently prompted speculation that he may be preparing to bid farewell to the Asgardian hero by sharing the following message and video to his Instagram page.
"Playing Thor has been one of the greatest honors of my life," the actor wrote. "For the last 15 years I've held Mjolnir and then Stormbreaker as the God of Thunder, but what made it truly special… was sharing it with all of you. Your passion, your cheers, and your love for this character have meant everything to me. Thank you for making my journey through the Marvel Cinematic Universe unforgettable... Next up, Doomsday!"
If Thor 5 does happen, would you like to see Hela return for another showdown with the God of Thunder?
Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars were recently hit with significant delays, with Doomsday now set to arrive in theaters on December 18, 2026, and Secret Wars positioned for December 17, 2027.
Both movies will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
"Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves”, said The Russos in a statement after the SDCC panel.
You can check out the full (for now) Doomsday cast list below.
• Paul Rudd as Ant-Man
• Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
• Tom Hiddleston as Loki
• Lewis Pullman as Sentry
• Florence Pugh as Yelena
• Danny Ramirez as Falcon
• Ian McKellen as Magneto
• Sebastian Stan as Bucky
• Winston Duke as M’Baku
• Chris Hemsworth as Thor
• Kelsey Grammer as Beast
• James Marsden as Cyclops
• Channing Tatum as Gambit
• Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent
• Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm
• Rebecca Romijn as Mystique
• Patrick Stewart as Professor X
• Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler
• Letitia Wright as Black Panther
• Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor
• Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards
• Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost
• Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm
• David Harbour as Red Guardian
• Robert Downey Jr as Doctor Doom
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing
• Anthony Mackie as Captain America