The Marvel Cinematic Universe has seen no shortage of popular villains in recent years, from Thanos to Killmonger to Baron Zemo. However, there’s one particular antagonist who’s frequently left out of the discussion when it comes to the MCU’s greatest bad guys: Hela, the main villain of 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok.
Ragnarok is one of the most beloved MCU movies for plenty of reasons, from the stylish, lighthearted aesthetic of director Taika Waititi to its emotional, heartfelt story to the charismatic and hilarious performance by Chris Hemsworth as Thor. The rest of the cast is no slouch either, of course — Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie, and Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster all steal the show in their own distinct way. However, special mention has to go to Cate Blanchett, who brought one of the MCU’s most menacing villains yet to life in her role as Hela.
Hela is introduced as the elder sister of Thor, despite the fact that Thor never even knew he had a sister until Odin revealed it in his last moments. This, as it turns out, was a very intentional lie on Odin’s part. Ragnarok dives into Odin’s past as a ruthless conqueror before he changed his ways to become a wise and peaceful ruler, and Hela serves as the living embodiment of Asgard’s dark and bloody past. She’s a brutal and sadistic warlord who’s an absolute powerhouse on the battlefield, effortlessly demolishing everyone who stands in her way. Hela is a far cry from other comic book villainesses like Mystique, Emma Frost, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy, who tend to be more femme fatales than physical combatants — she’s one of the strongest characters in the entire MCU.
Hela is so strong, in fact, that she can crush Thor’s mighty hammer Mjolnir with her bare hands, leaving him severely weakened for much of the film. In one scene, Hela does what Loki, Ultron, and Malekith failed to do: she makes Thor feel true fear. She destroys the weapon that Thor sees as his greatest strength, practically an extension of his very being, and she does it without even breaking a sweat. Right away, Hela establishes herself as a threat that even Thor — the one hero who’s previously been rivaled only by Hulk in terms of raw power — cannot defeat with strength alone, raising the stakes higher than they’ve ever been for the valiant prince of Asgard.
Of course, Hela is more than just a physical threat. She’s an entertaining character as well, thanks to the brilliant performance of Cate Blanchett (best known for her role as Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings). While she may not have the tragic humanity of Loki and Doctor Octopus or the sympathetic nature of Wenwu and Vulture, Hela makes a lasting impression in a different way. She belongs in the same club as villains like Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio, Kurt Russell’s Ego, or Kathryn Hahn's Agatha Harkness — the bad guys who the audience loves to hate. Hela makes no claims of fighting for the greater good, she revels in the bloodshed and destruction she causes. She treats conquering Asgard with a sense of blasé nonchalance, as if wiping out hordes of enemy soldiers is just a minor inconvenience. And of course, she has a wickedly dry sense of humor throughout it all. Hela may not be the most complex antagonist, but what she lacks in nuance she makes up for with charisma.
However, that’s not to say that Hela’s character has no deeper significance whatsoever. In fact, she plays a crucial role in Thor’s character arc, and in the central themes of the film as a whole. Specifically, she serves as the narrative foil to Thor himself. It’s often said that the best villains are dark reflections of the hero, and Hela fills this role perfectly. While Loki serves as Thor’s thematic opposite — the brash and belligerent favorite son vs. the cunning and manipulative outcast — Hela is the person Thor could have become if he never learned humility. She’s an imperialist warmonger who wants to conquer the Nine Realms in Asgard’s name, not unlike Thor’s past as a battle-loving narcissist who longed for war against the Frost Giants.
Much of Thor’s arc in Ragnarok is dedicated to him learning how to be a leader by grappling with Asgard’s dark past and learning from his father’s mistakes. Hela, in that case, is the perfect antagonist for the film, because she’s the very incarnation of everything Thor doesn’t want to become. She represents Asgard’s past, just as Thor represents Asgard’s future. The battle between them isn’t just a contest of strength or even a sibling rivalry, but a clash of ideals — pride vs. humility, war vs. peace, power vs. compassion. It’s the culmination of the entire trilogy as Thor tests everything he’s learned on his journey against the older sister who embodies the very same vices he once lived by.
Hela is proof that a villain doesn’t always have to be sympathetic or even humanized to be the perfect antagonist for their story. She may be pure evil, but she’s also the perfect narrative foil to Thor — and beyond that, she’s also just fun to watch as she wreaks havoc in battle. While Hela’s story may be over (or so it seems, anyway), Marvel fans won’t be forgetting her anytime soon.