If you've seen Thor: Ragnarok, you may think that the movie left Goddess of Death Hela's
situation pretty clear cut.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, it's Jan here and before I go any further, here's your spoiler
warning if you still haven't seen Ragnarok yet, because today I want to look at some
of the clues in the film together with Marvel's plans for Thanos, plus Hela's comic book history
to theorise why there's a good chance we'll see Hela back in Avengers: Infinity War or
Avengers 4.
And just to let you know, I've got a couple of Marvel giveaways running at the moment,
so keep watching this video for more details of how to win.
Let's start with the first clue that Hela could have survived that giant sword strike
from Surtur.
There's an especially relevant moment earlier in Thor: Ragnarok that hints at Hela's incredible
power and near-invincibility.
After she arrives on Asgard, she takes out the Warriors Three, as well as a slew of elite
Asgardian fighters in an incredible display of her skills.
At one point, though, she gets stabbed in her back all the way through to her front
with a sword.
This kind of stabbing would be enough to kill or at least severely wound any less powerful
character, but Hela just carries on fighting, taking out all the remaining soldiers.
It's a detail that happens very quickly so you might not have taken it in fully the first
time round, but it demonstrates that what would be deadly to many barely seems to leave
a scratch on Hela, indicating she has superhuman durability in the MCU as she does in the comics,
and possibly also regenerative powers.
Interestingly, VFX supervisor Jake Morrison said that when they designed Hela's costume,
the script detailed that she had to get stabbed in the suit and then the suit had to heal
around it and also her cape had to absorb bullets.
On that last point, it's worth noting that Hela is wearing her cloak in this scene with
Surtur, which we also know from the comics has an important effect on her powers.
Speaking of Hela's powers, when she revealed the true history of Asgard beneath Odin's
mural, you could see a painting that showed she originally wielded Mjolnir and, before
that, we also saw her shatter Thor's mighty hammer, which as Odin once said was "forged
in the heart of a dying star".
In other words, Hela's power is incredible in Thor: Ragnarok and Thor realised that even
he plus the other Revengers could not defeat her.
OK, you say, but a stab from an Asgardian sword isn't the same as the absolutely enormous
sword that Surtur brought down on Hela.
And no, it isn't, but intriguingly at the moment that Surtur brought his sword down
on Hela, a bright oval-shaped light surrounded her, which seems a little curious.
Hela, like Doctor Strange, has the power of teleportation and can open portals to instantaneously
move to another part of the universe.
She arrived in Norway in that manner and, if she was fast enough, she may have escaped
Surtur this way too.
And, again, Hela is still wearing her cloak when she's struck by Surtur, and if you look
really carefully, it seems like she could have been using her cloak to shield herself
against his attack.
On top of that, we never actually see a real close-up of Hela's apparent demise, likely
because Marvel realise they have a good villain here and therefore they don't won't to lose
her for good or they have other plans for her already.
Now, I kinda like the idea that Hela either escaped or that her powers are such that she
could have survived that takedown by Surtur, meaning that she's floating around in space
somewhere.
But let's just assume for a moment that, despite all those powers, the combination of Surtur's
sword and then Asgard exploding was too much, and that Hela did die.
Well, the thing is, of course, these are comic book movies, so if the creators want to, Hela
can be brought back, as has happened before in the comics.
Something else to consider is the Eternal Flame, which could be useful in resurrecting
Hela if she is dead.
When Hela entered Odin's treasure vault, she referred to the Eternal Flame as "true power"
and she used it to resurrect Fenris Wolf and her undead army, plus Surtur was resurrected
via the Eternal Flame in order to bring about Ragnarok.
In the comics, the Eternal Flame can't be extinguished, and with Thanos turning up on
his Sanctuary 2 ship in the mid-credits scene, I wonder whether he could have picked up the
Eternal Flame, assuming it's still burning, together with Hela's body.
And putting the two together, we could get a resurrected version of Hela.
Or could Thanos use the Soul Stone, which some fans see as being connected with the
Eternal Flame, to bring Hela back to life?
Next, we need to talk about Thanos and why he's a big part of the reason Marvel may bring
back Hela.
I think we can look at these two characters as soulmates of sorts.
They're both megalomaniacs whose ambition it is to conquer the universe.
Remember that in Thor: Ragnarok, Hela revealed she was frustrated with Odin when he decided
to rein in Asgard's empire once the two of them had conquered the Nine Realms.
In contrast to her father, Hela wanted to carry on and conquer the entire cosmos.
Bringing Hela and Thanos together would be a deadly combination as they'd form perhaps
the MCU's most twisted and lethal couple.
And it's worth noting that Hela and Thanos actually got together in Marvel's current
run of The Unworthy Thor comics.
Now, I can see that Hela and Thanos share a twisted view of the universe, but despite
multiple cameo appearances so far, we still don't know exactly why Thanos is collecting
the Infinity Stones, other than a somewhat generic thirst for power.
Perhaps that's all it is, but what if he already has a connection with Hela?
I mean we know Odin kept Hela banished while he was alive, but we don't know if Thanos
was aware of her ultimate fate and her conquests alongside her father before that.
But if he was, it's not inconceivable that he might have felt a kinship with her and
would have wanted to gain enough power to impress her or try to break her out of her
prison.
And for the final piece of the puzzle we need to go back to the original source material.
Earlier this year, when Kevin Feige was asked about Thanos's motivation, he wouldn't commit
to anything too specific, but he did say that Thanos's motives will be similar to those
that he has in the Infinity Gauntlet storyline in the comics.
To recap briefly, in the comics, Thanos' desire to wield the Infinity Gauntlet is tied up
with his desire to impress the character Mistress Death, who he adores.
And he uses the Gauntlet to obliterate half the population in the universe for her.
And, if you think back to the mid-credits scene in the first Avengers film, it seems
like this has already been hinted at, as at the end of that movie, Thanos responded with
a smile when he was told that 'to challenge [humans] would be to court Death'.
The Infinity War trailer at D23 and Comic Con showed Thanos wreaking large-scale destruction
and I wonder if his motivation is because he's trying to prove himself to the Goddess
of Death, Hela, and to get payback for what happened to her in Thor: Ragnarok.
I think Hela would be a great substitute in the MCU for Mistress Death from the comics
as Hela is an interesting character who's already been established, and that means Marvel
don't have to introduce yet another character in the third and fourth Avengers movies, which
are already overflowing with characters.
Of course, you may still be sceptical about Hela's return, and it may still be that the
supervillain really is dead and gone for good, however, when Marvel and Cate Blanchett were
asked about the possibility of Hela returning, they were pretty coy.
Marvel Studios producer Brad Winderbaum has said that Hela is one of the best villains
Marvel has ever had and has confirmed that she represents all the things that Thanos
values.
And Cate Blanchett herself hasn't ruled out returning to the MCU as Hela either.
I also wonder whether some scenes with Hela have already been filmed for either Avengers:
Infinity War or Avengers 4.
After all, reshoots for Thor: Ragnarok took place in Atlanta which is where filming for
Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 took place, so it wouldn't have been too hard to
secretly film some scenes with Cate Blanchett and Josh Brolin, who plays Thanos, on a set
with a reduced number of crew.
Perhaps a post-credits scene for Avengers: Infinity War revealing that Hela is actually
still alive?
Now, that would be an end-credits scene to remember!
So, what do you think about Hela returning to the MCU?
Would you like her to team up with Thanos in Infinity War or Avengers 4?
Or do you have any other theories on why Thanos is trying to collect all the Infinity Stones?
Let me know what you think in the comments below and make sure you also subscribe for
a chance to win some cool Marvel merch.
I'm giving away a Thor: Ragnarok Funko Pop and also a very cool Obsessed with Marvel
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videos.
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Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!