8) “Asgard Is Dead”
The Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn’t have the best track record with villains. Apart from Thor‘s own Loki and a couple of others, many have failed to make much of an impact. It’s still early days, so we might end up being wrong, but this teaser trailer has us feeling pretty certain that the franchise might have another super supervillain on its hands.
Namely, Cate Blanchett’s Hela. Not only does she smirk menacingly while destroying Mjolnir, but in the very next scene she’s seen bringing Asgard to its knees. We’ve become used to intergalactic enemies invading Asgard in previous Thor movies – namely the Frost Giants and the Dark Elves – but we haven’t seen a force manage to take over this mighty world before.
It’s particularly great that this formidable foe is a woman, too, as Hela’s remarkably the very first female main antagonist of an MCU movie.
7) Valkyrie
Another change from the previous Thor films is the lack of the Thunder God’s gang of human friends: Dr. Erik Selvig, comically-incompetent intern Darcy and, most notably, Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster. For Ragnarok, Thor will be swapping Jane for a new female companion: Valkyrie, as played by Westworld star Tessa Thompson. Jane was always a bit of a wet blanket as a character, but Valkyrie looks to be a much more dynamic and interesting addition to the cast.
The trailer reveals that Thor and Valkyrie don’t start out as allies, though. She actually works for the Grandmaster and, when Thor arrives on the planet Sakaar, she captures him to use him as a competitor in one of the big G’s gladiator battles. Presumably, she’ll switch sides and join with Thor and Hulk to stop Hela later on in the movie.
Thompson is a talented actress, so we look forward to seeing her tackle such a badass role. Plus, her presence here makes it two for two in the strong women department.