“She deserves her own damn story”: What If Creators were Desperate to Incorporate Cate Blanchett into the 1st What If Season
Marvel Studios’ anthology series What If..? is the first animated series from the studio that explores the alternate realities in the multiverse. These alternate realities recount significant moments from MCU movies and take a look at what would have happened in case minor things occurred differently. Season two was recently released and has received positive reactions from the critics and the audience. Fans also got to hear Cate Blanchett playing an iconic character.
The actress portrayed the character of Hela in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok starring Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston. While preparing for the role, Blanchett was inspired by singer Siouxsie Sioux and her unique and unconventional movement. She recently lent her voice in season two of the animated series. However, a recent comment from the head writer notes that the audience could have seen Hela in season one as well. How? Let’s find out.
Cate Blanchett’s Hela almost made an appearance in What If..? season one
Actress Cate Blanchett voiced her character of Hela from 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok for What If..? Season 2, episode 7 titled, What if..Hela Found the Ten Rings? As the name suggests, the episode was a Thor mixed with Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings. The episode ends with Hela and Wenwu being allies across the cosmos and protecting the world from the looming threat of Thanos.
Head writer A.C. Bradley however, revealed that the actress’ character almost made an appearance in season one of the anthology series in the episode titled What If…Thor Were an Only Child? He shared on his social media,
“The amazing #WhatIf Hela episode is pure Matt Chauncey. While I was writing Party Thor in S1, we kept looking to incorporate Hela into Vegas chaos. No dice. Finally Matt said, ‘If Cate Blanchett is willing to return, then she deserves her own damn story’.”
Director Bryan Andrews also expressed his gratitude to the actress for returning to voice her character for the anthology series. Writer Matt Chauncey also expressed the same emotion by stating that they are all such huge fans of her work, and were just thrilled to work with her again.
Cate Blanchett on playing Marvel’s first female villain
The actress debuted as Hela back in 2017 and was highly lauded for her exceptional performance in Thor: Ragnarok. In an interview with Collider, back in 2017, the actress was asked about what she likes about playing Hela and she said,
“She’s the Goddess of Death, but what I liked about playing her was that I really didn’t know anything about her. Obviously, the deep, hardcore fan base knows a lot. But for me, there was a really interesting process of discover. Like with any of the Marvel characters, they have really interesting and varied backstories.”
The actress was also asked about the pressure she felt while portraying Marvel’s first female villain. To this, Blanchett said,
“You only feel pressure if you think this is the only shot women will have, which is ridiculous. I mean there’s a huge female fan base and having a daughter myself, you want them to be able to identify with the villains as well as the heroes.”
She clarified that she didn’t feel the pressure as she was excited to work with the team, adding that everything depended on who the director was. The actress claimed that when she heard it was Taika, things seemed even more exciting. The actress worked profusely with the makeup and hair teams to ensure that her character looked powerful on the screen.
What If..? Season 2 is streaming on Disney+.
