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Nov 2, 2017 · In a recent interview with Slash Film, Feige revealed that Christopher Eccleston's Malekith wasn't always meant to be the villain in the Thor sequel. In fact, long before Marvel began developing Thor: Ragnarok, the plan was to introduce Hela as the main baddie in Thor: The Dark World.
- Nicole Sobon
- Contributor
Jul 6, 2024 · The decision to keep the alternate death scene out of The Dark World was ultimately best for the Thor franchise, simplifying consequences and making Hela a more effective villain. A deleted scene from Thor: The Dark World almost altered the trajectory of the MCU series.
Jan 21, 2022 · Originally, the plan was to use Hela as the villain, a move that didn't do it any favors when one of Thor's most potent comic book adversaries was replaced with the much more boilerplate Malekith the dark elf. The Dark World's loss turned onto Thor: Ragnarok's gain as Cate Blanchett
- Staff Writer
Thor: The Dark World is a 2013 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Thor, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to Thor (2011) and the eighth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
- Overview
- Biography
- Personality
- Powers and Abilities
- Equipment
- Facilities
- Relationships
- Trivia
―Hela
Hela Odinsdottir was the Asgardian Goddess of Death and former Executioner of Asgard. Imprisoned in Hel for millennia by her father Odin, Hela was only released from her prison in the wake of his death and went to restore her power over Asgard while simultaneously engaging in a series of encounters with her younger brothers Thor and Loki. Gaining her power from Asgard, Hela planned to rule Asgard and create an Asgardian Empire. When all the people of Asgard refused to bow to her, Hela set about massacring Odin's armies and enslaving their people, while recruiting Skurge to be her own Executioner in the process. Eventually, however, Thor then returned with the newly formed Revengers and then reengaged Hela, which had then resulted with Loki unleashing Surtur, who then destroyed Asgard by finally causing Ragnarök and killed Hela as a result.
Rise and FallReturn to PowerLegacy―Thor to the Guardians of the Galaxy Hela's actions on Asgard brought dire consequences to the surviving Asgardians. Following her massacre of the Einherjar, the Asgardians began to lack the military they needed to defend themselves during the Attack on the Statesman, which resulted in the deaths of half of the surviving refugees, Heimdall and Loki included, at the hands of Thanos and the Black Order. By 2025, a new play Hela's On Earth: Ragnarok in the Round had been written and performed in New Asgard, with the ending scene being Hela shattering Mjølnir and Thor and Loki asking to be transported via the Bifrost Bridge during the Skirmish in Norway.―Hela to the Einherjar
Hela has a raging, impatient, volatile, and supremely ambitious personality, which makes her prone to killing or maiming anyone who stood in her way. However, much of this is masked by a casual confidence and appearance of friendliness, such as when she returned to Asgard, she casually murdered Volstagg and Fandral, but then offered Skurge a job as if nothing had happened. During Asgard's violent conquest of the Nine Realms, she was an effective and brutal wartime leader due to these traits, and therefore essential to Odin's conquest being a success. However, when Odin transitioned into a peace-time King, he realized that Hela could not, for her ambitions had grown out of his control, and her formidable powers made her a threat to his new society. Indeed, Hela rebelled against Odin and hence, he banished her from Asgard, and later imprisoned her personally when she revolted against him.
After her freedom, she immediately conquered Asgard with little effort, and Heimdall himself described her as being so power-hungry that, if she could access the Bifrost Bridge, she would conquer all of the Nine Realms and even the entire Cosmos. Though Thor acknowledged Odin's paternal deficiencies, during a heart-to-heart confrontation between him and his sister, he still confessed he believed that their father's decision to imprison her instead of letting her rule was an accurate one - Hela made it clear that she would exterminate her entire nation if they stood in the way of her resuming her conquests. She even went as far as to state that she was neither a Queen nor a monster, but the Goddess of Death, which in turn revealed that she was quite content to rule over a dead nation of dead soldiers completely loyal to her.
Hela was also extremely resentful of her imprisonment at the hands of her own father, Odin, whom she was initially loyal enough to willingly execute his will, and even help him conquer the Nine Realms, although she would eventually rebel after Odin grew to become a benevolent king. She gleefully mocked at his death, and openly expressed her wish to have been able to see it herself. However, it was evident that she still felt a high level of betrayal from Odin due to her imprisonment, for she was quickly angered by the concealing murals that displayed only Odin, Thor, and Loki, as well as his peaceful conquering of the Nine Realms. In fact, she was so provoked by them that she immediately threw her swords at those false images, shattering them to reveal the truth of Odin's violent deeds.
Apart from her ambitiousness, Hela's most prominent feature would be her overwhelming confidence; during her first encounter with her brothers, before crossing swords with them, she already made it clear that she viewed them as inferiors who were no match for her, and she later also demonstrated no fear at all when confronting Asgard's army. Though she subsequently proved her point by crushing Mjølnir with only one hand and slaughtered the entire Asgardian army with ease, Hela's hubris also turned out to be her downfall - she underestimated Thor's wisdom, which ultimately led to her being destroyed by Surtur.
Hela is not completely without mercy. The only time she shows mercy is when people agree to serve her or do not stand in her way. When she displayed her overwhelming power, she asked Hogun, who survived her initial onslaught if he was willing to change his mind. Even though Skurge displayed cowardice upon their first meeting, Hela decided to mentor him. However, Hela lacks attachment and will kill anyone who betrays her, even Skurge without hesitation. Hela's only true display of affection was to her companion, Fenris, being saddened upon discovering her death and becoming joyful upon the Asgardian wolf's resurrection.
Powers
―Odin to Thor •Asgardian Physiology: As the eldest child of Odin, Hela had tremendous superhuman abilities and supernatural powers, far superior to those of almost every other Asgardian, including Thor at full power. Heimdall believed Hela was sufficiently powerful to conquer the entire cosmos. The only known beings powerful enough to surpass Hela were her father Odin in his prime and the Fire Demon Surtur at full power. As Odin's firstborn, Hela had a supernatural connection to Asgard and drew power from it, enabling her to perform incredible supernatural feats. Hela could manifest various physical structures out of thin air, ranging from weapons, to rock formations, to her own armor. •Superhuman Strength: Hela possesses tremendous levels of superhuman strength, enabling her to single-handedly wipe out all the Valkyrie but one, who barely survived. She was also able to catch Mjølnir, one of the most powerful weapons in existence, with one hand after it was thrown at her with full speed, crushing it with no visible effort. Hela also slaughtered the Warriors Three and the combined might of the Einherjar with ease. Furthermore, she proved easily stronger than her brother Thor, besting him in two of their three battles. Even after achieving his full power, Thor was still unable to defeat his sister, however, he managed to win a fight against her by striking her down into the water below. •Superhuman Durability: Hela's body, much like Thor's, was nigh-invulnerable, but to a much greater degree. She was able to catch Mjølnir in midair without injury. Hela was also able to grab a handful of the Eternal Flame unburnt, was impaled through the torso with an Einherjar's sword, and stabbed with Gungnir by Thor without any taking any noticeable physical damage. Thor struck her with a massive lightning blast, only for her to emerge completely unharmed. Only the revived and fully powered Surtur's Twilight Sword was able to crush her. Apart from the Fire Demon, Odin was the only being capable of doing any significant harm to Hela, effectively banishing her to Hel. •Superhuman Speed: Hela was fast enough to slay several Einherjar before they could react and was able to keep up with and outpace Thor and Valkyrie in combat. •Superhuman Agility: Hela naturally possesses great agility, being able to dodge and outpace Thor and Valkyrie's attacks through the majority of her battles with them. She was also able to jump through a crater, landing neatly on her feet. •Superhuman Stamina: Hela's endurance allowed her battle for extremely long period of time without tiring at all. She was able to defeat numerous Asgardians, as well as withstand the combined might of Thor and Valkyrie without tiring. •Superhuman Reflexes: Hela possessed incredible reflexes that enabled her to anticipate, dodge, and counter her opponents' movements, as well as reacting and dodging objects traveling at high speeds. Her reflexes were quick enough to catch Mjølnir with one hand and react to Thor's lightning attacks in close range. •Regenerative Healing Factor: Hela was able to swiftly heal from her wounds after being stabbed by the sword of an Einherjar, when Thor impaled her with Gungnir, as well as when Thor electrocuted her after Valkyrie stabbed her with Dragonfang. •Immortality: Due to her connection to Asgard, Hela was immortal as long as Asgard existed, with her death coinciding exactly with its destruction at the time of Ragnarök. •Weapon Summoning: Hela could manifest various weapons from different parts of her body, usually Necroswords, daggers, spears, and axes. These weapons were incredibly durable and sharp, enough to not only instantly kill the likes of the Warriors Three and Skurge, but also able to pierce right through Thor's nigh-invulnerable body, with Hela gouging his right eye out with a Necrosword and pierce his back with a blade from her elbow. Her Necroswords were sharp enough to pierce Skurge's Uru-plated armor. She also manifested the Bloodaxe, which she gave to Skurge. While pursuing Thor and Loki across the Bifrost Bridge, Hela conjured a triangular shield on her forearm to take the impact of Thor's punch, causing it to break apart. Hela later launched oversize blades into a large gate to a secret cave where the fleeing Asgardians were hiding, allowing her to bring it down by pulling the blades down along with the gate. She could also manifest blade-like structures from the ground around her. Hela attempted to prevent Loki's spaceship containing the Asgardians from launching from the doomed realm, and later attempted to gain elevation during her short battle with Surtur. •Armor Creation: After returning to Asgard, Hela was able to repair the damage to her clothing and make her headdress appear and disappear from her head. Her armor enhances her already tremendous durability and allows her to block strikes from weapons as powerful as Gungnir, which glanced off of her armor in a shower of sparks. Hela's cape is also highly durable as she was able to use it to block attacks from several Asgardian Skiffs. ―Hela •Magic: Hela was a formidable Asgardian sorceress and was able to cast powerful spells to aid her in battle. •Necromancy: Hela, as the Goddess of Death, was able to resurrect her allies, using a handful of flame from the Eternal Flame and tossing it against the ground to create with both powers combined a huge blast of green infernal energy. As such, she was able to revive her pet wolf Fenris and her Berserkers after discovering their corpses under Odin's Vault. During her imprisonment, she was the ruler of Hel, the realm where the souls of those who died without honor come to rest. •Portal Creation: Hela was able to open a portal from Hel in Niflheim to Norway on Midgard after Odin's seal on her was broken.
Abilities
―Loki to Thor •Master Combatant: Hela was an extremely skilled hand-to-hand combatant, making her one of the most dangerous and best fighters in the universe. She was the original wielder of Mjølnir and the commander of the Legions of Asgard, as well as Odin's Executioner. Hela's skills were such that she single-handedly slew the entire Einherjar army, as well as the Warriors Three, who were among the greatest warriors in Asgard. Hela's combat skills were superior even to Valkyrie and Thor, who are immensely skilled and powerful Asgardian warriors in their own right. She quickly overpowered Thor in their first confrontation and ultimately beat him in their second without much effort, even gouging out Thor's right eye with her Necrosword. Valkyrie narrowly escaped Hela's massacre of the rest of her kind. Hela was also able to fight both Valkyrie and a full-powered Thor on equal ground, eventually gaining the upper hand. In this final confrontation, it was only Loki's resurrection of Surtur and the ensuing start of Ragnarök that allowed her to be defeated. Odin is the only one known to have defeated Hela in battle, having cast her out of Asgard and imprisoned her in Hel. •Sword Mastery: Although Hela typically fought with her bare hands and telekinetically hurled weapons, she was extremely skilled at using a sword in combat, with her weapon of choice being her Necroswords. Indeed, Hela's skills allowed her to easily slaughter all of Asgard's Einherjar and Valkyrie. ―Loki to Thor •Hammer Mastery: Hela was extremely skilled at using a hammer in combat. Since she was the original wielder of Mjølnir, Hela understood how it functioned, which allowed her to effortlessly catch and destroy the hammer after Thor hurled it to her. •Expert Tactician: As the Chief of the Legion of Asgard and Odin's Executioner, Hela was an effective and brutal military commander, leading the armies of Asgard in a bloody conquest of the Nine Realms. However, when she got too brutal and power hungry, Odin banished her. •Bilingualism: Hela was fluent in her native Asgardian, as well as English.
Weapons
•Mjølnir: Hela was the first owner of Mjølnir, wielding it during her and Odin's conquest of the Nine Realms. The weapon was lost to her after her banishment to Hel, at which point it became the preferred weapon of Odin's son Thor. One of Hela's first actions upon attaining her freedom at Odin's death was to destroy the mighty hammer when Thor threw it at her. •Necroswords: Hela was able to manifest these bladed weapons from her body. She typically used the swords as throwing weapons, but also employed them in melee combat. These swords were durable enough to instantly kill the Warriors Three, each with a single stab, and even harm Thor. •Bloodaxe: Hela conjured this weapon, but never used it, instead giving it to Skurge to wield in his capacity as her Executioner.
Other Equipment
•Crown: Hela wore this crown prior to and during her banishment in Hel, as well as when she returned to Asgard up until her death. Hela used the crown as a means for defense and as a weapon to parry attacks and slash opponents. When Thor used Gungnir to slice off a portion of the crown, it regenerated within seconds. ―Hela to Skurge •Eternal Flame: Hela utilized the power of the Eternal Flame to resurrect her Einherjar army as undead Berserkers as well as her loyal and dear pet wolf, Fenris.
•Royal Palace of Valaskjalf: As a princess of Asgard, Hela resided in the royal palace. As her ambition as a warlord grew, Odin attempted to restrain her, which led to Hela slaughtering inhabitants of the palace. After her return to Asgard, Hela seized the palace by slaughtering the Einherjar who were defending it. She took possession of the palace and revealed the old frescoes depicting the Subjugation of the Nine Realms which had been hidden by Odin to be replaced with more peaceful images. As the Queen of Asgard, Hela seated on the Asgardian throne room, where she was later confronted by her brother Thor, who had returned from Sakaar to stop her and unleashed his powers to throw Hela down an edge of the palace.
―Thor to the Guardians of the Galaxy
•Hel: She passed millennia confined to this region of Niflheim, which Odin used as a prison for her. Although she tried to escape, and easily massacred almost all the Valkyrie, Odin locked her up again and was only able to escape when he died in 2017.
•Odin's Vault: Having conquered Asgard, Hela got access to Odin's secret vault, where she reclaimed the Eternal Flame. She then smashed the floor to find her deceased Berserkers and Fenris and used the powers of the flame to bring them back to life.
Family
•Asgardian Royal Family •Buri † - Great-Grandfather •Bor † - Grandfather •Odin † - Father and Attempted Victim •Frigga † - Stepmother •Uncles † •Thor - Half-Brother and Attempted Victim •Loki † - Adoptive Brother and Attempted Victim •Love - Adoptive Niece
Allies
•Fenris † •Berserkers † - Subordinates
Enemies
•Sleipnir - Former Ally •Valkyrie •Einherjar - Former Subordinates •Warriors Three •Volstagg † - Victim •Fandral † - Victim •Hogun † - Victim •Heimdall † •Skurge/Executioner † - Former Subordinate and Victim •Revengers •Brunnhilde/Valkyrie - Attempted Victim and Attempted Killer •Bruce Banner/Hulk •Sakaaran Rebellion •Korg •Miek •Biff •Tasba •Roscoe † •Hajo † •Surtur † - Attempted Victim and Killer
•In Norse mythology, Hela is the illegitimate daughter of Loki. She was raised in the care of Asgard for a time until she was appointed as ruler of Hel and Niflheim by Odin. In the comics, as implied in Kieron Gillen's Journey into Mystery #645 (2012), she was Leah of Hel, the girl who was created with ancient magic by Kid Loki, and was sent to the ancient past and left there to grow up as Hela.
•Additionally, the Marvel Cinematic Universe's version of Hela presents some elements of Gorr the God Butcher, a vengeful killer of gods who has the power of the All-Black the Necrosword, and Angela, Odin's firstborn who has been the Queen of Hel in the comics.
Hela was originally conceived as the main villain of Thor: The Dark World, instead of Malekith the Accursed. Hela is the first female main antagonist in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film. In some ways, Hela proved herself to be a dark reflection of both Thor and Loki:
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Jan 3, 2024 · In our original film, yes, it was a Hela story, and she was our big bad. But at that point in the process, so many of our decisions were being driven by the New York office. They forbid...
