5 Things You Need To Know About The New Heroes And Villains Of THOR: RAGNAROK
What's the deal with Hela, Valkyrie, Executioner, The Grandmaster, and the rest of the Thor: Ragnarok cast? Hit the jump for an in-depth look at each of those characters and their roles in this movie...
Yesterday, Marvel Studios announced the cast of Thor: Ragnarok, and there were a lot of big surprises in there. As well as confirming a few past rumours, the press release added some unexpected names to the cast and revealed which characters we should expect to see in the God of Thunder's third solo outing (which is going to pair him up with The Hulk in a movie which no longer looks like Planet Hulk).
Two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett is the mysterious and powerful new villain Hela, along with Jeff Goldblum who joins the cast as the eccentric Grandmaster, Tessa Thompson who will bring the classic hero Valkyrie to life on the big screen, and Karl Urba who will add his might to the fray as Skurge. Rounding out the cast is Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk along with a few other familiar faces.
What you'll find here is a look at each of those new additions, a breakdown of their history and abilities, and some thoughts on how they may end up factoring into the Marvel Phase 3 release.
5. The Grandmaster
With a wealth of powers - he's nearly immortal and invulnerable and can access energy from the power primordial - and a love of pitting super powered individuals against each other, it wouldn't be remotely surprising to see him in charge of a Planet Hulk style arena where he forces Thor and The Hulk to go to war with each other. After all, he played a key role in getting The Avengers and Justice League to fight at one point, so he's definitely powerful enough to make those two heroes battle it out if they for some reason end up in his clutches.
Will he have any ties to Thanos though? Time will tell on that front, but it wouldn't be too surprising.
4. Hela
It's also worth noting that she's the daughter of Loki from a previous time before a Ragnarok event, so chances are that history will also be addressed, especially now that the God of Mischief sits upon the throne of Asgard. In terms of powers, she can easily hold her own in hand to hand combat with Thor, casts all sorts of illusions, fire energy bolts, and even command an entire legion of the dead as an army. Needless to say, she may be the most powerful foe Thor has faced to date.
3. Skurge
Don't be too shocked to see him have a change of heart fairly late in the game though, especially as the comic book version of Ragnarok from a few years back saw him sacrifice himself in order to stop Hela's army as he and Thor reluctantly put their differences aside to team up. Wielding an incredibly powerful axe which can conjure ice and fire and tear open dimensional rifts, Skurge is also super strong and may very well end up being a match for the Jade Giant.
2. Valkyrie
She wields the enchanted sword Dragonfang (given to her by Doctor Strange in the comics), she's extremely strong and is kind of like a more powerful Sif. With Creed's Tessa Thompson set to take on the role, the character's race has obviously been changed, but seeing as Marvel has already made Asgard a pretty diverse place by making Heimdall black, we hopefully won't have to put up with too many petitions and complaints this time around, especially as she's so talented. Regardless, expect her to have a big role here.
1. And The Rest...
There are only four major new additions to Thor: Ragnarok, so we might as well take a closer look at the other confirmed cast members. Chris Hemsworth will obviously return as the God of Thunder, and it's now 100% official that Mark Ruffalo will make his presence felt as Bruce Banner/The Hulk.
Thor regulars Tom Hiddleston (who has previously refused to confirm or deny his involvement), Idris Elba, and Sir Anthony Hopkins are all returning, but there's been no mention of the actors who make up The Warriors Three. The Hollywood Reporter's Borys Kit took to Twitter to reveal that sources have told him Jaimie Alexander won't be back as Sif because of commitments to Blindspot, but the actress later dropped the following which teased some sort of cameo.
Needless to say, this is a pretty huge cast, and despite this official announcement, we're probably going to see at least a few more additions over the coming weeks and months, especially as Thor: Ragnarok isn't released until November 3rd, next year...
Which of these characters are you most looking forward to seeing in Thor: Ragnarok? As always, be sure to let us know your thoughts in the usual place.