Ragnarok? How She Could Return
Marcus Reynolds Thor: Ragnarok's ending indicates that Hela (Cate Blanchett) died at Surtur's hand, but is she really dead? Here's how she can return to the MCU.
Cate Blanchett's Hela appears to die in Thor: Ragnarok, but could the goddess of death return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? With the third installment of Chris Hemsworth's Thor franchise, Marvel took a swing to save the character. Taika Waititi was brought in to direct Thor: Ragnarok and give a franchise that was quite Shakesperean to that point heavily comedic tone. The movie leaned into the crazy visuals from the comics and essentially rebooted Thor's MCU journey.
There are several reasons why Thor: Ragnarok connected with audiences more than prior installments of the franchise. But, one of the best parts of the film was Cate Blanchett's performance as the main villain, Hela. The goddess of death has a memorable entrance to the MCU, as she destroyed Mjolnir almost immediately. It was also revealed that she is the secret older sister of Thor and previously conquered the Nine Realms with Odin. Hela proved to be a worthy foe for Thor, as she took over Asgard and killed several characters who had prominent roles in the franchise's past.
Despite the excellent villainy Hela brought to the MCU, Thor: Ragnarok appeared to be the end of her story. This is disappointing for many viewers who wished to see Hela become a much bigger threat in the MCU and followed a problem Marvel had early on of using one-and-done villains. However, there is still a chance that Hela could return to the MCU one day, and there are a variety of ways to make it happen.
Hela Appears To Die In Thor: Ragnarok
Before discussing how Hela could come back, let's first recap how Thor: Ragnarok appeared to kill her. The ending of the movie features a massive battle on Asgard where Thor, Hulk, and Valkyrie attempt to take the realm back. Hela is controlling Asgard with the power of her undead army and Fenris Wolf. Although Thor's confrontation with Hela is ultimately where he unlocks the true source of his power, it is still a challenge for him and the Revengers to stop her - even after Loki arrived with reinforcements. Once Thor figured this out, he decided the only way to stop Hela was to do what he had been trying to stop and begin Ragnarok, a prophecy that predicted the destruction of Asgard.
This plan resulted in Loki going into Odin's vault to retrieve the Crown of Surtur, the giant fire demon Thor defeats at the start of Thor: Ragnarok. Loki puts his crown in the Eternal Flame to unleash Surtur upon Asgard. Once Surtur began destroying the Asgardian home, Hela attempted to stop him, but he used his gigantic Twilight Sword to attack her. Thor: Ragnarok plays this moment as if it is Hela's demise, but there is no further evidence to show that she did die.
Hela Could Have Survived Thor: Ragnarok
If we apply the old TV/movie rule that not seeing the body means the person in question is still alive, then Hela could have survived. It is also not beyond reason to think that she could still be alive just based on who she is. Hela is an Asgardian and the goddess of death, after all. While the MCU has explained that Asgardians are not immortal, she should still be incredibly difficult to kill. And for as great of a villain as Hela was in Thor: Ragnarok, the powers she has as the ruler of Hel were not that well explained. Since she has the ability to rule over the dead, though, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for Hela to be even tougher to kill than the average Asgardian.
However, Hela's survival would mean she escaped more than just Surtur's wrath. When he used the Twilight Sword to seemingly kill Hela, he pushed it further into Asgard right after. This caused Asgard to explode, which could make Hela's survival a bit more improbable. There is evidence, though, that Asgardians can survive in open space for an unknown amount of time. Thor is found by the Guardians of the Galaxy unconscious in space at the start of Avengers: Infinity War, so it is possible that Hela could've drifted off into space when Asgard exploded.
How Hela Could Return in Thor's Future
The possibility of Hela being alive gives the MCU another villain to bring back at some point in the future. It doesn't appear that Hela is in the cards for a return in Thor: Love and Thunder, but that could easily change. If Hela is alive, then she should return at some point in Thor's future. Even if Chris Hemsworth's Odinson isn't around for the long haul, Hela could be a villain that returns for Valkyrie or Jane Foster's Mighty Thor to face off against. Outside of being the main villain in Thor 5 or something like the all-female Avengers film Marvel has talked about for the last few years, there are many ways that Hela could fit into the future of the Thor franchise.
There are no signs that Hela is returning in Thor: Love and Thunder right now, but she could have a role to play potentially. Many have noted how Hela's design and weaponry heavily borrow from the comics version of Gorr the God Butcher, and he is now set to be the main villain of Thor 4. There's a chance that Gorr and Hela could have a connection in the past that can now be explored. Perhaps Hela is even somehow connected to Gorr's origin in the MCU and the reason he hates gods. If she is still alive, Hela could return at some point in Thor: Love and Thunder only for Gorr The God Butcher to kill her, as this would immediately signal to viewers just how big of a threat he is.
Of course, a big part of Hela's story in the comics is her connection to Hel, but Thor: Ragnarok didn't explore that. Hela's return could be linked to a further exploration of the MCU's afterlife. Thor is currently on a journey of discovering who he is really supposed to be, but loss is a key part of his story so far. Both of his parents are dead, his Asgardian friends all died in recent films, and he watched as Thanos killed all of the Asgardians on the ship from the end of Ragnarok. Thor could ultimately look to trade his life for someone else, or the entire Asgardian population, and go to his sister Hela to make such an exchange possible. Thor did this at one point in the comics to save Sif, but Hela ultimately decided not to take Thor's life in exchange and let him and Sif live.
There are also several fans who thought that Hela was going to be the MCU's version of Death and have a connection to Thanos at the end of the Infinity Saga. This didn't come to pass during the end of Phase 3, but Marvel could change the end of Ragnarok to fit such a transformation. Instead of Hela dying at the end of the movie, she could've been born again as the embodiment of death moving forward.
One last possibility worth mentioning is the chance for Hela to return via flashbacks. Thor: Ragnarok teased her previous conquests with Odin and showed her fight the entire fleet of Valkyries. Since Hela predates Thor, her history in the MCU dates back thousands of years. With Phase 4 set to explore more of the MCU's past than ever before - such as with Eternals' story spanning 7,000 years - future Marvel movies could do the same. It's even possible that such flashbacks could be used to then explain how Hela survived her apparent death in Thor: Ragnarok.
