Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, Review, TV | Tagged: cate blanchett, hela, Jeff Bergman, Marvel Studios, Marvel's What If, shang-chi and the legend of the ten rings, thor, Thor: Ragnarok

What If…? Season 2 Episode 7 Review: Hela Meets Lord of the Ten Rings

Cate Blanchett chews up her scenes far better in Marvel's What If ...? S02E07 than even in Thor: Ragnarok in this second-season highlight.

There's something to be said about a compelling villain redemption story. The MCU's had at least two with Tom Hiddleston's Loki, which wrapped in the second and presumably final season, and Karen Gillan's Nebula from Guardians of the Galaxy. While it's not canon in terms of the main Earth-616 realm, which is where the current MCU resides, we have our third in Marvel's What If …? S02E07: "What If…Hela Found the Ten Rings?" which is a severely misleading title given the premise. Also, you can come up with tons of Galadriel and Lord of the Rings-related puns since the title character is played by none other than Cate Blanchett, who was also Galadriel in all six Peter Jackson Tolkien-verse Middle Earth films. The actress reprised her role from 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, but the premise of the episode directly borrows from the 2011 original film Thor that instead of Odin (Anthony Hopkins) stripping Chris Hemsworth's character's powers and banish him to Earth until he understands what it means to be worthy of his powers, it's his daughter Hela he chooses to teach that lesson to.

What If … Cate Blanchett Goes Kung-Fu Hela

While Thor gets sent to America in the 2011 film, Odin (Jeff Bergman) banishes Hela to medieval China and finds out real quick her ego doesn't go as far without her powers which reside in her thorny helmet. She picks it up to no avail and is forced to adapt to her settings while fortunate enough to catch the eye of Xu Wenwu (Feodor Chin), who possesses the power of the ten rings…those same rings from 2021's Shang-Chi. The only holdover from that film is the flying ball of fluff Dijiang known as Morris. Whatever cliches you can throw in from Dances with Wolves (1990), The Last Samurai (2003), and Avatar (2009), the white savior tropes in there.

Like Sam Rockwell did reprise Justin Hammer in the episode "What If … Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?" Blanchett was allowed to play her character with far more range and humor than just doing the atypical villain schtick. Regarding how much the animators, director Bryan Andrews, and writer Matthew Chauncey had fun putting Hela in the realm of Shang-Chi, the ending couldn't been more blatant enough that Sir Ian McKellan would tip his cap too. Hopkins probably wouldn't been able to pull off the moves at his age as Odin in the Thor films as the character demanded in this animated series. Season two of What If …? is available to stream on Disney+.

Marvel's What If...? Season Two Episode 7: "What If...Hela Found the Ten Rings?"

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Review by Tom Chang

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8/10

Aside from the misleading episode title in which Hela NEVER wears the Ten Rings, Cate Blanchett shows the kind of range in untapped potential for Hela she was barely allowed the scratch the surface at with Thor: Ragnarok. Jeff Bergman, Feodor Chin, Lauren Tom, Idris Elba, and Michael Hagiwara all work well in another classic that's not super cameo-laden.

Credits

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Director

Bryan Andrews

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