Thor: Ragnarok introduced Hela, Odin's secret child and Thor and Loki's sister. Completely deranged, she shattered Mjolnir and wasted no time taking over Asgard. Eventually, the villain was defeated during Surtur's attack on the God of Thunder's home during "Ragnarok," but she left a lasting impact on fans.
Cate Blanchett knocked it out of the park with her performance, even if the character was somewhat underutilized. Marvel Studios still has a bad habit of killing villains, and it's hard not to wonder whether more stories could have been told.
Luckily, the actress will reprise the role in What If...? season 2, with director Bryan Andrews promising fans during last year's San Diego Comic-Con that they can expect to see a totally different side to the Goddess of Death.
Thanks to some newly revealed merchandise, we now have a first look at that!
Looking far more grounded than her comic book counterpart, this Hela is near-unrecognisable and we can only guess what role she'll play in this story. Is it possible that the Asgardian might have found redemption and become a hero if her father hadn't imprisoned her? We're definitely getting some "badass anti-hero" vibes from this design, anyway.
It was recently reported that the planned third season of What If...? will be the show's last, meaning there's only a finite amount of time left for this animated series to explore the Multiverse. We're guessing that's because Marvel Studios will no longer use the concept once the Multiverse Saga ends, so the show probably always had an expiration date on it.
What If...? season 2 is expected to return to Disney+ later this year, though there have been rumblings about it being pushed into 2024.
Take a closer look at Hela's new look below.