Is Marvel Recruiting Cate Blanchett?
Friday, December 11, 2015 at 7:00AM Yesterday, fresh off her Golden Globe and SAG nominations, Cate Blanchett was reported to be a potential candidate for an unknown role in Thor: Ragnarok, another high profile star to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Twitter has not been pleased.
BUT! Before you get out your pitchforks and scream of heresy, let's note a few things about the third Thor entry that might change your mind:
1. Taika Waititi is taking over directing duties. If you haven't watched his vampire mockumentary What We Do In The Shadows from earlier this year, fix that! The film excels at the kind of farcical character humor that was the strongest element of Kenneth Branagh's original installment and was mostly absent from the sequel.
2. Mark Ruffalo is also starring in his Hulk's first time outside of an Avengers film, so the film is already giving us something we've been asking for.
3. Galadriel! Blanchett isn't afraid of genre material, and when she's having a ball, so are we.
4. Let's not forget how the MCU works with potential crossover characters - think of the possibilities. How about this one: none other than Tilda Swinton is in the forthcoming Doctor Strange. One can dream!
5. As we were reminded with her recent W Magazine spread, fun things happen when she gets to be a little kooky.
There's plenty reason to be optimistic!
Nothing is known of the role yet (please be a villain, please be a villain, please be a villain), but this and the assembled team thus far at least point toward Marvel making this one feel a little more special than what we got with Thor's round 2. Thor: Ragnarok is coming November 3, 2017.
Reader Comments (23)
Marvel has not been kind to her female characters. Think of Glenn Close, Zoe Saldana, Natalie Portman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rebecca Hall... even Scarlett Johanson!
The female talents they cast are beyond stellar, the results... meh
I wish the best... but i am not optimistic at all
I think she will choose to do the Alien film instead.
Yes, please be a villain / dark / shady / all-powerful character. Think LOTR, Cinderella, Indiana Jones, Hanna, The Shipping News - she was born to play such roles and scene-steal, sometimes movie-steal. I am actually excited about this. Look at her selection of directors (I ALWAYS BRING THAT UP LOL). She's no fool. Currently she's in that part of her career where she's in the position to demand things of directors.
Hmmmm... Hela? Maybe the Enchantress? She would chew up either of those roles and spit out pure gold.
I'm so excited about this....she's on a roll. I would call it VERSATILITY incarnate! I agree with Yavor that she's always been spot-on picking the right directors and elevating her performance beyond the confines of the script. Can't wait!
I skipped The Hobbit and I'll skip Thor. Sorry Cate, apparently my love for you has bounds.
Great post, Chris.... nice including that amazing W Mag photo spread.
I hope she's in. I've never understood why some get so pissy over people being in big "superhero movies" like it's something to look down on. They're fun, the MCU has far more hits than misses, and the actors probably get a good pay day.
Has anyone read Guy Lodge's amusing tweet about Cate's potential casting? I second what he says. I would be ok with her doing a big studio film/potential blockbuster if she were the actual lead.
@ John, Cate should totally lead a Phoenix/Dark Phoenix Saga (Jean Grey) directed by David Lynch / David Fincher / Darren Aronofsky.
Brittani: Exactly. It's not like she's lining up to join the DCXU.
I think Mark Harris over in twitter said it best: "You can scold franchises for not using talented people or scold talented people for doing franchises. Not both."
This is not far off her beaten path. She did all those wretched LOTR films. Blech.
I also remember during the Blue Jasmine press tour, she talked about how her sons get annoyed at the lack of blockbusters on her resume, and her desire to do a movie they would find cool, so this could also be apart of that.
Stephany Folsom was hired last week to rework the script; a female screenwriter is definitely a plus for this kind of film. The reaction to the casting has been mostly positive on sites whose commenters actively follow the MCU.
In addition to Hela and Valkyrie, a potential character for Cate is Death: http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/08/19/13-actresses-that-could-bring-death-to-the-mcu.
This seems almost inevitable when respected actors like Tilda, Chiwetel Ejiofor, William Hurt, Julie Delpy, and Robert Redford have all joined Marvel.
A strong role and promising director/screenwriter are likely the main draws for Cate, though if she were to join another franchise, I wish it could be Alien or Star Wars, considering her past work with Ridley Scott and Kathleen Kennedy, respectively.
I guess she needs money for her and her husband's theater stuff. It's understandable but I will probably not watch it.
Crystal. Skull.
Why the surprise? "Cinderella", "LOTR", "Hanna","Crystal Skull", not to mention voice work for "How to train your Dragon". She likes playing BIG characters.
I'm not surprised at all.
All of this almost complete makes me hopeful for the movie (I've not been a fan of either Thor).
Mark Ruffalo was in Iron Man 3, though.
Cate doing genre makes me nervous, ESPECIALLY if she's a villain...Indiana Jones 4, anyone?
She was the small highlight of Indy 4, Alex.
@ Alex, Crystal Skull is one of her hottest onscreen looks evaaahh, also she totally elevates the movie. She's practically the one thing I remember about the movie and I wasn't even a fan back then.
Cate Blanchett's campy evil > almost everybody else's campy evil
Damn, all those W photos are outstanding!
Two other considerations:
This Thor is shooting in Australia, not the UK
Her son/s like blockbusters and wish she'd do more.
Someone mentioned the Prometheus films that they've announced will shoot in Sydney. She was seen having lunch with Ridley Scott last May and everyone speculated it was for that ... However, Scott recently said that he asked Blanchett to be in The Martian (Chastain's part) but she was too busy to do it. Doesn't mean he won't try to get her again for a Prometheus film but he was actually wooing her for The Martian last year.