Leaving aside all the rumors and speculation about whether Hela is Death, what do we know about this character’s role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Not much can be said with certainty, except that she’s a truly powerful villain. But, looking back at the MCU's track record with its big baddies, being a villain might not be enough for a compelling story about death and resurrection. After all, Ragnarok means killing the gods and everything else in the universe so rebirth can take place.

This is an interesting idea that can potentially make Hela the best and most important villain in the shared universe. Unfortunately, her endgame hasn’t been revealed in any of the trailers and clips released to date, so she remains one of many. But there’s still hope that she’ll rise above the rest.

A recent on-set interview with Cate Blanchett (via Screen Rant) apparently supported the idea that Death is sometimes needed to make things right again:

She's been banished for a very long time – I don't know how much I'm allowed to say"¦I think if you were locked under the Asgardian stairs for 5,000 years, you'd be a little bit cross. But I think it's very interesting to bring the concept of Death into a world that's ostensibly immortal. You know, you look at the Western world and in most cultures, Death has been banished from the world in which most Western people live. And as a result, I think it's made life rather screwed up.

You know, there's a side of death which can be gentle and kind and there's a side of death which can be brutal and savage, depending on whose death it is. But I think that there's a lot of unresolved issues that she has with Asgard, that each step of the way, she doesn't meet people who are receptive to her. And I think she's quite bewildered as to why people are frightened of her. But the more havoc she wreaks, the stronger she becomes.

Of course, if we look at how this interview ends, she’s a power-hungry villain like all the rest. But what if Hela's role is to right the universe’s wrongs? What if her imprisonment and the Asgardians’ (and other species’) subsequent immortality are the hidden reasons for the appearance of all of the cosmic villains? And what her imprisonment has even more dire consequences that are yet to be revealed?

In a way, if Odin protected the universe from Hela, the Goddess of Death prevented other threats from entering. And when she was imprisoned"¦

Both Chris Hemsworth and Cate Blanchett have said that there’s more to Hela than what has been revealed so far. We can't wait to learn the true extent of her importance when Thor: Ragnarok is released on November 3.