Well this is interesting. While Cate Blanchett is currently enjoying a mountain of accolades and praise for her tremendous performance in Carol, it appears the actress is still keen to play in the world of blockbuster filmmaking—with Marvel, no less. Per Variety, the Oscar-winner is in early talks to join the cast of Thor: Ragnarok playing one of the film’s new female lead roles.
While Variety’s report has no details on Blanchett’s character, Birth.Movies.Death. reported in October that Marvel plans to introduce the superheroine Valykrie in this film, so that's certainly a possibility. Moreover, that same report noted that the reason What We Do in the Shadows helmer Taika Waititi was tasked with directing Thor: Ragnarok was to hopefully bring some levity to an otherwise grim storyline/script and keep the movie’s tone in line with the Marvel brand, so while the Thor films haven't exactly been top tier Marvel, the studio could be doing something special with this third entry.
Of course things can certainly change before cameras roll next summer, and Blanchett’s deal is far from done. In fact, Marvel recently brought in Stephany Folsom to do a polish on the screenplay, which was originally penned by Thor: The Dark World scribes Christopher Yost and Craig Kyle. So it’s possible the story is being reworked even further.
Regardless, signing Blanchett would be a huge deal for Marvel. They’ve gotten more ambitious with their casting as of late, nabbing Robert Redford for Captain America: The Winter Soldier and performers like Tilda Swinton and Chiwetel Ejiofor are poised to make their Marvel debuts in the near future. So while this is certainly a bit of a surprising fit for an actress of Blanchett’s caliber (yes she was in Lord of the Rings, but those films had a critically acclaimed director at the helm), it’s no doubt an exciting prospect. She’s not leaving the realm of prestige dramas entirely behind, however, as she’s also in talks to star in Richard Linklater’s next film Where’d You Go Bernadette?.
Thor: Ragnarok will also star Mark Ruffalo and is slated for release on November 3, 2017.
