Ever since the initiation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), superhero movies have turned into a global phenomena.

With over dozens of superheroes in the MCU, there have also been a fair share of memorable villains.

And speaking of memorable villains in the MCU, Vulture, Loki, Dormammu, and Thanos definitely occupy the top spots, among others.

Another villain that was expected to make enormous waves in the MCU was Hela from Thor: Ragnarok.

Marvel fans were excited about the movie because it would finally feature a lead female villain after sixteen movies in the cinematic universe.

But while the movie got great reviews from fans and critics alike, many had one thing to pick on — how the movie wasted Cate Blanchett as Hela.

Cate Blanchett as Hela in 'Thor: Ragnarok.'

Cate Blanchett as Hela in 'Thor: Ragnarok.' (Source: YouTube)

It wasn’t Blanchett’s performance that received criticism, but how the movie dealt with her character.

Critics on Cate Blanchett as Hela

When news of Blanchett being cast as Hela in Thor: Ragnarok first came out, many praised the casting choice. 

Blanchett had already established herself as one of the best actresses of her generation and had stood out among her peers in other big movies as well. 

Her work history paired with her being the first lead female villain in the MCU generated a lot of buzz.

The entire Marvel fandom was looking forward to her performance, and she did not fail them. 

When the movie finally came out, her performance was almost unanimously praised.

But while there was nothing to pick on her performance, the same couldn’t be said for how the movie dealt with her character. 

Thor: Ragnarok was criticized for being plagued with the same problem that had stuck with other Marvel movies of the past — the villains being one-dimensional characters.

In the comics, the superheroes and the villains have been duking it out for decades, adding further layers to both the antagonists and the protagonists.

However, when it comes to superhero movies, the flaws in the villains have been glaringly obvious. More often than not, the villains exist simply to be defeated by the heroes.

Sometimes, this problem has been solved. For example, Thanos's motivations and stories had been built up over several movies. 

Precisely because of that, Thanos is remembered as the greatest villain in the MCU.

Loki and Winter Soldier are similarly seen in a positive light because their stories and motivations have been expanded in multiple movies.

Another problem with how Thor: Ragnarok dealt with Hela was how little interaction she had with Thor and Loki.

Despite having a runtime of 2 hours and 10 minutes, the number of scenes where Hela interacts with Thor and Loki is just two throughout the entire movie.

And to make it worse, one scene is where the two meet each other for the first time and the second is when they face each other for the ending battle.

Such being the case, many pointed out that Hela should have had more interactions with the two lead characters as well as have her story told through those interactions instead of expositions.