In an article posted to Laughing Place on October 24, 2022, it was revealed that a fan-favorite character from 2017’s Taika Waititi written and directed smash hit Marvel Studios’ film Thor: Ragnarok will be returning from the dead – but this time, she is appearing in animated form. In the upcoming second season of the Disney+ animated series What If…?, Hela (Cate Blanchett), long-lost daughter to Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and sister to Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston), will return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Hela was both introduced and killed in Ragnarok. Despite Blanchett’s short-lived appearance in the MCU, she left a big impression on fans. Since her first appearance in 2017, many have hoped that she would return to the screen in some capacity, and while it is most likely that the version of the character we see on What If…? will be a multiversal variant of the version from Ragnarok, her return is extremely welcome to legions of fans.

The news was revealed by What If…? director Bryan Andrews during the “Marvel Studios’ Journey Into Imagination” panel at the 2022 LightBox Expo, which took place October 21 through 23. The panel was moderated by Marvel Studios production manager Alex Scharf and also featured I Am Groot director Kirsten Lepore.

According to Laughing Place, Andrews expressed “astonishment” at the caliber of Blanchett’s performance, which he promises will reveal a side of Hela that we’ve never seen before. In What If…?’s first season, it also relied on the plot device of showing a new side of a reformed MCU villain, the biggest bad of them all, Mr. “Mad Titan” Thanos (Josh Brolin). In “What If… T’Challa had Become a Star-Lord?” Marvel fans got to see a version of Brolin’s character privately referred to as “California Thanos” during production.

Bryan Andrews Teases 1988’s The Avengers in What If…?

     Marvel

Although no Season 2 footage was shared during the LightBox panel, Andrews teased some plot details about what fans can anticipate when the anthology show returns for its second season. In addition to Hela’s return, Laughing Place reported that Andrews discussed a 1988 iteration of the Avengers team and noted that learning the team’s roster is particularly exciting. He also revealed that the show’s second season premiere picks up “right where the Season 1 finale left.”

Season 2 of What If…? is currently scheduled to arrive for streaming on Disney+ in 2023.