Cate Blanchett joining Marvel’s ‘Thor: Ragnarok’

Even though Cate Blanchett has starred in plenty of franchise movies and sequels, we still don’t think of her as a star of blockbusters. She’s going to change that though by starring in Thor: Ragnarok.

The out-of-left-field casting was first reported by Variety, which notes that the two-time Oscar winner is in talks for a mysterious female lead role. Marvel has not commented.

Ragnarok is being directed by Taika Waititi (Flight of the Conchords, What We Do In The Shadows) and will feature Chris Hemsworth as Thor again. Tom Hiddleston is expected to be back as Loki and Mark Ruffalo will pop in to play The Hulk/Bruce Banner. The script was recently worked on by Stephany Folsom.

Blanchett is best known for her roles in dramas, and has won Oscars for Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator and Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine. She was nominated for a Golden Globe and SAG Award for Todd Haynes’ Carol this week.

The Australian actress has starred in plenty of big-budget franchise movies before though. She played Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies, starred in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, played the Evil Stepmother in Disney’s Cinderella remake and played Queen Elizabeth I twice.

Ragnarok opens on Nov. 3.