Marvel Studios is celebrating five of the MCU's most powerful queens in a new tribute that spans Asgard, Wakanda, Westview, and beyond. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has featured plenty of strong female characters since 2008, and a small group of them hold the title of queen across both the films and Disney+ shows.
The new tribute came from Marvel Studios Canada in a social media post on X (formerly Twitter), with the caption "All hail the queens who steal scenes." The accompanying poster brings together five queens from across the franchise.
The five queens featured on the poster are Death from Agatha All Along, Queen Ramonda from the Black Panther films, the Scarlet Witch from WandaVision and Marvel Zombies, Hela from Thor: Ragnarok, and Frigga from the Thor films. The lineup covers more than a decade of MCU history, with Frigga's first appearance dating back to 2011's Thor and Death's live-action debut coming as recently as 2024 through Agatha All Along.
Of the five queens shown, only the Scarlet Witch's ultimate fate remains an open question in the current MCU timeline. Hela, Frigga, and Queen Ramonda have all died on screen, while Death continues to exist as the cosmic embodiment of her own name.
Marvel Studios Reveals Its MCU Queens
Death
Death made her live-action MCU debut through Agatha All Along, the Disney+ series that aired in late 2024. Aubrey Plaza played the character for most of the show in the form of a Green Witch named Rio Vidal. She joined Kathryn Hahn's Agatha Harkness on the Witches' Road as her former lover, though the full history between them was kept hidden through most of the series.
Rio's true identity as Death was confirmed late in the series, when the show revealed that Agatha had spent centuries mourning the son she was forced to let Death take. When Billy Maximoff inadvertently claimed a second life by inserting his soul into William Kaplan's body, Death came to claim him to restore the cosmic balance. Agatha eventually sacrificed herself in Billy's place, allowing the young witch to live out his new life while she crossed over into the afterlife.
In Marvel Comics, Death is the cosmic entity behind Thanos's obsession and the reason he gathered the Infinity Stones to wipe out half the universe. Her live-action arrival opens the door for one of Marvel's most powerful cosmic figures to play a bigger role in the MCU's future.
Ramonda
Queen Ramonda is the mother of T'Challa and Shuri and the matriarch of Wakanda, played by Angela Bassett. She first appeared in 2018's Black Panther as a supporting figure standing beside her son during his coronation and his fight to keep the throne from Erik Killmonger. Her role grew significantly in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever following the real-life death of Chadwick Boseman, who originated the role of T'Challa.
With T'Challa gone, Ramonda took the throne again and became the lead voice of Wakanda on the world stage. She addressed the United Nations to defend Wakanda's sovereignty as foreign powers pushed for access to its vibranium reserves. She also stood firm against Tenoch Huerta's Namor when he demanded that Wakanda hand over the young Riri Williams to Talokan.
Ramonda was killed when Namor flooded the throne room during the attack on the Golden City, drowning after pulling Riri to safety. Bassett's performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first acting nomination ever for an MCU film. Her portrayal of Ramonda remains one of the most acclaimed performances Marvel Studios has put on screen.
Wanda
Wanda Maximoff officially claimed her Scarlet Witch identity at the end of WandaVision, the Disney+ series that premiered in January 2021 and gave Elizabeth Olsen her first solo project in the MCU. The show followed Wanda after Vision's death in Avengers: Infinity War, as her grief caused her to trap the town of Westview, New Jersey, inside a sitcom-style reality powered by chaos magic. Inside that bubble, she lived out a fantasy life with Vision and their twin sons, Billy and Tommy.
Kathryn Hahn's Agatha Harkness exposed the full extent of Wanda's power and named her the legendary Scarlet Witch, the one prophesied to either rule or destroy the cosmos. Olsen returned in 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as the central villain, hunting America Chavez to steal her powers and reach a universe where she could be reunited with her sons. She was last seen sacrificing herself at Mount Wundagore to bring down the temple and end the Darkhold's grip on every reality.
Olsen reprised the role through voice work on What If...? and later Marvel Zombies, the animated Disney+ event that premiered in September 2025. In that story, an infected Wanda leads an army of zombies as the Queen of the Dead, controlling them with her magic. The Scarlet Witch is one of the most powerful characters Marvel Studios has ever introduced, and her return in some form during the back half of the Multiverse Saga remains a long-standing fan expectation.
Hela
Hela is the Asgardian Goddess of Death and Odin's firstborn child, played by Cate Blanchett in Thor: Ragnarok in 2017. She was the MCU's first major female villain, arriving 17 films into the franchise. Hela had once helped Odin conquer the Nine Realms before her ambition turned her into a threat, and Odin locked her away in another dimension and erased her name from Asgardian history.
Odin's death freed Hela from her prison, and she returned to Asgard to take the throne by force. She destroyed Mjolnir with her bare hand, banished Thor and Loki to the planet Sakaar, and slaughtered the Warriors Three and most of the Asgardian army. Karl Urban's Skurge briefly served as her Executioner before turning on her in the final battle for Asgard.
Thor and Loki defeated Hela by unleashing the fire demon Surtur on Asgard, bringing about the Ragnarok prophecy and destroying the realm itself to take her down with it. Blanchett later returned to voice alternate versions of Hela in What If...? Season 2 on Disney+.
Frigga
Frigga is the Queen of Asgard and the mother of Thor, played by Rene Russo across the Thor films. Her role was small in 2011's Thor, with most of her scenes cut from the final film, and director Kenneth Branagh personally sent her a note about the trims. Her presence grew significantly in Thor: The Dark World, where she fought Malekith and the Dark Elves to protect Jane Foster after Loki accidentally led them into Asgard.
Frigga was killed during that fight by the Kursed warrior Algrim, who ran her through with a sword after she refused to give up Jane's location. Her death drove the rest of the film and gave Thor and Loki one of their few moments of shared grief in the franchise. Asgard held a sweeping funeral for her, with thousands of glowing lanterns released into the sky over the realm.
Russo returned briefly in Avengers: Endgame for a quiet conversation with a time-displaced Thor on the day of her death. Thor, broken by his failure to stop Thanos, found a moment of peace with his mother before going back to the fight. This short scene gave the Asgardian queen a proper goodbye.
Marvel Studios' poster celebrating these five powerful queens can be seen below:
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
