Pride Month Spotlight: Angela & Sera

As Thor’s long-lost sister and the Queen of Hel, Angela has held some of the most impressive titles in the Marvel Universe. However, none of those roles are quite as meaningful to her as her long relationship with Sera. Angela and Sera have traveled from the heights of Heven to the depths of Hel together, building one of the definitive Marvel relationships of the last decade.  

To celebrate Pride month, let’s take a closer look at both of these heavenly heroes and how their love story reshaped the Marvel Universe. 

WHO ARE ANGELA AND SERA?

Originally named Aldrif Odinsdottir, Angela is the biological daughter of Odin and Frigga. When Angela was an infant, the deal-making Angelic warriors of Heven were locked in bitter conflict with Asgard. To stop Odin, the Queen of Angels kidnapped baby Aldrif and seemingly killed her. In retaliation, Odin cursed Heven and cut it off from Yggdrasill the Word Tree, exiling it from the other Nine Realms and erasing it from memory.

Unbeknownst to Asgard, Aldrif survived the Queen of the Angels’ attack and was quietly taken in by her handmaiden Loriel, who raised her as Angela in Heven. Even though she did not have wings, Angela’s Asgardian biology granted her an impressive range of powers, which were further augmented by Angelic armor and training. As she grew into adulthood, Angela became the Leader of the Hunt, one of Heven’s finest warriors, with weapons like her signature prehensile ribbons.

During one of her adventures, Angela met Sera, a monk-like Anchorite who was confined to one of Heven’s temples to learn spellcasting. After Sera’s magic helped the warrior stop a monster, Angela repaid her debt to Sera by freeing her and helping her realize her true form. As the two spent more time together, their relationship turned romantic. 

However, Sera eventually died during one of her adventures with Angela. Despite Angela’s attempts to resurrect her lover, Sera was condemned to an isolated prison in Hel, where she befriended Hela’s handmaiden Leah. 

HOW ANGELA AND SERA ENTERED THE MARVEL UNIVERSE

Eventually, the reality-shaking events of AGE OF ULTRON pulled Angela from Heven and left her adrift in the Marvel Universe. After coming across the Guardians of the Galaxy, she briefly joined the space-faring heroes and became fast friends with her fellow warrior Gamora.

Thanks to the secrets revealed by Uatu the Watcher’s eye in ORIGINAL SIN, Thor learned he had a sister and subsequently reopened the path to the Tenth Realm, Heven. Angela quickly returned to her adoptive home and battled Thor, until Odin arrived and revealed her true parentage. With her Asgardian heritage now public knowledge, the Hunter Angel was kicked out of Heven and tentatively welcomed back to Asgard. 

Meanwhile, in Hel, Malekith the Accursed approached Sera and offered his body as a vessel in exchange for information that could harm Odin. Although her spirit was still trapped in Hel, Sera took Malekith’s deal and seemingly reunited with Angela in ANGELA: ASGARD’S ASSASSIN.

Alongside the seemingly resurrected Sera, Angela kidnapped Odin and Frigga’s newborn daughter, Laussa. Due to the circumstances of her conception, Laussa was imbued with the immense power of Surtur. Despite the efforts of Thor, Angela threw her sister into the dormant furnace that once powered Heven, ridding her of Surtur’s demonic influence. With this, Angela gave Heven an eternal engine that repaid the debt she owed the Tenth Realm for saving her life and raising her as an Angel. 

Although this incident left Angela branded as an Asgardian traitor, she learned of Malekith’s deception and set out to rescue the real Sera from Hel.

HOW ANGELA AND SERA TOOK OVER HEL

In ANGELA: QUEEN OF HEL, Angela and Sera were reunited in the afterlife. However, Angela quickly learned she would have to conquer Hel and change its rules to make Sera’s resurrection possible. With help from Leah and Sera, Angela faced the dead Draugr, recruited the other Angels trapped in Hel, and fought Hela’s guards, a group of fallen Asgardians including Balder the Brave and Skurge the Executioner. 

After experiencing a life where she never met Sera, Angela defeated Hela in battle to officially become the new Queen of Hel. As Hel’s Hunter Queen, Angela gave Heven’s Angels a peaceful final resting place in the form of Elysium. She also freed Leah from her obligations, forgave Hela for her actions against the Angels, and resurrected Sera. With that, Angela abdicated and named Balder the regent of Hel after a few moments in power.

Angela and Sera returned to the land of the living and moved to New York with their surrogate daughter Leah. As they settled into a relatively normal life, the group faced the Faustian Queen, a cursed variant of Angela from 1602 WITCH HUNTER ANGELA. After Leah promised to free her from her curse and reunite her with her Sera, the Faustian Queen gave Angela, Sera, and Leah seven years to live together. When that time was up, the Queen returned the group to the present, and she was reunited with Serah in Elysium. 

ANGELA AND THE ASGARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

After Angela and Sera spent several months together, Angela found her love missing when she returned from a cosmic adventure. With some help from Kid Loki in ASGARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, Angela eventually learned Sera had left Earth to join Yondu’s Ravagers. Sera and her cosmic teammates were protecting a group of refugees who turned prayers into diamonds from the Raiders who were hunting them. During a battle on Ego the Living Planet, Angela and Sera briefly reunited as their teams took down the Raiders. However, this marked the end of Angela and Sera’s relationship, as Sera said she had found her calling in protecting the refugees. 

Leaving Sera to her own cosmic adventures, Angela moved on and joined a black-ops affiliate team of Avengers in STRIKEFORCE. More recently, Angela brought Thor, Odin, and Frigga together in THOR to work out some issues shortly before Odin’s apparent death. 

Even though Angela and Sera are on their own paths now, the two ended their relationship on an amicable note. However, with their history, the relationship between these star-crossed lovers has already left a lasting impact on the Marvel Universe. 

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