Natalie Portman’s Future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Uncertain

Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster won’t be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, something most suspected with her exclusion from the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok.

Still, we hadn’t heard directly from Portman herself, but that was rectified in an interview the actress had with The Wall Street Journal. In it, she is asked about her current status with Marvel:

“As far as I know I’m done. I mean I don’t know if maybe one day they’ll ask for an avengers 7 or whatever I have no idea, but um, but as far as I know I’m done. That was, all a great thing to be a part of.”

Portman was a critical part of why the first two Thor films were so well received, as she played a perfect opposite to Chris Hemsworth’s Asgardian warrior. We knew before she wasn’t going to be featured in Ragnarok since Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige previously stated that the movie takes place primarily in the cosmos, so there are very few scenes on earth.

Some still held out hope that the award-winning actress would return in some form or fashion later on, but it looks like that is not going to be the case. Whether or not Marvel ends up replacing her with another actress for a future film remains to be seen, but the studio has done that in the past when Don Cheadle replaced Terrance Howard as James Rhodes.

Thor: Ragnarok won’t lack for star power, though, as the film has added several high-profile names to its third entry, including Cate Blanchette (Hela), Karl Urban (Skurge), Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie), and Jeff Goldblum (Grandmaster), and that doesn’t even include Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk.

As for Portman, she has plenty to keep her busy. The actress is working on a number of projects, including Jackie, The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards, and her recently announced HBO show We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves.

Doctor Strange arrives November 4, 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – May 5, 2017; Spider-Man: Homecoming– July 7, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017; Black Panther – February 16, 2018; Avengers: Infinity War – May 4, 2018; Ant-Man and the Wasp – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel– March 8, 2019; Avengers 4 – May 3, 2019; and as-yet untitled Marvel movies on July 12, 2019, and on May 1, July 10, and November 6 in 2020.