Thor: Love and Thunder Director Taika Waititi Teases Natalie Portman’s Official New Title

Of all of the things to come out of Marvel’s Phase 4 announcement, the news that Natalie Portman‘s Jane Foster would be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Thor surprised fans quite a bit. While it’s still several years until the film hits theaters, Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi is already here to set the record straight — don’t call her “female Thor”. Shortly after Marvel’s Phase 4 announcement, Waititi tweeted a clarification as to what Portman’s version of the Asgardian superhero would be called: “Mighty Thor”.

Many Marvel fans will hopefully be satisfied with this answer, as – like in the comics – it allows Jane to stand on her own from Thor Odinson (Chris Hemsworth).

Portman returning to the MCU – much less to play such a beloved iteration of the superhero – was unexpected to some Marvel fans, as she hadn’t really played a role in the franchise since Thor: The Dark World. Footage from that film was reused in this year’s Avengers: Endgame, but some had believed that would be the last we’d seen of Jane. Of course, that now isn’t the case — and it reportedly didn’t take long for Portman to sign on to return.

“[Taika] would flip through and read that run while he was doing Ragnarok.” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige recently revealed to CNN. “And I think when he agreed to come back and do another Thor, he was like, ‘How do we–?’ This is a very big movie that’ll be folding in a lot of elements. That is a hugely important part of it. He pitched it to us, and we were totally in. We loved it. We’d been in touch with Natalie. She’s part of the MCU family and we put she and Taika together. It took one meeting and she agreed to do it.”

Are you excited to see Natalie Portman play Mighty Thor in the MCU? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall of 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in Spring 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, What If…? In Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021.