Marvel Studios is set to take the world by storm with the fourth Thor movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one that will bring back a popular character and actress in the franchise who could give the original God of Thunder a run for his money. But many fans are still confused by the reveal of Thor: Love and Thunder and Natalie Portman‘s return.
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Filmmaker Taika Waititi recently spoke with Entertainment Tonight at Disney’s D23 Expo to clarify a major detail about the film, indicating that Chris Hemsworth‘s character of Thor Odinson won’t lose his status — but Portman’s Jane Foster will instead join him in the pantheon.
“[She’s] a Thor. There’s still the other Thor, the original Thor [played by Hemsworth],” Waititi said before adding, “She’s not called Female Thor. In the comics, she’s called the Mighty Thor. It comes from that comic run. I couldn’t be more happy and excited.”
In the recent storylines from Marvel Comics, Jane Foster led the title The Mighty Thor after the original character became Unworthy, thanks to some dubious machinations by Nick Fury. Odinson was then unable to wield the hammer Mjolnir, and its power was given to Jane who then took on the mantle and joined the Avengers.
A separate title was launched called The Unworthy Thor, in which Odinson wielded his axe Jarnbjorn, which looks very similar to his hammer/axe Stormbreaker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Of course, this weapon also has the same name as Beta Ray Bill’s hammer, but that’s a story for a different time.
Waititi previously explained how he was able to convince Portman to return, and he partially attributed it to the fact that he wanted to finally make the actress into a full-fledged superhero.
“I just said to her, ‘Are you interested in coming back to this thing, but doing something really different?’” Waititi revealed in an interview with Variety. “Because another thing, no one wants to keep repeating themselves and no one wants to play the same characters all the time. And I think for her, just coming back reprising that character but in this whole fresh new way, is really what I think would interest anyone. Especially, in most of these films, if you’re not a superhero… do you really want to keep doing that? I mean, I wouldn’t. I would want to come back and change things up.”
Thor: Love and Thunder premieres in theaters on November 5, 2021.
