Thor: Love and Thunder Director Says Jane Foster’s Cancer Storyline Might Not Be in the Movie

There’s a lot of anticipation for Thor: Love and Thunder, especially with the return of Natalie Portman‘s character Jane Foster to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where she’ll get a major upgrade and a magic hammer as the Mighty Thor. The storyline seems to be based on the iconic comic book run of the same name from creators Russell Dauterman and Jason Aaron, which also depicted Jane’s battle with cancer as she struggled to maintain the mantle of Thor. Many fans are hopeful this part of the storyline will make it into Taika Waititi‘s next Marvel Studios movie, but the filmmaker isn’t sure if it will get cut at this point.

During an interview with Variety after winning Best Adapted Screenplay honors for Jojo Rabbit at the Academy Awards, Waititi said that Marvel is constantly changing things and didn’t confirm if Jane’s cancer battle will play a role in Thor: Love and Thunder.

“We don’t know. That comics run was a big inspiration, and was an influence on the first few drafts,” said Waititi. “But at Marvel, we always change everything. I could say one thing right now, and in two years, it will be the complete opposite — or that thing won’t exist. We continue writing even in post-production.”

When asked if those decisions are an edict coming from Marvel Studios and head honcho Kevin Feige, Waititi made it clear that it all comes down to telling a story the audience will connect with.

“Based on what the audience wants. We test the film. We shot for two weeks on Thor [Ragnarok] with our pickups,” Waititi said. “There were huge, huge character changes, huge story changes. We reshot entire scenes. I think that’s why they do good work. They’re relentless in their pursuit of just a good movie.”

Fans have recently saw examples of Marvel Studios’ major changes to Thor: Ragnarok in recent weeks since the release of The Infinity Saga box set, which features deleted scenes that show a completely different version of Odin’s death. In the original scenes, which were glimpsed in the first trailer, Hela tracks Odin and her brothers Thor and Loki to an alley in New York City where she destroys Mjolnir and kills her father.

So while we wait for any new information about Thor: Love and Thunder and how it will adapt this fan-favorite storyline, fans shouldn’t expect anything to stay permanent until the movie actually premieres in theaters.

Thor: Love and Thunder premieres in theaters on November 5, 2021.