Thor: Love and Thunder - First Official Look at Natalie Portman as the Mighty Thor

04/18/2022 10:18 am EDT

Disney has released a first look at Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) as the Mighty Thor in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder. This is Portman's return to the franchise after sitting out Thor: Ragnarok. In the comics, Jane -- Thor's girlfriend from the first two movies -- developed an aggressive form of cancer, and Thor allowed her to wield Mjolnir, with his "thunder god" powers keeping her alive. Last week, rumors emerged that the Thor: Love and Thunder trailer might finally be coming soon. It certainly seems plausible that the release of such a long-awaited image could confirm those reports.

This is the latest in a series of high-profile Marvel releases that push their trailer until late in the marketing campaign. Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: No Way Home both ended up with anxious social media users begging constantly for trailers -- and Thor has recently had the same thing happen.

In the film, Jane Foster, played by Natalie Portman, will become the Mighty Thor, the goddess of Thunder. Chris Hemsworth's Thor will be in the film as well, with Tessa Thompson reprising her role as Valkyrie, now the King of Asgard. While there have been very few official looks at the film, new imagery and plot points are starting to trickle out in the form of photos of toys and merch that are coming to the market.

Director Taika Waititi has been coy about his upcoming movie. He says it's the wildest film he's ever made. "Well, just between [me and] you and the readers, I've done some crazy sh*t in my life. I've lived, like, ten lifetimes. But it's the craziest film I've ever done," Waititi explained. "If you wrote down all the elements of this film, it shouldn't make sense," he added, "It's almost like it shouldn't be made. If you walked into a room and said, 'I want this and this and this.' Who's in it? These people. What are you going to call it? Love And Thunder. I mean, you'd never work again. Maybe I won't after this."

Taika Waititi, who directed Thor: Ragnarok, returns to direct Thor: Love and Thunder. He also co-wrote the film's screenplay with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. The film and stars Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Chris Pratt, Jaimie Alexander, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Jeff Goldblum, and Vin Diesel.

Thor: Love and Thunder opens in theaters on July 8th.

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