Thor: Love and Thunder Star Natalie Portman Surprises Fans at Screening

Thor: Love and Thunder is finally playing in theatres, and the movie has been met with fairly positive reviews. The Marvel film is currently up on Rotten Tomatoes with a 68% critics score and an 84% audience score. ComicBook.com‘s Jenna Anderson gave the movie a 3.5 out of 5 and called it “electrifying and erratic.” The movie features the return of some fan-favorite characters, including Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, who is now suiting up as Mighty Thor. Today, Portman took to Instagram to share a fun video of her surprising fans at a screening of the new movie in Rome. 

“Happy opening weekend! Loved surprising you all in Rome. Link in bio for tickets 👆@thorofficial @marvelitalia,” Portman wrote. You can check out her video below:

Portman joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2011’s Thor, but it wasn’t until 2014 that Jane took up the Thor mantle in the comics. By that time, Portman had portrayed Jane once again in 2013’s Thor: The Dark World and didn’t appear in the franchise again until a brief cameo in Avengers: Endgame in 2019. Recently, Portman spoke with ComicBook.com about how she never thought she would play Mighty Thor. 

“It definitely is amazing to have these, Jane as Mighty Thor comic books that Taika [Waititi] gave to me the first time we met as this kind of kernel of an idea for what this could be,” Portman explained. “I never did,” Portman added when asked if she thought back in 2014 that she would take up the Thor mantle. “I really was excited by the idea of playing an astrophysicist in a movie of this size. I thought that was such a cool opportunity to, get to portray. And then, the comic book that had this idea of Jane becoming Mighty Thor only was published in 2014. So, it was like several years after I had started being part of the film. So, that’s when it started coming up as an idea.”

Thor: Love and Thunder sees the return of Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi along with a cast of Marvel favorites. In addition to Portman, the movie sees the return of Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie), Jaimie Alexander (Lady Sif), and Waititi (Korg). The film also features some of the Guardians of the Galaxy stars and includes some MCU newcomers. Christian Bale is featured in the film as Gorr the God Butcher and Russell Crowe plays the role of Zeus. 

What did you think of Natalie Portman’s return to Marvel in Thor: Love and Thunder? Tell us in the comments! 

Thor: Love and Thunder is now playing in theatres.