Thor: Love and Thunder Star Natalie Portman Teases “Silly Sequel,” But She Already Hates Her Workouts

Jane Foster actress Natalie Portman is sharing the spotlight in Thor: Love and Thunder, the fourth film in the ongoing franchise that got a shot in the arm with filmmaker Taika Waititi at the helm. Portman will be wielding the hammer Mjolnir alongside Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, who recently received the weapon Stormbreaker. With filming set to begin on Thor: Love and Thunder very soon, Portman has already relocated to Australia where she’s prepping to begin work on the production. Portman recently teased the film would be a great time for fans of the franchise, while also expressing some regret over the training regiment.

Portman appeared on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, explaining that “it’s going to be really silly and funny, and great. We’ve got Taika Waititi… He’s wonderful, so I’m very excited to just be with all of them.”

However, now that she’s preparing to film, her life has become much more difficult as she gets in shape to play The Mighty Thor version of Jane Foster.

“I’ve had like months of pandemic, you know, eating baked goods and lying in bed and feeling sorry for myself. I’m super tired after working out, and during, and dreading before,” Portman said with a laugh.

Portman previously teased some new details about the film, including that Thor: Love and Thunder would be based on the comic storyline by Russell Dauterman and Jason Aaron. According to Portman herself, Jane will be dealing with her own battles while also becoming a superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“I can’t tell you that much. I’m really excited,” Portman explained during an interview with Yahoo! earlier this month. “I’m starting to train, to get muscles. If there can be all these female superheroes, the more of them they are, the better it is. I’m trying to think — it’s based on the graphic novel of The Mighty Thor. She’s going through cancer treatment and is a superhero on the side.”

Hemsworth himself reiterated Portman’s comments about the movie being a change of pace for Marvel fans.

“Very excited, excited to try to do something different, you know, the last three films we certainly, I think, pushed the envelope and created different versions of the character and now people expect some dramatic changes,” Hemsworth said in a promo interview for Swisse Vitamins & Supplements. “So, we’ve got our work cut out in that sense.”

Thor: Love and Thunder is currently set to premiere in theaters on February 11, 2022.