The Simpsons Has A Female Thor Before The MCU

Warning: SPOILERS for The Simpsons: The Good, The Bart, and The Loki.

The Simpsons: The Good, The Bad, and The Loki made Lisa Simpson Thor, which means Fox's long-running animated comedy outpaced the Marvel Cinematic Universe in debuting its female Thor. In 2022's Thor: Love and Thunder, Natalie Portman will return as Dr. Jane Foster, who will prove herself worthy to wield the enchanted hammer Mjolnir and become Thor. Taika Waititi's sequel will reunite Portman with Chris Hemsworth's Thor but nonetheless, Lisa Simpson beat Jane Foster to the punch as the Goddess of Thunder in The Simpsons' crossover with the MCU.

In Marvel Comics, Jane Foster became Thor in 2014 in a critically-acclaimed story arc written by Jason Aaron. Thor's long-time love interest since his debut in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's original Thor comics run in the 1960s, Jane was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer but she proved worthy to wield Mjolnir. While becoming Thor gave Jane the same god-like abilities as Thor Odinson, each transformation into the Goddess of Thunder removed the chemotherapy from her system, which put her life in danger from cancer. Foster remained Thor for several years before Jane became a Valkyrie in the comics. While there have been multiple variants of Thor over the years, including Eric Masterson, Beta Ray Bill (a cyborg alien horse Thor), and Throg (a frog Thor), Jane was the first female Thor to headline a Thor comic series and she was popular enough for the MCU to adapt her story in Thor: Love and Thunder.

In The Simpsons: The Good, The Bad, and The Loki, the God of Mischief is banished to Springfield by Odin and he lands in the Simpsons' backyard. Befriending Bart, Loki is invited to dinner, where he quickly wins over Homer's devotion by magically turning one pork chop into two. Bart then urges Loki to banish Lisa, who ends up in a chamber on Asgard that, luckily, contains Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. After reading Mjolnir's enchantment, Lisa doesn't believe she's worthy and tries to put the hammer back on the wall, but she's transformed into Thor. Lisa then returns to Asgard to lead the Springfield Avengers, made up of many of The Simpsons' beloved cast playing Marvel superheroes, but Loki tricks her by switching places with Bart. Lisa ends up banishing Bart (in Loki's form) to Asgard while the God of Mischief takes his place in the family. Homer actually catches Loki in his true form but he doesn't register the change and accepts Loki as his son.

Of course, Lisa Simpson is worthy to become Thor so The Simpsons/MCU crossover's logic is ironclad. The eldest Simpson daughter isn't just the smartest member of the family, she has long been one of the pillars of Springfield. Lisa is a vegetarian, the top student at Springfield Elementary, and she is a compassionate soul with a good heart. There's no question Thor's hammer would find Lisa worthy to wield it so it makes perfect sense she would become Thor. Loki and Bart, the troublemakers of their respective clans, also verify this when the Asgardian trickster complains that his father Odin is "distant and abusive" while his sibling is "blond and perfect", which also describes Bart's father Homer and his sister Lisa.

The Simpsons: The Good, The Bart, and The Loki's animation also perfectly transforms Lisa into Thor. She is wearing a spot-on replica of Jane Foster's comic book costume, although minus the mask Jane wore to keep her identity a secret. Mjolnir also made Lisa more muscular as it did Jane. Natalie Portman will wear an adaptation of Jane's comic book Thor costume as well, and Portman also hit the gym to build herself the necessary muscles to play Thor. Yet it's amusing that Thor: Love and Thunder's original release date was November 5, 2021, before it was pushed back to May 6, 2022, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Either way, The Simpsons releasing their MCU crossover short in July 2021 means Lisa Simpson was always going to debut as a female Thor before Natalie Portman as Jane Foster.

Next: How The Simpsons Influenced Every Major Animated Adult Comedy

The Simpsons: The Good, The Bart, and The Loki is available to stream on Disney+.