Thor 4: Everything Revealed About Natalie Portman's Love & Thunder Role

Natalie Portman is returning in Thor: Love & Thunder as the Mighty Thor - and here's everything we know about her role to date. The MCU can rightly be considered one of the greatest success stories in the history of Hollywood, but it is by no means perfect. The first few years were marked with behind-the-scenes conflict that, at times, had a significant impact on the films themselves. For a while, this seemed to have meant Natalie Portman's Jane Foster was simply written out of the MCU, simply because of bad blood between Portman and Marvel Studios. Fortunately, the current Marvel Studios is very different from the company of the past. An organizational restructure in 2015 resolved many of the issues, and now Natalie Portman is returning in Thor: Love & Thunder.

The Jane Foster of the MCU has always been very different from the character in the comics. The comic book version of Jane is actually a nurse who served alongside doctor Don Blake, a human who became bound to Thor Odinson. In contrast, the MCU's Jane Foster is a prominent astrophysicist who was introduced as one of the few scientists able to identify fluctuations in the electromagnetic spectrum that correlated with the Bifrost. By the time of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor was boasting his lover had received a Nobel prize.

All this means that, while Thor 4 is ostensibly inspired by Jason Aaron's much-loved Thor run, Jane Foster's return will have to be handled differently. What is more, director Taika Waititi doesn't exactly have a reputation for comic book accuracy, so he is sure to take substantial liberties. Here is everything we know about Jane Foster's return to date.

Jane Foster Will Play Mighty Thor In Love & Thunder

Until now, the MCU had principally treated Jane Foster as nothing more than Thor's love interest. This was neatly symbolized by the dismissive manner in which her absence was explained away in Thor: Ragnarok, with the Odinson simply saying they broke up off-screen. But Thor: Love & Thunder will handle Jane Foster in a very different manner because it draws inspiration from a comic book story in which she became the Mighty Thor. She did this at a time when Thor himself had been deemed unworthy to wield his enchanted hammer Mjolnir, with Jane picking it up because she believed there must always be a Thor. In the comics, Jane paid a terrible price for her willingness to step up and be the hero the Nine Realms needed during the so-called War of the Realms; she was battling cancer at the time, and every time she transformed into the Mighty Thor the effect of the chemotherapy was reversed.

Although Jane Foster is confirmed to be transforming into the Mighty Thor in Thor 4, it is unknown how closely the film will follow this comic book arc. Waititi was originally unsure if it would include Jane Foster's cancer story, simply because he felt that might change. "That comics run was a big inspiration and was an influence on the first few drafts," Waititi confirmed, "but at Marvel, we always change everything." More recently, however, Portman herself has indicated she expects the cancer plot to be part of Thor4.

Natalie Portman's Physical Transformation For Thor 4

Certainly it is clear that Thor 4 will involve a physical transformation for Portman's character. The extent of this transformation has been indicated by set photos showing Natalie Portman's muscles, confirming she has been going through an intense regime of physical training to prepare for the film. This will be Portman as she has never been seen before, a physical force to be reckoned with who can truly stand alongside Chris Hemsworth's Thor.

How Natalie Portman's Jane Gets Mjolnir In Thor 4

The interesting question, of course, is just how Jane Foster will get Mjolnir in the first place. Thor's hammer was destroyed by Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, shattered into fragments. There have been some reports Jane will wield a Mjolnir from another timeline, introduced into this one as a result of the Loki Disney+ TV series. A recent set video from Thor: Love & Thunder has raised another intriguing possibility, however; it shows Jane visiting a memorial to Odin, with the pieces of Mjolnir also on display. The actress is then seen jerking around as though caught in some sort of wind storm. It is possible her presence – that is to say, her worthiness – leads to Mjolnir reforming.

Other Powers Jane Foster Could Have In Thor: Love & Thunder

Mighty Thor Jane Foster Flying with Hammer

It will be fascinating to see whether Taika Waititi draws upon some of Mighty Thor's distinctive abilities from the comics. Jason Aaron's Mighty Thor run was notable for establishing a different relationship between Mjolnir and its bearer, with the enchanted hammer revealed to contain an entity called the God Tempest. This ancient cosmic power can harm even the Phoenix Force, and millennia ago it swept upon Asgard, only to be opposed by Odin the All-Father. Odin trapped the God Tempest inside the chunk of Uru that was subsequently forged into Mjolnir, but the entity never accepted its imprisonment, holding a grudge against Odin and his family; this meant the full power of Mjolnir had never truly been accessed by Thor Odinson. The most notable difference between Thor Odinson and Jane Foster's Thor was their very relationship with Mjolnir. Where Thor sought to master his weapon, Jane was willing to view Mjolnir as an ally or even a partner, allowing it to guide her to where she was most needed. She was further capable of summoning the full power of Mjolnir in a blitz of lightning that dwarfed anything Thor had previously managed, matching Odin himself in battle.

How Jane Foster Fits Into Thor 4's Story

Little is known of Thor 4's story, beyond the fact that it features Christian Bale as Gorr the God-Butcher. In the comics, Gorr believed the gods were by their very nature unworthy and sought to slaughter them all; he had cut a bloody swath across the cosmos, killing countless pantheons, but was ultimately defeated by multiple incarnations of Thor drawn from across time. No doubt this story will be switched up, but it is reasonable to assume the core element remains, simply because it dovetails perfectly with the themes of Jane Foster's story and the question of what it truly means to be worthy.

All evidence suggests Gorr the God-Butcher will be rendered fairly faithfully; set photos tease a comic-book-accurate origin. If that is indeed the case, then Jane Foster's Mighty Thor would pose a philosophical challenge to the villain, simply because she is something entirely different - a mortal who now commands the powers of a god. She would defy his classification, forcing him to consider his agenda, and either abandon it or escalate it. Such a conflict would certainly make for an exciting direction for Thor: Love & Thunder.

More: Love & Thunder: How Powerful Portman's Thor Will Be Compared To Hemsworth's