As she makes her way back to the fold, Natalie Portman is reflecting on the Thor: The Dark World backlash. The Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel centered on Chris Hemsworth's titular hero as he learns of the threat of the Dark Elf Malekith as he is reawakened in the hopes of discovering the Aether and using it to conquer the Nine Realms. Thor finds that Natalie Portman's Jane Foster has absorbed the Aether, also known as the Reality Stone, and must find a way to remove it before it kills her and before Malekith can get his hands on it.
Alongside Hemsworth and Portman, the cast for Thor: The Dark World saw the MCU returns of Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Tadanobu Asano, Jaimie Alexander and Rene Russo. Helmed by Game of Thrones alum Alan Taylor, the sequel was met with mixed reviews from critics, who praised Hemsworth and Hiddleston's performances and its action sequences, but criticized its lackluster villain and writing. In spite of the poor reception, Thor: The Dark World proved to be a box office hit, grossing over $644 million and becoming the tenth highest-grossing film of the year.
While catching up with Variety to discuss her MCU return, Natalie Portman looked back at the Thor: The Dark World backlash. Though not expressing whether she thinks it could see the same response as her comparisons, Portman did note seeing similar backlash to The Professional and the Star Wars prequels in their initial releases, only for them to become favorites later down the line. See what Portman said below:
“I mean, I had it with ‘The Professional’ too. It was slaughtered critically, and now, despite having been in Marvel and ‘Star Wars’ movies, it’s the main thing people come up to me about. That and ‘Star Wars’ are two examples of things that when they came out, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is a disaster.’ And then 20 years later — actually, 30 years later for ‘The Professional’ — it’s beloved.”
Development on Thor: The Dark World is one of the more infamous stories in the MCU given the rocky road in getting it to production. Future Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins was originally tapped to helm the sequel, only to depart within two months of being hired over creative differences with Marvel, having later revealed a difference in vision for the story of the film. Portman was reportedly very frustrated with the studio about Jenkins' departure, with many audiences siding with the Oscar winner given the underwhelming final product of Thor: The Dark World.
Portman has also spoken out about her disappointment with Thor: The Dark World in the wake of its backlash, feeling her character had become unimportant and remained absent from the MCU for years. Nearly a decade past its release and the Thor sequel remains atop many MCU fans' list for worst outings in the franchise alongside the recently released Eternals, which scored the first "Rotten" rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Though her last outing may have disappointed the star and fans, audiences can look forward to Portman making her triumphant MCU return as the Mighty Thor with Thor: Love and Thunder hitting theaters on July 8.
Source: Variety
