The release of Marvel’s most anticipated movie Thor: Love and Thunder is around the corner, and during a promotional event Natalie Portman expressed her admiration for Marvel Studios. In the movie, Natalie is returning as much-loved marvel character, Jane Foster carrying the mantle of the Mighty Thor. She will also be playing Lady Thor in the movie.
Also read: Biggest Takeaways From The Thor: Love and Thunder Press Conference
Here’s why Natalie Portman left the MCU after the Thor: The Dark World
Jane Foster was first introduced as an astrophysicist in 2011’s Thor. After investigating New Mexico with her team, she encountered the God of Thunder and quickly got caught up in the demigod’s Asgardian conflict. Jane later became Thor’s love interest and returned to Thor: The Dark World.
While snooping around an abandoned warehouse, Jane was infected by the Aether, the liquified form of the Reality Stone. The Aether was later drawn out of Jane and Thor helped save the day with the help of his allies on Earth. The relationship between Thor and Jane seemed fine by the end of the movie, but that was clearly not the case following Thor: The Dark World.
In truth, the decision to remove Natalie Portman from the third Thor film was made well before the movie was being developed. Before Alan Taylor directed Thor: The Dark World, Patty Jenkins was at the helm. Due to creative differences, she was fired from the Thor sequel. The actress was very displeased with the firing and its subsequent effect on her role; it’s been suggested that the actress only agreed to the sequel because of Patty Jenkins’ involvement.
Natalie Portman Praises MCU
In an interview with Screen Rant an exclusive interview, the actress expressed her genuine praise and gratitude for Marvel’s forward-thinking approach to embracing unique styles of telling these superhero stories. When she joined the franchise in Thor, Natalie Portman shared that no one knew how much of an impact the MCU would have on audiences.
Since then, Marvel has grown immensely, in part due to the respect Feige and the studio give to their artists, and she notes that their willingness to take a chance has time and time proved successful. Read her full response below:
“It’s really wild, because when we started, it was one of the first MCU movies. Iron Man, I think, had just come out and we were shortly thereafter. It felt big, but we didn’t quite know how expansive, and I think it’s really a testament to what Kevin Feige and his entire team have done with the Marvel Universe.
I think you see Marvel really treats creative collaborators with so much respect, and encourages and fosters all of this – yes, fosters – creativity that really allows people to do their [best].
Taika brought his entire imagination and self to these movies, and they benefit so much from that. I think they really understand how much the creative people bring to it.”
