After Natalie Portman left the MCU abruptly after Thor: The Dark World, we thought we would never see Jane Foster again. rumors claimed that Portman was not happy with the way her character was bein treated. Jane Foster was noting but a damsel in distress in both the Thor movies she appeared in. With DC proving that female leads can also work in the superhero genre, we now know Portman asking Marvel to giver her character a better spotlight was justified. When the MCU refused, Portman decided to leave with her head held high.
And a miracle happened in the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con. The success of Thor: Ragnarok amplified the popularity of the Thor sub-franchise. Right after Natalie Portman left, Jason Aaron’s Jane Foster Thor became immensely popular in 2014. Marvel Studios now wanted Natalie Portman to return. And this time she will be having her way. Portman’s Jane Foster will become the new Goddess of Thunder after lifting the Mjolnir hammer. If you are delighted to see Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster become the new Thor, we have bad news for you.
Lifting the hammer and becoming worthy of the power of Thor is the worst thing that could happen to Jane Foster. And here’s why – in the comic books, Jane Foster did end up doing some really incredible stuff. But Mjolnir was the reason of her death. We believe Marvel intends to kill off Jane Foster the same way she died in the comic books, the reason being cancer – a side effect of lifting Mjolnir.
In the MCU, Jane Foster is a brilliant scientist who has developed the technology to detect anomalies in the fabric of space-time. In the comics, she is a nurse. The reason she became a nurse was her entire family line was genetically cursed. Many of her relatives died of cancer. the latest victim being her mom. Jane Foster became a nurse to help cancer patients fight back. Tragedy struck her life when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After relentless chemo-therapy sessions, she won that battle.
But when she wielded Mjolnir, her chemotherapy was slowly undone. When she transforms into Thor, Mjolnir cleanses her body of all toxins, including the chemicals that kept her cancer at bay. So in other words, every time Foster became Thor, she was one step closer to an inevitable death. She transformed for the last time to fight the Mangog. That was when she met her doom.
The movie will obviously follow a different route. According to the recently released The Wakanda Files, wielding Mjolnir could potentially take a heavy toll on a mortal. The power of Thor was never meant for regular humans. Captain America could wield it because he had the Super Soldier Serum. Moreover he wielded the power of Thor for a very small amount of time. Jane Foster would be holding Mjolnir and Thor’s power for more than a few short bursts. The repeated exposure to such tremendous power is what could theoretically introduce the Jane Foster cancer plot to the MCU.
In a way, this would truly alleviate Natalie Portman’s character’s stature in the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. She would be paying the ultimate price to save others just like the way the heroic Jane Foster of he comic books did. Since Portman and Kevin Feige have both hinted at the Cancer plot being linked to Thor: Love And Thunder, this is probably going to be the case.
