Ever since Natalie Portman took the stage for Marvel Studios’ San Diego Comic-Con presentation in 2019, we’ve known that her character, Jane Foster, is coming back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We haven’t seen Jane since the events of 2013’s Thor: The Dark World, but when she returns for Thor: Love and Thunder, she’ll give Chris Hemsworth’s God of Thunder some competition on the superhero front. Just like her comic book counterpart, Portman’s Jame will transform into The Mighty Thor during the events of Love and Thunder, and we may now have an explanation for how this will happen.
To provide some context, some Thor: Love and Thunder set photos recently emerged (via @loventhunders) revealing that in the MCU’s New Asgard, a memorial area has been set up on the spot where Odin died in Thor: Ragnarok, and it includes the shards of Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, which Hela destroyed. Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster is seen looking at the shards in one of the photos, but then things kick up a notch. A set video has come out (via Natalie Portman Updates) depicting a stunt involving Portman hanging in the air.
While we won’t know for sure what’s happening in the scene until Thor: Love and Thunder is released, it seems as though the Mjolnir shards still contain some power and have swept Jane Foster in some kind of mystical windstorm. From there, we can infer that this weird event leads to her transforming into The Mighty Thor, although again, this is all just speculation. Of course, it was to be expected that Jane’s Thor origin story would unfold differently in the MCU compared to the comics, since in the 616-universe, Jane obtained the still-intact Mjolnir after Thor lost the ability to wield the hammer during the Original Sin storyline.
Avengers: Endgame provided an opportunity for moviegoers to see Chris Hemsworth’s Thor use Mjolnir again when he retrieved a past version of it during the Time Heist, which paved the way for an even bigger moment: Captain America using the hammer during the climactic conflict against Thanos. However, Cap later returned the past Mjolnir to its proper place in time, and Thor seems quite comfortable continuing to use the Stormbreaker axe. It had once been rumored that the Mjolnir Jane Foster uses in Thor: Love and Thunder is from an alternate timeline that the Loki leading the upcoming, same-named Disney+ series brings over, but I’d argue it’ll be even more interesting to see the original Mjolnir reform simply because it detects Jane’s presence and deems her worthy.
Specific plot details concerning Thor: Love and Thunder are being kept under wraps, but along with Jane Foster turning into The Mighty Thor, the story will involve Thor Odinson clashing with Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher, Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie searching for her queen, Jaimie Alexander’s Lady Sif also returning and the Guardians of the Galaxy being thrown into the mix, among other things. In addition to reprising the soft-spoken Kronan known as Korg, Taika Waititi is sitting back in the director’s chair and co-wrote the script with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. Principal photography kicked off in late January in Sydney, Australia.
Provided there are no more delays, Thor: Love and Thunder will storm into theaters on May 6, 2022. If you’re curious about what other Marvel movies are making up the Phase Four slate, you’d be wise to look through our comprehensive guide.
