Taika Waititi and Natalie Portman venture carefully around questions about Jane Foster’s cancer storyline in her journey as the Mighty Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder. While their answers are vaguely worded, it can be assumed that there is a possibility of the storyline being used in the MCU.
After her departure from the MCU, Natalie Portman had not planned on coming back after her work in Thor: The Dark World due to the unsatisfactory character arc. This is why we did not see Jane Foster in Thor: Ragnarok, Waititi’s first MCU project.
Even her cameo in Avengers: Endgame was simply a mix of some unused footage from her time on Thor: The Dark World’s set, plus some home-recorded voiceovers. But upon Waititi’s persuasion and her children’s insistence, Natalie Portman has rejoined the MCU. Waititi planned on bringing her back for the fourth film but not as the mortal scientist she played in the first two films.
“I’ve seen her play the scientist character in Thor 1 and 2, and it just seemed pointless to do it again.”
Taika Waititi
Taika Waititi found Jane’s new character arc in the 2014-launched comic book run, where Jane is worthy of wielding Mjolnir and becomes The Mighty Thor. Portman was also glad to join the project since the part was no longer that of a damsel in distress who needed rescuing, but Thor’s equal doing the saving.
The film’s plot follows Chris Hemsworth Thor as he retires from his duties as Asgard’s king and ventures out to find inner peace after his loss in Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War. But upon the emergence of Gorr, the God Butcher (played by Christian Bale), Thor has to stop Gorr from completing his mission to rid the universe of all gods.
Thor recruits the help of his friends like Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and Korg (voiced by Taika Waititi) on his quest. The team chances upon Jane (Natalie Portman) in her Mighty Thor ensemble, keeping up the good fight with a revived Mjolnir (previously destroyed by Hela in Thor: Ragnarok).
The film also stars the Guardians of the Galaxy cast members reprising their roles, including Chris Pratt, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, and Vin Diesel. The plot suggests heavy inspiration from Jason Aaron’s comic Mighty Thor on Taika Waititi’s part.
The inspiration thus has ignited one question throughout press tours and interviews, dodged by Waititi multiple times. Will Jane Foster’s cancer storyline in the comics be incorporated into the MCU film?
In the comics, Jane Foster gets diagnosed with breast cancer and receives chemotherapy to revive from it. But her transformation into the Mighty Thor and her use of Mjolnir purges her of all toxins, including the chemo keeping her alive. Essentially, Jane must choose between using her powers and increasing her chances of dying or hanging up the superhero cape.
In a recent interview with Variety, Portman and Waititi address the possibility of exploring this storyline in Thor: Love and Thunder. Portman gives a vague answer about how becoming a superhero “might give you a different perspective on your human life.”
Taika Waititi’s answer, though similarly short, seemed to give more insight into the speculation. “Part of why [Natalie] wanted to play that character is that she has a dilemma in the book.”
Waititi adds that his team has kept the essence of that dilemma and Jane’s choices in mind and have been very interested in keeping them in the movie. What else could he be referencing if not the moral dilemma previously explained?
As we all know, Marvel has always been gung-ho about the secrecy and mystery surrounding their movies. So, all we can do is wait till July 8 to find out the answers to all our questions about Thor: Love and Thunder.
About Thor: Love and Thunder
Thor: Love and Thunder is a MCU movie and the fourth installation in the Thor series. It is directed by Ragnarok’s director, Taika Waititi, and will show Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman reprising their roles as Thor Odinson and Dr. Jane Foster.
The movie will be based on The Mighty Thor comics in which Thor Odinson loses the ability to lift Mjolnir, and Jane Foster takes on the role of Mighty Thor. After the events of Avengers: Endgame, Thor teams up with The Guardians of the Galaxy for a short time, leaving Valkyrie as the ruler of New Asgard. But Thor returns to team up with Korg, Valkyrie and Jane’s Mighty Thor to take down Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) – before he takes out all the gods in existence.
Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson return for Watiti’s second go, while Russell Crowe and Natalie Portaman join Taika’s project for the first time. The movie is out on July 8, 2022.
Source: Variety
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