We all know by now that Natalie Portman will be returning to the MCU for the first time in years in a big way for 2021’s Thor: Love and Thunder. She won’t just be playing Jane Foster, astrophysicist anymore, as instead, she’ll be Jane Foster, Thor, as her character is set to gain the powers of the God of Thunder when she’s deemed worthy of lifting Mjolnir. It’s looking likely that this won’t just be a one-off gig for the actress, either, as Marvel has big plans for the Mighty Thor.
Sources close to We Got This Covered – the same ones who told us Wiccan will be in WandaVision and that a Nova movie is in development, both of which were confirmed this week by MCU Cosmic (see: here and here) – say that Marvel wants to give Jane Foster her own solo trilogy following Love and Thunder. The studio is apparently very keen to get Portman to stick around for future films after Taika Waititi’s movie concludes the first two years of Phase 4.
This fits with other intel we’ve heard as well, as we’ve previously reported that Thor 4Â will wrap up Chris Hemsworth’s MCU career and see Thor Odinson hand his mantle over to Jane for good. It’s also believed that Jane will feature on the New Avengers lineup. Given that, it’s not too surprising that Marvel has eyes on giving the heroine her own movie trilogy, too.
If this does go ahead, it would be an ironic turn around of Portman’s relationship with Marvel from back in the day. The Oscar winner was known to be upset with how Thor: The Dark World turned out, which led to rumors that she’d refused to return for Thor: Ragnarok. This ended up being untrue, however, with Portman explaining that there just wasn’t a role for Jane in the film. Now, there’s a part for her that could last for years to come.
Thor: Love and Thunder heads into production in Australia next August before hitting cinemas on November 5th, 2021. And at that point, we should know a lot more about what the MCU’s future holds in store for the beloved actress.
