Taika Waititi Teases Bigger Natalie Portman Role in ‘Thor 4’: ‘You Want Her to Be Part of the Adventure’
Christian Zilko
“Thor: Love and Thunder” is one of the summer’s most anticipated films with Taika Waititi’s return to the director’s chair and Natalie Portman’s return to the role of Jane Foster. Portman first played the character in 2011’s “Thor” and reprised the role for the 2013 sequel “Thor: The Dark World,” but has been noticeably absent from the MCU ever since. When she returns to the franchise this summer, it will be in a bigger way than ever before.
“Thor: Love and Thunder” takes inspiration from “The Mighty Thor,” an acclaimed comic book run from Jason Aaron that sees Jane Foster become a Thunder God herself. While Jane Foster was purely a supporting character in earlier films, fans can expect to see her wielding Thor’s hammer and getting in on the action in Waititi’s new movie.
Portman’s return to the “Thor” universe is a major coup for Waititi, and his excitement was palpable in a new interview with Empire when he discussed working with the “Black Swan” star.
“I didn’t know we were going to use the storyline of the ‘Mighty Thor’ character until we started working out the actual story,” Waititi said. “I was writing and it was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be kind of cool to bring Jane back into the storyline?’”
The director added that fans will see a very different version of the character than what Portman played before.
“You don’t want Natalie coming back and playing that same character who’s walking around with science equipment,” Waititi said. “You know, while Thor’s flying around, she’s left on Earth, tapping her foot going, ‘When’s he going to be back?’ That’s boring. You want her to be part of the adventure.”
Waititi’s first entry in the MCU, “Thor: Ragnarok” was a critical and box office success and the director said fans can expect more of his signature humor in “Love and Thunder,” adding that Portman gave an excellent comedic performance.
“Natalie’s really funny in real life,” he said. “She’s kind of goofy and has got a great sense of humor, and I don’t think that was exploited enough in the first films.”
“Thor: Love and Thunder” hits theaters on July 8, 2022.
