Summary

Natalie Portman is open to reprising her role as Jane Foster in the MCU despite her character’s death in Thor: Love and Thunder.
The Multiverse Saga in the MCU opens up the opportunity for Portman to return as a new variant of Jane with a different backstory.
Portman’s return as Jane Foster in some capacity may happen as The Multiverse Saga progresses, but Marvel Studios has not contacted her yet.

Marvel Cinematic Universe veteran Natalie Portman opens up about potentially coming back to the franchise after her ending in Thor: Love and Thunder. Despite being a box office success, Thor: Love and Thunder ended up receiving criticism from fans and critics alike. One of the biggest criticisms of the Thor: Love and Thunder ending in particular was the death of Jane Foster, aka Mighty Thor, as she passed away in the final act. The post-credits scene revealed she’d gone to the Norse afterlife, Valhalla.

In the latest issue of Total Film (via Games Radar), Portman was asked about the possibility of reprising the role of Jane in the MCU. Despite her death at the end of Thor: Love and Thunder, Portman is still game to make a comeback. She shared the following:

Oh, I have no idea. I mean, no one’s asked me to. So I don’t know. But sure, that was super-fun.

How Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster Can Return In The MCU

If Portman and Marvel Studios were to collaborate again in the future, there are a handful of ways for Jane to be back in the MCU. If they want to continue with the version of Jane that the MCU audience has been following since 2011, they could always undo her Thor: Love and Thunder death with a resurrection. However, given how the MCU tends to stick to a lot of their deaths, it seems unlikely that this version of Jane would be brought back.

But one of the great things about the MCU right now is The Multiverse Saga, which allows actors to come back as variant versions of their respective characters. With the endless amount of universes at their disposal, Portman could return to the MCU as a new iteration of Jane, and explore a whole new backstory for her. There could be a Jane variant where she lost her Thor in her universe, which would make things a lot more emotional if she were to meet Earth-616’s Thor someday.

It would also be ideal to see an incarnation of Jane where she got to continue being Mighty Thor, as that was one of the things that many were excited to see in Thor: Love and Thunder. Time will tell if Marvel Studios will revisit Jane in any shape, as Portman made it clear that she hasn’t been contacted since her last appearance. Hopefully, as The Multiverse Saga continues, fans will get to see Portman as Jane again in some capacity after Thor: Love and Thunder.

Thor: Love and Thunder

PG-13
Action
Fantasy
Adventure
Sci-Fi
Superhero

Thor: Love & Thunder is the fourth Thor film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and director Taika Waititi’s second outing with the character. The movie finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey to find inner piece. But when Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) goes on a killing rampage against the gods, Thor is thrown back into the action. Tessa Thompson returns as Valkyrie, as does Waititi’s Korg. Natalie Portman also returns to the franchise for the first time in nine years as Jane Foster, who transforms into the Mighty Thor to wield Mjolnir.

DirectorTaika Waititi
Release DateJuly 8, 2022
Studio(s)Marvel
Distributor(s)Disney
WritersJennifer Kaytin Robinson , Taika Waititi
CastChristian Bale , Russell Crowe , Tessa Thompson , ​Chris Pratt2 , Natalie Portman , Karen Gillan , Chris Hemsworth
Runtime118 minutes
Franchise(s)Thor , Marvel Cinematic Universe
prequel(s)Thor , Thor: The Dark World , Thor: Ragnarok
Budget$250 million

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