Taika Waititi talks about not including Jane Foster/The Mighty Thor performed by Natalie Portman in “Thor: Ragnarok”. The director returns to the MCU and teams up with Chris Hemsworth again for “Thor: Love and Thunder.” The next Marvel Studios movie will be in theaters in just two weeks, and fans are ready to see how the film will affect the franchise.
Waititi’s return after the success of “Thor: Ragnarok” made sense only for Marvel Studios. The 2017 film revived the entire “Thor” franchise; the director radically changed the gloomy look of the film series, replacing it with a bright palette reminiscent of Jack Kirby comics. The Thunder God himself has undergone physical and character changes to reflect this important turning point in his journey to the MCU. As part of the rewriting of the hero, “Thor: Ragnarok” largely got rid of everything that came before him in relation to the Avenger, including his affair with Jane Foster. But instead of seeing Portman’s character come back for a proper breakup, she is only briefly mentioned to establish her breakup with the Prince of Asgard.
Related: Love and Thunder Confirm How Long Thor Can Stay in the MCU
In a conversation with Variety during the premiere of the film “Thor: Love and Thunder”, Waititi talks about not returning Jane Foster to “Thor: Ragnarok”. The director refers to Jason Aaron’s “Mighty Thor” run as something special for him. He admits that he wanted to include it in the 2017 film, but could not. Read Waititi’s full quote below:
“It was part of a comic book created by Jason Aaron, and it was something we always liked when I was working on Ragnarok. We’ve always talked about how cool it is. maybe part of that, and then when [Marvel] said, “We want her back,” it all just made sense.
She will be the Mighty Thor, now she will take the hammer [Mjolnir], and this character will develop, and she will also become a hero.”
For the uninitiated: Aaron’s “Mighty Thor” storyline showed that Jane acquired all the powers of the superhero Thor by raising Mjolnir. At the same time, she also suffered from breast cancer, but refused to expose herself to magical treatments, choosing instead traditional chemotherapy. Unfortunately, every time she turned into the Mighty Thor, her illness worsened when she turned into Jane again, as the hammer cleansed her body of all toxins, including radiation and chemotherapy from her treatment. Despite several hints, Marvel Studios has not officially confirmed that this particular narrative will be adapted into Thor: Love and Thunder. But judging by Waititi’s recent comments, it’s safe to say that this will be the case.
Anyway, Jane misses Thor: Ragnarok, maybe it’s not such a big missed opportunity. Hemsworth’s God of Thunder had to be the focus of the 2017 film to effectively revive his sub-franchise and the character himself. Given this, there is a chance that the Mighty Thor’s debut in it will not be performed properly, since he will have to compete with all the other storylines in the triquel. Bringing her back to “Thor: Love and Thunder” makes more sense, since there’s more wiggle room in the movie to deal with her arch.
