Natalie Portman fans had a lot to cheer about with the trailer for her reveal. Thor: Love and Thunder role as the god of thunder, and for close followers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Thor franchise, there was no question who was behind that shiny helm. For anyone else, it might have been harder to guess.
Why Natalie Portman Left The MCU And Why She Came Back For Thor
Natalie Portman fans had a lot to cheer about with the trailer for her reveal. Thor: Love and Thunder role as the god of thunder, and for close followers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Thor franchise, there was no question who was behind that shiny helm. For anyone else, it might have been harder to guess.
Beyond her "her appearance" in Avengers: Endgame (a cameo comprising brief voice work and reused footage), Portman hasn't had a major role in the MCU since 2013's Thor: The Dark World. She was nowhere to be found in 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, Taika Waititi's film that gave the MCU's Asgardian setting her first unabashed critical success.
So why did she leave her? And why go back? It may be more that Marvel left her behind and is now trying to catch up.
Reportedly, Portman's first attempts to break out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe began during the early stages of production on a Thor sequel when he was considering a several-year break from acting to spend more time with his first child, born in 2011. According to industry reports at the time, Marvel sweetened the deal by bringing in Portman, already a director with aspirations to do more. in the process of choosing the director of the film.
That year, Marvel entered talks with Patty Jenkins and struck a deal that would have made the directing Monster the first woman to direct a movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And Portman, an activist, advocate for more diversity in Hollywood, and a woman who had spoken publicly and eloquently about the ways female characters are boxed in by male-dominated cinema, was energized by helping to achieve that first.
But just a few months later, Marvel and Jenkins parted ways, citing "creative differences" despite the project still not settling on a script. Marvel replaced Jenkins, who would later plant her flag in the realm of movie superheroes with the hit Wonder Woman — with Alan Taylor (Terminator Genisys).
It would take another six years for Anna Boden to become the first woman to co-direct an MCU movie (Captain Marvel) and eight for Cate Shortland to become the first female sole director on an MCU movie with Black Widow. Had Jenkins gotten the job, she would still be, and for the foreseeable future, the only woman to direct a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie about a male superhero.
In 2016, with Thor: Ragnarok a couple of months into principal photography, Portman told the Wall Street Journal that Marvel had no plans that she was aware of to use her character again. “As far as I know, I'm done. I mean, I don't know if maybe one day they'll ask for an 'Avengers 7,' I have no idea. But as far as I know, I'm done; It was a great thing to be a part of this.”
Which is precisely what made Portman's appearance at Marvel's Hall H presentation during San Diego Comic-Con 2019 so surprising: There was absolutely no indication that she or Marvel Studios were interested in renewing her relationship up to that point.
His return appears to be due to the deliberate work of director Taika Waititi. Unlike Ragnarok, which was written by a trio of Marvel Studios stable writers before entering their directorial quest, Love and Thunder, the story comes directly from Waititi and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Sweet/Vicious, Hawkeye). It was that story, and the role of her expanded from her to Jane Foster, that Waititi attributes to the addition of the actress.
"I just said to her, 'Are you interested in getting back into this, but doing something really different?'" she told Variety in 2019. “Nobody wants to keep repeating themselves […] In most of these movies, if you're not a superhero, do you really want to keep doing it? I mean, I wouldn't. I would like to go back and change things.”
Portman seems to agree, telling ET Online that "seeing the script and Jane's new role: I thought, 'This is so exciting!' And also with Taika [attached] and I love Tessa and Chris so much, so It's exciting to work with them again."
With the response to Thor: Love and Thunder teaser, it's safe to say that a lot of other people find it exciting too.
