Thor: Love and Thunder is one of the two most exciting Phase 4 movies and waiting for 15 more months to watch the film will be hard. Taika Waititi really brought life to the Thor franchise and he turned things around for the God of Thunder within the MCU. That’s what he does with every project he picks up. He just adds a fresh breath of air to it, and that’s why we’re extremely excited about Thor 4. This time, we’re finally going to see Jane Foster wield the hammer and become the Mighty Thor.
As of now, we’re clueless as to how exactly will Jane wield the hammer, or how will Mjolnir even be brought back into the fold. Since the Multiverse is coming into play within Phase 4, it could lead to the return of the Godly hammer. Or it could be Eitri who would bring in a new version of Mewmew since he clearly forged a second weapon back in Avengers: Infinity War. But anyway, it’d be interesting to see how Jane is going to become worthy.
In the comics, she lifts the hammer after the Original Sin storyline. Thor lost his worthiness and he couldn’t wield Mjolnir anymore. At this moment, Jane was going through her chemotherapy as she was suffering from cancer. But after Thor lost his worthiness, she thought that the 9 realms needed a Thor. So, she stepped up and found out that she was able to lift the hammer. Upon wielding it, she turned into the Mighty Thor.
Image credits: The Direct
But being Thor came at a cost. Every time she lifted the hammer and transformed into Thor, her treatment kept getting reversed and her condition worsened. But she still continued to fight for those who couldn’t defend themselves. That was the true essence of her worthiness. Even in her frail condition, she thought of others and didn’t back down. People have been wondering whether her cancer story arc will be a part of Thor: Love and Thunder. Earlier this year, Taika Waititi was asked about it and he was unsure if Jane’s cancer will be a thing in the upcoming Thor movie. He said:
“We don’t know. That comics run was a big inspiration and was an influence on the first few drafts. But at Marvel, we always change everything. I could say one thing right now, and in two years, it will be the complete opposite — or that thing won’t exist. We continue writing even in post-production.”
As Taika stated here, and as we’ve witnessed time and time again in the MCU, Marvel likes to change things up in order to give us something unique and worthy of a cinematic experience. So, with this comment, it seemed like Thor: Love and Thunder won’t have Jane’s cancer story arc. But Natalie Portman’s recent comments make it seem otherwise. She recently spoke to Yahoo in order to discuss her new children’s book and major moments of her career. Here she was also asked whether she could give a few details about her role in Thor: Love and Thunder.
So, here’s what Portman replied:
“I can’t tell you that much. I’m really excited. I’m starting to train, to get muscles. If there can be all these female superheroes, the more of them they are, the better it is. I’m trying to think — it’s based on the graphic novel of the Mighty Thor. She’s going through cancer treatment and is a superhero on the side.”
Now, this tidbit does make it seem that Jane’s cancer arc will be a part of Thor: Love and Thunder after all. It could be possible that Portman was just talking about what she read of Jane’s arc in the comics, but since Thor: Love and Thunder is supposed to be inspired by Jason Aaron’s run, we just didn’t see how Taika & co could have Jane’s Thor in there without the cancer arc. Her cancer was such an important element of her run as the Mighty Thor. So, it will probably make its way into the MCU in some way or the other. Maybe the presence of the Aether in her body changed it for the worse. It could have led to her having cancer in recent times. Let’s wait and see how it all turns out.
Thor: Love and Thunder arrives on February 11, 2022.
