At the San Diego Comic-Con 2019, when Kevin Feige announced the arrival of the 4th movie in the Thor narrative, fans were ecstatic. But the real news came when along with Taika Waititi and Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman was also invited to the stage. And on her arrival, Taika knelt on one knee and handed Natalie a Mjolnir prop, which she accepted with grace and honor. Since that day it was already hinted by several fans that Natalie will be taking up the mantle of the mighty Thor. These speculations were later confirmed by glimpses of Natalie on the sets of Thor: Love and Thunder in Australia. Natalie, back in 2011, did not wish to continue with the Thor 3, as she did not like the script. But recently with Thor 4’s role suggestion, she seems to have come on board.
The plot of Jane Foster emerging as the mighty Thor has been confirmed, But Taika Waititi is popularly known NOT to follow the marvel comics narrative. Thus, the fans are still uncertain about the plot or the route that the director would take to implicate this plot within the Thor narrative.
In the comics, Jane Foster was a hospital nurse who worked for a Doctor called Don Blake who was became bound to Odin Borson. Through this connection, Jane happens to come in contact with Thor, and as the story progressed, she even takes on the Mantle of the Mighty Thor.
However, the MCU version of Jane Foster is an astrophysicist who was one of the few scientists able to detect the instabilities in an electromagnetic spectrum correlated to the Bifrost. Thus, audiences will witness how the current narrative is carried forward by Taika Waititi in the coming Thor: Love & Thunder.
In the comics, Jane Foster took up the mantle of mighty Thor when Thor Odinson was deemed unworthy and also because she knew the realms needed a savior. It was also at this very moment she was diagnosed with cancer, and because of this, every time she would turn into Thor, the chemotherapy would reverse the effects, and she would have to go through the entire process again.
But, in the MCU version, fans have speculated a completely different story altogether. During a certain shooting event, we witnessed Natalie Portman being rocked from one side to another while hanging in midair. Fans have deduced from this that somewhere in the MCU narrative, Jane Foster and Thor would be paying their final respects to Odin Allfather. While doing so, the scene would require the shattered pieces of Mjolnir scattered on Odin’s grave or around his sarcophagus while family and the other Asgardians are paying their respects. It is at this time a villain appears and renders Thor unconscious and starts wreaking havoc. It is at this instance that the Mjolnir, for some reason, would reassemble itself and imbue Jane Foster with the power of the mighty Thor to battle against the appeared villain. But it is all speculation, and no credibility to this plot has been confirmed.
On the sets, we have already witnessed Natalie Portman’s physical transformation where she has been seen with bigger arms for a role to portray the mighty Thor. But apart from this, there have been several other questions from fans, which have piqued our interest. One of these questions includes what other powers will Jane Foster possess as by blood she is still human, so will she need a little extra boost to take on the bad guys. To fulfill this plot, several fans have suggested the theory of Goddess Tempest. According to the plot, Goddess Tempest is an ancient cosmic force far stronger than the Phoenix force. Millennials ago, it was sweeping across Asgard when it was opposed by Odin Borson, it was during this event that Odin trapped Goddess Tempest in a block of Uru which was later forged into Mjolnir. This incident also reveals that Thor may not have completely been one with the Mjolnir, as he looked at it as only a weapon. Jane, being a woman and gentle at heart, may finally tap into the real potential of the hammer and unleash a force greater than Thor himself.
Jane Foster’s version of Thor may be implicated in the narrative when Jane comes face to face with Gorr the God butcher played by Christian Bale. Gorr firmly believes that gods by their very nature stood unworthy of their title and went on a killing spree across the universe, looking for entities proclaiming themselves to be God. It is here when he finally meets a human-being imbued with the power of God for being worthy, which challenges his very basic ideology.
