Natalie Portman is Open to Returning to MCU as Jane Foster

Former Thor actress Natalie Portman says she’s open to reprising her role as Jane Foster in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but no one’s contacted her about doing so just yet.

The Star Wars and Black Swan star is up there with the biggest actors to appear in the MCU, but with Portman’s character being missing since the end of Thor: The Dark World, she could easily become just another forgotten relic of the franchise. Although she was signed on to a three-picture deal, Portman had a troubled time while filming The Dark World. She was reportedly unimpressed with the departure of Patty Jenkins as the movie’s director as well as Alan Taylor’s finished product. And the relationship went quickly downhill from there – with Portman even refusing to return for reshoots on the movie – and no one has heard much of Jane Foster since.

Screen Rant interviewed Natalie Portman for her upcoming film, Annihilation, where she played coy on potentially reprising her role as Jane Foster in the MCU:

Given that Tessa Thompson more than adequately filled the heroine role in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok, the question is, does Jane Foster need to return? In the comics, readers will know that Jane eventually picks up Mjolnir and takes over for Thor as the Goddess of Thunder. Considering that Hemsworth’s contract with Marvel is now up, and he doesn’t plan on returning unless there’s a good script involved, Jane could’ve been an easy candidate to take over his mantle. But now, that job could potentially be filled by Thompson’s Valkyrie..

Since The Dark World, neither side has had anything particularly nice to say about the other, and Kevin Feige and co. seem to have slowly phased her out by having Thor break up with her off-screen prior to the events of Ragnarok. While some actors would be devastated by being shown the backdoor from one of the world’s highest-grossing franchises, even Portman herself was OK with not returning for Thor 3. That being said, it’s worth noting that Gwyneth Paltrow returned from her extended leave of absence as Pepper Potts for Spider-Man: Homecoming.

So, although unlikely, it’s still possible that Portman could return one day, especially now that Thor is trying to set up a new Asgard on Earth. But, that would require Hemsworth to sign another contract with Marvel Studios, and he isn’t exactly jumping at the opportunity to do so… at least not just yet.

Source: Screen Rant