Natalie Portman cast as female Thor

Her participation in the upcoming Thor movie was announced on Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con.

JULY 21, 2019 15:09

Actor Natalie Portman poses at the world premiere of the film "The Avengers: Endgame" in Los Angeles, California, April 22, 2019 (photo credit: MARIO ANZUONI/REUTERS) — Actor Natalie Portman poses at the world premiere of the film "The Avengers: Endgame" in Los Angeles, California, April 22, 2019

(photo credit: MARIO ANZUONI/REUTERS)

It’s official – Oscar-winning Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman is a goddess, or at least she’ll play one in the new installment of the Thor series, Thor: Love and Thunder, which will be released in 2021.

Her participation in the upcoming Thor movie was announced on Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con.

Portman – who played astrophysicist Jane Foster, Thor’s love interest, in the first two installments of the Thor franchise but was absent from the third film, reportedly due to creative differences with the masters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – will play a female Thor this time around, opposite her co-star from the previous films, Chris Hemsworth, as well as Tessa Thompson. Taika Waititi, who helmed the third Thor film, Thor: Ragnarok, will direct again.

Handed a toy version of Thor’s famous hammer at Comic-Con, Portman joked, “I’ve always had a little hammer envy.”

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Thor has never looked better. During a jam-packed #SDCC comic-con panel, Natalie Portman revealed that she will be playing female Thor in #Marvel's upcoming sequel "Thor: Love and Thunder." Head to the link in bio for all the details ( : Broadimage/Shutterstock)⁠
A post shared by Variety (@variety) on Jul 20, 2019 at 9:20pm PDT

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So thrilled to share the news with you today at #sdcc2019 that I’ll be returning to the @marvel #mcu as female Thor with legends @taikawaititi @tessamaethompson and @chrishemsworth. (Remember this as the before picture for when I get jacked)
A post shared by Natalie Portman (@natalieportman) on Jul 20, 2019 at 11:42pm PDT

Portman gushed about the new role on her Instagram account, alongside a photo of her holding the hammer next to Waititi: “So thrilled to share the news with you today at #sdcc2019 that I’ll be returning to the @marvel #mcu as female Thor with legends @taikawaititi @tessamaethompson and @chrishemsworth. (Remember this as the before picture for when I get jacked).”

The actress has always balanced her more serious roles, such as her Oscar-winning turn as a ballet dancer questioning her sanity in Black Swan, with roles in blockbusters, including the Star Wars franchise, in which she played Padmé in the Star Wars films from 1999-2005.