Thor Ragnarok: What Really Happened To Jane Foster?

When Natalie Portman was brought on board to act the female lead of theThorfranchise back in 2009 , surely she imagined that she ’d have a more substantial role to play than what she ended up with . The 36 - twelvemonth - old actress signed a three picture deal at the time , and after the success of the firstThorfilm in 2011 , things seemed to be running pretty smoothly for Portman and her character , Jane Foster . ab initio introduced in the Thomas Nelson Page of Marvel Comics as a nurse , Foster later became a doctor before being name with cancer and later on direct up the mantle of the Thunder God for herself . The character ’s backstory was update for her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut , becoming a world - renowned astrophysicist and the first human that Odinson comes in impinging with after being exiled on Earth . Portman had a pretty solid arc inThor , so arithmetic mean were high for the sequel . Thor : The Dark Worldisn’t anyone ’s favorite Marvel movie , but its unquestionably ' meh ' reception was n’t the drive force behind Portman ’s Jane Foster being sideline ( and finally , all but written out ) within the MCU . From what we can pile up from various interview and report from pre - production , behind - the - vista dramatic play is exclusively to fault .

Related:Natalie Portman May Be Done With Marvel Movies

In the month that followed the going of the 2011Thormovie , the folks behind the scene scrambled to replace the departing Kenneth Branagh in the music director ’s president . Initially slot for a fast tracked July 2013 discharge , directorial duties on the sequel were eventually handed to Patty Jenkins in October of 2011 , a move that would have made her the first woman to helm a big budget superhero celluloid . It ’s important to note here that Portman was already considering consider a break from acting around this time , in edict to expend more time with her new-sprung son . Jenkins ' hiring reportedly reinvigorate her involvement in return to the project , however , as the actress was very unrestrained to go with theMonsterdirector . The Dark World ’s release date was then changed to November 2013 , and from the look of thing , all was well in Asgard once again .

Thor: The Dark Directorial Disaster

The Jenkins / Marvel marriage did n’t last long , however . Less than two months after signal on , Jenkins was out as director on Thor ’s second solo adventure . Thereported reasons for the splitvaried at the time , though they largely centered around the old " creative difference " stand - by that Tinseltown so often engage . A scoop fromThe Hollywood Reporterstated that Jenkins was dropped without warning , and that same clause claimed that Portman was incensed over the matter . Her three picture mass result her obligated to return for the follow - up , but it seems as though this was the breaking point for the actress – specially in terms of her kinship with Marvel Studios .

( Jenkins has since clarified why she did n’t helm the Thor continuation while doing the promotional rounds for a little movie calledWonder Woman , order she simply " was n’t the right director " for Marvel at the time . Admittedly , her Romeo & Juliet pitchis a bit out there . )

Related:Wonder Woman is Thematically Similar to Patty Jenkins' Thor 2 Vision

Okay , so Portman was not thrilled to see Jenkins exit – but it could be reason that Jane Foster had a meatier role inThe Dark Worldthan she did in the firstThorby the metre cameras finally start out roll . Possessed by the mysterious Aether ( aka the Reality Stone ) , Jane and Odinson travel to Asgard and beyond as they wait to remove the force play from her and stop the never - all - that - threatening Malekith from destroying everything . It ’s a moderately generic amusing Quran motion-picture show , all thing regard , and increase screentime for Portman and Loki actor Tom Hiddleston did picayune to change that .

Portman ’s rocky relationship with Marvel was further illustrated when she declined to return for reshoots on the picture in the summertime of 2013 . She chalked it up to scheduling conflicts , saying she was too busy working on her own film at the clip . ( think back the reference view of Chris Hemsworth ’s Thor returning to Earth and kissing Jane ? Hemsworth ’s wife , Elsa Pataky , swear out as Portman ’s pedestal - in there . ) AfterThe Dark World , Portman took a hiatus from the industry to work on her own smaller - scurf projects . She did n’t come along onscreen again until 2015 .

– pocket-sized SPOILERS forThor : Ragnaroklie in front –

Unsurprisingly , a third entry into the God of Thunder ’s solo series was n’t exactly put on the fast path stick to the tepid response toThe Dark World . about two years drop dead beforeThor : Ragnarokeven locked down its director , Taika Waititi , and another two went by before the universe - cross taradiddle at long last hit theaters . Portman ’s Jane Foster was MIA from the MCU during this time , only being mentioned in passing during a scene inAvengers : Age of Ultron . At no point duringRagnarok ’s production was the actress seemingly fix to repeat her role , and Marvel presidentKevin Feige substantiate that she would n’t be returningin May of last year . When asked about Jane ’s hereafter a few months later , Portman did n’t seem too break upby the idea that her MCU day were over .

Now thatRagnarokhas ultimately landed in house , we can safely confirm that the decision to wipe the character slating clean with the Thor franchise ( ditch the Warrior ’s Three , disregarding Jane , Darcy , and Dr. Selvig alone ) has resulted inwhat is far and away the best entrance in the serial . Perhaps the best new addition of all , in fact , is the film ’s Modern distaff lead Valkyrie , played by the outstandingly gifted Tessa Thompson . The booze - swilling , brand - swinging Asgardian is already a fan ducky , thanks in no little part to the fact that she ’s already received more characterization and astuteness than Jane Foster was ever granted .

Related:Thor 3’s Valkyrie is Ready for an All-Female Superhero Team

From all indications , Jane Foster does not have a role to roleplay in the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe . Any fortune of Jane getting a cracking at taking on the Thor mantlepiece for herself ( as she ’s recently done in the comics ) likely flew the coop when Portman did . Feige has nonetheless left the threshold open for a female Thormaking her room onto the liberal screen at some point , and hey , they ’ve even introduced a perfect candidate for the gig in Tessa Thompson ’s Valkyrie ! But considering that it will have take over a 10 for the MCU to put out a female - pass movie by the timeCaptain Marvelhits theaters in 2019 … we would n’t hold our breath .