Surely one of the most anticipated upcoming movies is Thor 4, which will bring Taika Waititi back to write and direct following his soft reboot of the franchise with the outstanding Thor: Ragnarok. Thus far, specific plot details for Thor 4 – officially titled Thor: Love and Thunder – have been under wraps. But as the film’s production start-date looms closer, actress Natalie Portman has seemingly confirmed a long-rumored storyline that her character Jane Foster will follow in the movie.
Last year, Waititi revealed that he was considering adapting the The Mighty Thor comics run which finds Jane Foster battling cancer and taking on the mantle of Thor at the same time. Waititi cautioned that things could change as they did on Ragnarok, which evolved even deep in production and post-production as Waititi adjusted the storyline for what would end up being one of the most popular MCU films.
And now, speaking with Yahoo! (via ComingSoon), Portman seemingly confirmed that Waititi has indeed decided to go the Mighty Thor route, teasing that Jane will be battling cancer in Thor 4:
“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 there 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.”
That’s really sensitive territory to tackle in a superhero movie, but honestly Waititi has more than earned the benefit of the doubt. He’s shown a knack for balancing the super silly and the incredibly earnest in his films, as evidenced by his Oscar-winning screenplay for Jojo Rabbit. And honestly, after Portman’s talent was essentially wasted in the first two Thor movies (especially Thor: The Dark World), she certainly deserves some meat on her character’s storyline beyond pining for Chris Hemsworth’s admittedly swoon-worthy hero.
A firm filming start-date for Thor 4 hasn’t yet been completely confirmed, but expect it to be in the relatively near future – likely in the first half of 2021. First up on the MCU docket, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is completing filming in Australia and Doctor Strange 2 is expected to start shooting — also in Australia — by November.
Thor: Love and Thunder also stars Tessa Thompson and Christian Bale and will be released in theaters on February 11, 2022.
For a full list of upcoming Marvel movies, click here.
