It's been six long months since Spider-Man joined Marvel's Avengers, and since then fans have been patiently waiting for the next hero to drop. After months of technical updates that included a gear rework and the return of Nick Fury, Mighty Thor is finally bringing the hammer down on the game, just in time for Jane Foster's big-screen debut in the MCU's Thor: Love & Thunder.

Though the announcement of Mighty Thor was made earlier, the unveiling of the character and her release has happened in rapid succession. Ahead of the latest hero's in-game debut, CBR sat down with Marvel's Avengers lead designer Brian Waggoner, writer Jessica Krause and voice actress Zehra Fazal to discuss Jane's multiverse-shattering backstory, comic book inspiration and to answer the most important question on everyone's mind: can Jane Foster pet Lucky?

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Zahra, you're voicing the game's take on Jane Foster, now The Mighty Thor. Were you familiar with this version of Thor before you took on the role?

Zahra Fazal: Oh my goodness. So, full disclosure, I read a lot of Marvel comics growing up, but I'd never really read Thor. My first introduction to Jane Foster was with the MCU, which this game is obviously not affiliated with, but I knew of Natalie Portman's interpretation of that character. When I auditioned for this game, I knew I was auditioning for Avengers, but I didn't know what character. When the sides came to me for the audition, it was this beautiful monologue from the point of view of a Senator who was fighting on behalf of a marginalized community, and I was like, okay, I don't know who this is, but here's my take on it. I then found out that I was cast as Dr. Jane Foster, and once I got to the session, I understood that, oh, this is Jane Foster as the Mighty Thor. In a way, I'm glad I didn't know much about Jane Foster because it allowed me to really see what was written and interpret this particular take on the character from the script.

Were there any comics you went to for inspiration once you realized who you were playing?

Fazal: I didn't read the comics, but this character is really based on Jason Aaron's 2014 Thor run. I have not read that yet myself, but I'm dying to! What stood out to me from that story was that Jane was undergoing cancer treatments, and that's when Mjolnir came to her. For me, what was interesting was to see this woman in a very human situation, a very vulnerable situation. So many of us are touched by cancer, whether it's something we've personally experienced or been in our families or people we love going through it. To be very human in this time and then gain a superhuman set of powers is so fascinating to me. In developing the character from an acting perspective, how do you adjust to this new set of circumstances that gives your body so much strength it didn't have before? And where does that inner strength come from? These are all things that were interesting to me about this character.

It's funny you mentioned Jane's inner strength and her humanity because she does seem to accept the limits of that in the animatic that was just released, wherein she essentially makes a deal with the devil to save Asgard. What do you think that was like for Jane? How does that reflect on her for you?

Fazal: I think that when we know what the right thing to do is, sometimes the way to go about doing it is not always clear. And it's not always easy. I think that Jane had to weigh the pros and cons of striking that deal with Loki, and you get a sense of that from the trailer. There's a sense of regret. Even as she – I assume – is a very logical person, right? She's a doctor, so she's going to favor the pragmatic, but the pragmatic is not always the right choice, and certainly not always the right emotional choice, or necessarily the right moral choice. It's a gray area. So I feel like in making a choice like that, she probably weighed the pros and cons and determined it was the only course of action at that time given up based on the information she had.

Jessica Krause: I'm so glad I was allowed to write that! I pitched that to the narrative team, and they were like, yeah, that sounds so cool. It's precisely that she gets to this point in her universe before she comes into ours. She has to face a huge 'do the ends justify the means' moment and an enemy of my enemy deal at that moment because Odin has gotten completely mad. It was so great to write that.

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What was it like getting to interact with the other Avengers? Do you have any favorite moments between Jane and the rest of the team?

Fazal: Without giving too much away, I think the relationship between the Mighty Thor and this particular universe's Odinson is fascinating. There's a lot of history there. But I think the heart of this game is Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan. Everyone loves her, which is very true for Jane Foster, too. Kamala is the best of us and embodies the ideals of what we all strive to be and see in the world. There are so many beautiful places where the relationships in writing are heightened in the game, but those two particular characters really stand out to me.

Brian Waggoner: And you didn't ask me, but there's a particular interaction with a canine that might reside on the Helicarrier that is particularly adorable.

Krause: And it is a bit of an Easter egg for the comics!

So let's dig into how Jane works in the game, and I think the Mighty Thor identity is the most interesting part of that. Jane hasn't been Thor in the comics for some time – she's been Valkyrie in recent years. Fundamentally, I know this is happening because that is her most prominent identity, but was Valkyrie ever a consideration?

Krause: I think the intention was always to introduce her as Thor because that particular run was so iconic and one of my favorite comic book runs ever. I didn't read a lot of Thor comics until I really dug into Jane, and now I am obsessed with the entire Jason Aaron run. It's so good! War of the Realms is the best arc ever. Jane as Thor is so integral to that run, and it was a no-brainer when we were pitching new characters to add. When we thought about Jane, it was like, no, this is Mighty Thor that we're bringing in.

Waggoner: That's not to say she doesn't have some Valkyrie inspiration. Her ultimate is one of the significant differences between Mighty Thor and Odinson's kit. She does this awesome move where it's like she's hitting a homerun with Mjolnir, but instead of hitting something, she throws it out and does a huge splash of damage to enemies in front of you. Then Mjolnir goes sentient and starts seeking out enemies. While that happens, she reaches her hand to the sky and summons Undrjarn. She starts using Undrjarn for her melee and ranged attacks. I guess you could say she's double-worthy at that point and wielding multiple hammers, but the minute I saw that with the animation VFX and her outfit and everything, it was chilling.

Jane's Mighty Thor look is very different from her comic design. What was the inspiration behind that?

Waggoner: We always want to ensure that our heroes have a distinctive style inspired by their comic looks but that fits in our universe. I'll say this being completely biased: Mighty Thor's iconic look is the best one that we've done. And it's easy for me to say that after each new one, but by the time this goes out, you'll have seen an actual model. It's incredibly detailed and feels incredibly regal. It just feels like it should, and it's one of those things where you want it to feel grounded and connected. Taking a look at some of Odinson's original looks, it feels very connected to those but also unique. It has lots of really great Nordic-inspired elements, like fur on the cape and gold detailing in the cloak. I can sit there and zoom in and look at it all day long because it's huge. I keep finding a new piece of detail every time I look at it.

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You touched on Mighty Thor's ultimate, which sounds incredible. What else sets her apart from Odinson?

Waggoner: Our players have spent a lot of time with Odinson, and what sets them apart is as important to me as what is shared between them. The best example I can give you is her light attack combo. Mechanically, it's the same as Odinson's – bonk-bonk-bonk, three taps of the button – but she's a much more nimble and agile warrior.

We were looking at it as we had implemented it, and we retargeted a lot of the animations to fit her model and her rig, but it just didn't feel like Jane. Our animators ended up saying, okay, Jane is much more adept with throwing the hammer and using it at range; she's much quicker and moves in different ways. So we changed her combo. Instead of just being the series of three smacks with Mjolnir players are used to, it's a series of short-distance hammer throws. It just feels so much different, even though it's mechanically the same attacks. It feels so much more like her.

There are a lot of aspects like that. She has a Vault, which Odinson does not, just because it never really felt like him. He's very brute force and can break down shields, so he never needs to do that. Obviously, she could do that too, she has Mjolnir, but we thought it fit her character much more. It's not like an actual vault over an enemy, but it's another way to reposition her and strike enemies from behind.

Mighty Thor has really good control over using the hammer both in melee and at range. Her Intrinsic is entirely different, too. It builds from melee attacks, and once it's full and overcharged, she does bonus range damage. It gives you a little bit more motivation to vary your combat style to get in and be up in their face, then back out and take advantage of that ranged attack boost.

And obviously, just like any other hero, all these different abilities have ways for you to tailor them through talents and upgrades to suit your playing style.

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Some elements are straight from the comic, like Odin and Loki's designs, Thor's missing arm and Jane's cancer. Is this the introduction of multiverse stuff into the game?

Krause: It's an introduction because there is a version of Jane in our canon Avengers universe, but she wasn't at A Day. She's off doing her own stuff and isn't connected to the Avengers story. Our Jane - that is Mighty Thor - does come from a parallel universe where she was the one to join the Avengers in the fight against AIM in her universe, and she's been brought into ours thanks to the Tachyon Rifts that we've seen since Kate and Clint's packs.

Waggoner: One of the first comments I saw when we announced that she was the next hero was, "well, that doesn't make any sense because Odinson still has his hammer, and he's worthy." Things can change. There will be two Mjolnirs that exist in this reality, and one doesn't have to lose one for the other to be there. I think the way that we brought her in is really clever.

Did Mighty Thor go through the same story beats as Odinson? Did she also have that strained relationship with the Avengers following A-Day?

Krause: We're going to see hints of it, though a lot of this particular pack is about her building her relationship with these alternate versions of the people she knows. Certain relationships have a little bit more meat to that.

Obviously, her relationship with Odinson is going to be very different. She comes from a universe where Thor put down the hammer for good, and she had to take up that name herself. Coming to terms with a Thor that did take his title back and is in...maybe a more emotionally sound place than her universe's Odinson gives us a different dynamic between the two.

Jane also had a very good relationship with Kamala from her universe, which also comes into play with Kamala in this universe. Jane's very protective of Kamala, and we'll see how her relationships and her universe flavor how she treats the people in this universe.

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What's that relationship between Jane and Odinson look like? Are they on good terms?

Krause: I don't know how much of that I want to give away. You'll find out in her Document set, which is how we're delivering the story. There is more of a strained relationship between the two of them. Odinson retired to care for Jane when she got her cancer diagnosis. We see that relationship from a caretaker's perspective and the fractures and fissures that come from that when there's something bigger out in the world that needs to be dealt with. I think that's the most obtuse way I can say that.

Waggoner: Jane's story is presented similarly to Spider-Man's, rather than having a full narrative like we did with Kate or Clint, or hell, even with Black Panther. We like the idea of smaller, tighter storytelling. It helps us get heroes out a little bit quicker. Jane will have a Heroic mission chain, which is how we distribute those Intel Docs. It starts with the animatic that we just released today, so players get that sense of where Jane comes from and that everything is the same but different for her.

For me, it's really exciting. Even though I'm a game designer, I'm a narrative lore nerd. The most exciting aspect of Jane, to me, is the potential of the different takes she can have compared to the rest of the team and how she can interact with additional team members that may be joining in the future. When we introduce new heroes, obviously, players will learn about where they're from. But then it's even cooler if Jane can comment on what they were like in her universe, or if events that happened in her time may or may not line up with what happens in ours, and what kind of light can she shed on those based on what happened to her.

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I'm glad you mentioned you're a lore nerd because that animatic did raise one huge question: what's going on with the Marvel's Avengers universe's Loki? The last time we saw him, Loki was caught impersonating Thor and had fled. Will we see a resolution to that?

Waggoner: We're not announcing anything today on any content for the future, but it is something that's… it's not at the front of my brain, so we'll say it's in my mid-brain.

Obviously, Jane just had a very interesting interaction with Loki from her time. I like resolving things, and I'm not someone who likes to have something like that hanging out there. We have some ideas on what we want to do with it, and we also have two new pieces of story content coming that will help us progress the AIM story towards the inevitable conclusion.

For players who may be just getting into the game with Jane's addition, any tips or tricks for players who are using Mighty Thor?

Waggoner: I think it's interesting to play around with what the different versions of her Heroic ultimate do. You can have it go out and seek enemies, so it works…not identically, but similar to Hawkeye's Hunter's Arrow Heroic Ultimate. You can also set it up so that Mjolnir rotates around you and defends you from incoming attacks. There are a lot of different options there.

Like any other hero, we have different talents and things you can customize. There are a lot of really good iterations and different things you can try with that, and I'm excited to see what our players can do with her, how she augments their team or the various strategies that players use with her across the different pieces of content. We're excited to see that.

Krause: Like all our other heroes, Jane has extensive banter with every other Avenger. Be sure to hang around the outposts and talk to everyone. There are a lot of fun easter eggs, some that we've created for the game itself and some that are comic references. If you're a comic fan, there should be plenty of little surprises for you!

Players can bring the hammer down on AIM as Mighty Thor in Marvel's Avengers on June 28 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Google Stadia.