A new image from Thor: Love and Thunder brings the Odinson and Jane Foster closer than they've been in quite some time.
Courtesy of Fandango, the picture shows Thor and Jane -- the latter in her Mighty Thor costume -- standing in front of a purple and white background looking at each other. Included with the image is a new synopsis for Love and Thunder, which reads, "Before he can do anything else, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) must rediscover his own identity. To vanquish the evil Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), though, he'll need a little help from his friends Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who has a new identity herself."
Jane using the Mighty Thor alias was previously confirmed by an earlier synopsis for Love and Thunder. The synopsis similarly elaborated that Jane would be recruited alongside Valkyrie and Korg by Thor to help him stop Gorr and find out why he wants to kill gods, though it did not reveal how she mysteriously came to wield the reforged Mjolnir.
"We stick pretty closely to Jane's storyline, and what happened to Jane... because that was such an influence on the film," director and co-writer Taika Waititi said in regard to Love and Thunder's comic book roots. "We're trying to take the best parts of that." Waititi also discussed how it was decided to have Jane's actor Natalie Portman come back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, saying the idea didn't form until work for Love and Thunder's story began.
"I was writing and it was like, 'Wouldn't it be kind of cool to bring Jane back into the storyline?'" Waititi added. "You don't want Natalie [Portman] coming back and playing that same character who's walking around with science equipment. You know, while Thor's flying around, she's left on Earth, tapping her foot going, 'When's he going to be back?' That's boring. You want her to be part of the adventure." Ironically, despite the character returning in the upcoming Marvel Studios movie and having a major change brought upon her by becoming the Mighty Thor, Waititi potentially confirmed that Jane won't keep the Thor identity.
As for the original God of Thunder, Waititi discussed what kind of impact discovering Jane's activities would have on Thor. "It's been about eight years," he noted. "[Jane's] had a whole other life, and then the love of your life comes back on the scene, and is now dressed like you. It's a real mindfuck for Thor."
Thor: Love and Thunder opens in theaters on July 8.
Source: Fandango