How Director Taika Waititi Persuaded Natalie Portman to Return in Thor: Love and Thunder

In just three more weeks, the highly-anticipated MCU film Thor: Love and Thunder will surely dominate the box office. Aside from Chris Hemsworth's monumental return as the fan-beloved God of Thunder, the upcoming film will also highlight Russel Crowe's Zeus, Tessa Thompson's return as Valkyrie, and the Guardians of the Galaxy are also confirmed to return. The latest addition to the cast includes two A-list actors: Christian Bale as the villainous Gorr The God Butcher, and Natalie Portman's return as Lady Thor.

Even before the trailers weren't out, the anticipation behind Natalie Portman's inclusion in the film as Lady Thor was already enormous, and fans can't wait to see her wield the mighty Mjolnir. Thanks to Taika Waititi, who recently unveiled how he convinced Portman to return and reprise the role of Jane Foster.

Director Taika Waititi, Tessa Thompson, and Chris Hemsworth sat down as guests in an interview with Fandango All Access to promote Thor: Love and Thunder. Discussing the film, Waititi opens up about how he persuaded Natalie Portman to return as Jane Foster, by giving her a license to be more ‘adventurous and fun’ compared to the first two Thor films where the actress was present.

"I went to her house and she gave me a glass of water… I think that what we did with Ragnarok was, it made these movies appealing to other actors as well, like Christian [Bale] really he saw that and he was like, "I want to do something fun," and came here, wanted to be part of this thing," Waititi explained. "And Natalie too and… I think that she was just wanting to make sure that… I don’t even know how to say this, but… her character in those first few films, it’s probably not the most exciting version of the female character that we want from these films… I had to just talk to her about the fact that I wanted to change that character, just like we’d changed Thor’s character for Ragnarok and to give her a bit more license to be adventurous and fun because Natalie’s a really funny person. And sometimes… those sorts of things cannot… I don’t know, they’re not the main focus when they come up with characters and you know in films."

Thanks to Waititi's efforts, we will now see critically-acclaimed actress Natalie Portman in her biggest blockbuster role to date as her character Jane Foster fully develops as Lady Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder.

More importantly, casting a multi-awarded actress like Portman and giving her a less substantial role would be a total waste for the franchise, and that seems to be the reason why Portman was absent during Thor: Ragnarok. Gladly, for now, she is set to play a major role in the MCU, and she might stay in the mega-franchise for the long run as Lady Thor.

Thor: Love and Thunder will hit the big screens on July 8.

Also read: Thor: Love and Thunder: How Jane Foster Became Worthy for Mjolnir?