Natalie Portman had to be seen to grow 10 inches to play the 6 feet tall Mighty Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder, but the actress revealed a very simple trick that was used to achieve the transformation. Portman makes a return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time since Thor: The Dark World, discounting her brief appearance in Avengers: Endgame which was achieved by the use of old footage and a voice-over, and a lot has changed for Jane Foster in that time, especially in her physical appearance.
While Natalie Portman was a big part of Thor and Thor: The Dark World, due to disagreements with the direction the character was taken in, Portman decided to part ways with the MCU, but thanks to a discussion with director Taika Waititi she has now returned and has taken on the form of The Mighty Thor. Now wielding a reforged Mjolnir, Jane is being reunited with Thor and that required some trickery to make the pair seem more equally matched in height. As Portman revealed to Variety, gaining 10 inches was all down to the path she took, literally.
“We’d rehearse the scene, they’d see the path, and then they’d build a path that was like one foot off the ground or whatever, and I would just walk on that.”
First Reviews Have Heaped Praise On Portman and Christian Bale.
With the premiere of Thor: Love and Thunder arriving last night, there has been an instant wave of first reactions to the movie hitting social media, all of which praise the humor and action, but also the performances of Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster and Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher.
Richard Nebens of The Direct commented, “#ThorLoveAndThunder is predictably hilarious yet unexpectedly personal and heartfelt. Christian Bale and Natalie Portman's performances truly shine while Waititi delivers an emotional story. I think this may be my favorite Thor movie.”
Geek Vibes Nation followed a similar line of though, saying, “#ThorLoveAndThunder is @TaikaWaititi funky, colorful & epic ode to space rock operas that even delivers some heartfelt punches to the gut. Portman steals the show, Thompson is brilliant and Bale delivers a menacing and powerful performance as #Gorr while Hemsworth is at his best.”
It seems that in general, the return of Jane Foster, in a role that is so much more than her previous MCU appearances, and the addition of Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, have all gone down well with first reviewers. While there have been some very minor niggles, the general consensus is that Thor: Love and Thunder is a big, loud and worthy addition to the MCU and delivers on almost every front. With Doctor Strange about to lose this place at the top of the year’s biggest selling movies, based on the reviews, the continued love of Thor and the MCU in general, this could well be one of the biggest Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, but also one of the biggest films of the year.