Natalie Portman will become the Mighty Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder, and she's very excited about making her return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Portman hasn't appeared in an MCU movie since Thor: The Dark World. Or, to be more accurate, she hasn't shot any new footage. She did appear in Avengers: Endgame, but that was via the use of some previously unused footage. In any event, Jane Foster is coming back in a big way and Portman is ready for it.

The Oscar-nominated actress has been making the rounds lately to promote her upcoming sci-fi movie, Lucy In the Sky. During a recent interview, she discussed Thor: Love and Thunder a bit, which was initially announced over the summer during San Diego Comic-Con. First, discussing how she got involved, Natalie Portman explained that they came to her with the idea of turning Jane into the new Thor.

"They came to me with the idea and said, 'We have this idea for you that was a storyline in some of the comics where Jane becomes Lady Thor,' and I was like, 'This is very exciting!'"

Director Taika Waititi, who previously helmed the very successful Thor: Ragnarok, is returning to helm the sequel. It was Waititi's idea to adapt the Mighty Thor storyline from the comics, which came from the mind of writer Jason Aaron. Speaking further, Portman expressed her excitement to work with both Tessa Thompson, who will return as Valkyrie, and Chris Hemsworth, who is once again playing the God of Thunder. The actress is also excited to get her hands on the hammer.

"I love Tessa [Thompson] and Chris [Hemsworth] so much, so it's exciting to work with them again. And I'm very excited to wield the hammer,"

The actress memorably walked out during Marvel's SDCC presentation in Hall H, hammer in hand, which drew a massive response from the crowd. Jane Foster was notably absent from Thor: Ragnarok. She was referenced briefly, with Thor explaining that they had split up. But that was that. Natalie Portman also addressed her absence from the movie. In her mind, it simply had to do with her not fitting into the cosmic story at hand.

"Obviously, I wasn't written into [Thor: Ragnarok] because of where it took place. It wasn't really on Earth, and my character is on Earth."

Granted, Jane spent a lot of time on Asgard in Thor: The Dark World. But in any event, she's back and poised to become a very big part of the MCU moving forward. It still hasn't been revealed who the villain will be for this installment, nor have any firm story details been revealed. We'll be sure to keep you posted as any further details on the project are made available. Thor: Love and Thunder is set to hit theaters on November 5, 2021. This news comes to us via Entertainment Tonight.