Natalie Portman Says She's 'Very Excited to Wield the Hammer' as Lady Thor in Her Marvel Return

Natalie Portman is ready to pick up the hammer.

The Oscar winner is set to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder. Her appearance in the fourth film in the franchise will be her first since 2013’s Thor: The Dark World, even though her Dr. Jane Foster made a brief appearance in this summer’s Avengers: Endgame thanks to the use of old footage.

But the actress, 38, will get to really come back for the fourth movie, and she’s getting quite the role.

“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!’ ” Portman told Entertainment Tonight of her return.

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“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,” Portman added of her absence from the 2017 movie.

Portman’s new role was first announced at the San Diego Comic-Con where she appeared on stage alongside Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, the new King of Asgard now that Hemsworth’s Thor has passed on the title to her.

“I love Tessa and Chris so much, so it’s exciting to work with them again,” Portman said of her cast mates. “And I’m very excited to wield the hammer.”

Portman starred as Thor’s love interest Jane Foster in Thor and Thor: The Dark World in 2011 and 2013. As Entertainment Weekly reports, “Her super new role in the fourth Thor film is based on Jason Aaron’s comic book run that saw Jane Foster ultimately become the Mighty Lady Thor when Thor Odinson finds himself unworthy of picking up Mj?lnir for the first time in the rebooted Thor #1.”

The film will also star Thompson as Valkyrie, one of Marvel’s first queer superheroes, along with Hemsworth. It’s slated to hit theaters November 2021.

Marvel also announced more women-led films at Comic-Con, including a standalone Black Widow movie starring Scarlett Johansson and Angelina Jolie‘s first Marvel role in The Eternals.