Academy Award-winning actress Natalie Portman credits Marvel Studios for casting a five-feet-three frame actor like her in a towering role of The Mighty Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder, an opportunity the star says changed the way she perceived superhero films.
Portman returns as Thor’s ex-girlfriend and astrophysicist Jane Foster in the upcoming film directed by Taika Waititi. She will appear as The Mighty Thor in the possession of the mystical hammer Mjolnir in the latest MCU offering.
“I was especially grateful to everyone's imagination to cast a 5-feet-3-inches tall actor in a six-feet role. That takes a real belief. Probably it is not something I will get to do again. It was a great challenge,” the actor said during a press conference.
Thor: Love and Thunder, which is set after the events of Avengers: Endgame, will show the Asgardian God in search of inner peace. However, he must go back to work and enlist Valkyrie, Korg, and Jane Foster, who has transformed into The Mighty Thor, in order to stop Gorr the God Butcher from eradicating all gods.
Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth is returning as the titular superhero alongside Tessa Thompson who reprises her role of Valkyrie. Academy Award-winner Christian Bale makes his MCU debut as supervillain Gorr.
According to Portman, the movie provided her with the freedom to investigate a character who could turn her vulnerability into a strength.
“It's incredible to explore a female superhero who could be quite vulnerable and weak and find strength in that and be more like a human. I could relate to her personally,” she added.
She gained a newfound respect for what her co-stars Hemsworth and Thompson have been doing for so many years as a result of playing a superhero. The actor, who had to undergo physical training to bulk up for her role, claimed she was not aware of the amount of effort the production team had to put into making these movies.
“It just gave me renewed respect for what Chris (Hemsworth) has been doing for over a decade. I see how much work goes into it. I don't think I was aware of when I was in the first one (Thor). I didn't see everything that went on behind the scenes, now when I got an insight into all of the choreography, training and everything, I was like, ‘Wow, this is a triple job of what I was doing back then’,” the 41-year-old actress said.
According to actress Tessa Thompson, returning to the franchise was an amazing experience as Waititi could create a story that falls somewhere in between “ridiculousness” and “pathos”.
“What's so fun about this film in particular is that it holds a space between ridiculousness, fun and pathos. That is something that Taika has always done really well in his films,” she said.
Thor: Love and Thunder is produced by Kevin Feige-led Marvel Studios. The producer believes that the lead actor Hemsworth's natural sense of humour is what draws viewers to the Thor movie series.
The producer stated that Marvel comics are full of fantastic stories about the character, and they have not yet explored them all, without providing any other information on the Thor franchise’s future plans.
He also said that Marvel fans can expect some big announcements at the San Diego Comic-Con next month.
“We'll be at Comic-Con next month, which we're excited about," he said about returning to the event after three years. “We are excited to go and talk about the future,” the 49-year-old added.
Thor: Love and Thunder will be released in India in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam on July 7.
