MCU’s Jane Foster Is Called Mighty Thor, Not Female Thor

When Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster becomes worthy in Thor: Love and Thunder, she will be known as Mighty Thor. Before her surprise appearance in Avengers: Endgame, audiences had not seen Portman in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film since 2013’s Thor: The Dark World. In that movie and the prior Thor, Jane filled a role that she commonly has in the comics: the brilliant astrophysicist who is a love interest for the God of Thunder. But, that will change when she returns for Thor: Love and Thunder.

As part of Marvel Studios’ panel at San Diego Comic-Con, they confirmed that Taika Waititi – the man behind Thor: Ragnarok – would write and direct a fourth Thor movie. Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson are back as Thor and Valkyrie, which was expected. But, it was then revealed that Portman is rejoining the MCU story and will receive a much more powerful role than before. Jane Foster will become Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder, and even though it has been common to call her “Female Thor,” that will not be her official title.

The possibility of her being known as Female Thor resulted in some pushback online to the notion that Jane being worthy means her gender needs to be part of her title. Thankfully, Waititi stepped in and clarified what Portman’s Thor will be called. As he stated on Twitter, Jane Foster will be known as Mighty Thor, not Female Thor, in the MCU.

Even though “The Mighty Thor” was the popular title for Thor’s solo comic book series several decades ago, it has been Jane Foster who has actually taken the Mighty Thor name in the source material. This has happened during Jason Aaron’s Mighty Thor series that ran from 2015 to 2018 and showed Jane’s transformation into becoming Thor. Waititi mentioned during the SDCC presentation that he loves this run too, so him bringing Jane’s Mighty Thor title to the MCU makes sense.

Portman returning to play Mighty Thor has only increased excitement in what Waititi will do next in the MCU, but it also opens the door for her to have a much more significant role moving forward. Mighty Thor is big enough to become its own franchise, or she could continue to appear in other major events, such as the eventual A-Force movie or as part of the new-look Avengers lineup Marvel will one day roll out. Since Thor: Love and Thunder doesn’t come out until late 2021, it may be a while before we learn more about it, but the introduction of Mighty Thor and return of Portman is enough to keep fans excited until then.