Natalie Portman is officially not joining the cast of Thor: Ragnarok, as MCU head Kevin Feige confirmed earlier today that her character – Jane Foster – is absent from the threequel. Of course, Feige kept the details as to why on the mysterious side, but confirmed that the film will have an explanation for her absence.
When asked, Feige affirmed, “I can confirm that, yes.” Feige naturally remained vague on the exact reason why, but did concede, “Many reasons [why]. Many of which are in the film so you will see that. There are only a couple of scenes on Earth in this movie. 80 to 90 percent takes place in the cosmos.”
Most fans will probably be less concerned with the removal of Thor’s Earthy girlfriend, and more with the last part of Feige’s comment. According to the guy running this entire ship, Thor: Ragnarok is doubling down on The Dark World‘s focus on other realms and keeping the action mostly off of our planet. Undoubtedly, the God of Thunder will be tracking down Thanos and more information on the infinity stones, given where things left of in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Those hoping for a resurgence of the potential Lady Sif romance will be disappointed as well, since another rumor from last month points to Tessa Thompson’s addition to the film as Thor’s new love interest. Initial reports about Thompson’s character in the MCU suggest that the actress is signed on for multiple films, so it seems that Jane is gone for good moving forward.
Let us know what you think about Portman’s departure from Thor: Ragnarok, and the MCU as a whole, in the comments section below.