It's hammer time for Natalie Portman.
Marvel Studios on Monday dropped an exciting first trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder, which ends with a major reveal: our first look at Natalie Portman's character, Jane Foster, as a "female Thor."
The footage shows Thor's hammer flying through the air, and it's unexpectedly grabbed by Jane, who's fully suited up and looks ready to fight. Love and Thunder will draw on a comic book storyline that saw Jane battling cancer and gaining Thor-like powers. She's known in the comics as the "Mighty Thor."
This will be Portman's on-screen return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time in almost a decade. She last played Thor's love interest in 2013's Thor: The Dark World, but her character has been absent since then, with Thor explaining in 2017's Thor: Ragnarok that they broke up off-screen. Old footage of Portman was used in Avengers: Endgame, and she provided a brief voiceover.
Portman previously told Fatherly she was "really excited" to be back, adding, "If there can be all these female superheroes, the more of them they are, the better it is."
The rest of the trailer teases a plot involving Thor giving up his superhero life after having named Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) ruler of Asgard. It also suggests the Guardians of the Galaxy may be more involved than previously thought.
Still, the footage keeps some things close to the vest, not yet showing off Christian Bale's villain character, Gorr.
Love and Thunder is directed by Taika Waititi, who revitalized the Thor series with a more comedic tone in Ragnarok. It's set to hit theaters on July 8. Check out the trailer below.
