Thor: Love and Thunder will introduce Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) as The Mighty Thor, a new version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s God of Thunder, though her power level compared to Chris Hemsworth’s portrayal remains to be seen. Despite being part of the MCU since the first Thor film in 2011, Jane Foster was notably absent in Thor: Ragnarok and only returned for a small appearance in Avengers: Endgame’s time heist. In keeping with the MCU tradition of being reasonably faithful to the comics while also putting a new spin on their stories, Jane Foster’s superhero origins will likely borrow elements from the 2014 comic arc in which Jane’s comic counterpart became Thor.

The introduction of a new Thor will also have a major impact on Hemsworth’s version of the character. Avengers: Endgame saw a depressed Thor begin to heal from the deaths of half of his people and think of his heroism in a new way. With director Taika Waititi at the helm, a simple return to the former status quo is unlikely, since Ragnarok’s unique comedic tone already proved Waititi’s capacity to innovate the character.

Leaving New Asgard in Valkyrie’s care in order to explore space at the end of Avengers: Endgame signals a new path for Thor – one that drifts even further away from the godlike prince introduced in Phase 1. Thor: Love and Thunder will not be Chris Hemsworth’s last MCU film, so the characters’ niches cannot be redundant. Having two Thors opens up an opportunity for an equally powerful Jane Foster to take on threats to Earth only a god could take care of, leaving her counterpart to discover a new purpose in space and beyond. However, while Portman’s version of the God of Thunder may be just as strong as Hemsworth’s, she will have a slightly different power set.

In the comics, Jane Foster was first granted powers by lifting Mjolnir after the previous Thor became unworthy. It’s unlikely that this will happen in the MCU, since Thor already went through the arc of becoming unworthy and learning to be worthy in his first film. Still, his more frequent use of Stormbreaker in recent films could set him up to willingly pass the hammer to Jane. Although the MCU sent Mjolnir back to the alternate timeline with Captain America (Chris Evans), an interview with Natalie Portman suggested that the Mighty Thor will find a way to wield the iconic weapon. Mjolnir is one of the most powerful weapons in the MCU, capable of putting up a fight even against Thanos, and wielding it would make her one of the universe’s strongest heroes – especially since most of the other characters known to be worthy are dead or otherwise inactive in the main timeline.

At first glance, it might be easy to dismiss The Mighty Thor as the weaker version due to the original Thor’s sheer power continually outshining his teammates – not to mention the fact that Jane is human rather than Asgardian by birth. Thor was the only Avenger capable of significantly wounding Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, even if he did fail to aim for the head. However, Portman has said that The Mighty Thor’s powers will be unique to her in a recent interview, rather than being exactly the same as the other Thor’s. This shows that her character will not simply be Thor Lite, but a heroine with different skills that meet the expectations of colossal strength for any character carrying the moniker of the Goddess of Thunder.

As an origin story, Thor: Love and Thunder will see Jane Foster find her footing as a superhero while adding deeper motivations, backstory, and personality traits for the character, rather than seeing her relegated to a love interest role. Her ability to stand beside Chris Hemsworth’s Thor as an equal, not only in power but also complexity, will provide more critical high quality female representation in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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