Natalie Portman to wield Thor's hammer in 'Thor: Love and Thunder'

Natalie Portman will reprise her role as Dr Jane Foster in Thor: Love and Thunder for Marvel, it's been confirmed, but this time she'll be rather more than just the Norse god's love interest.

The movie will follow a 2014 storyline from the comics, in which Thor loses his powers, and Foster picks up his hammer Mjolnir, taking on the mantle Mighty Thor.

Portman took to Instagram to confirm the news.

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And it’s got Marvel fans going pretty wild on Twitter.

Of course, the fact that she said she was ‘done’ with the role back in 2016 has not been forgotten.

“As far as I know, I’m done. I mean, I don’t know if maybe one day they’ll ask for an Avengers 7 or whatever, I have no idea. But as far as I know, I’m done. It was a great thing to be a part of,” she told the Wall Street Journal.

Thor: Love and Thunder will see Kiwi helmsman Taika Waititi back behind the camera, having made the last Thor movie, Thor: Ragnarok, as well as the return of Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie and, of course, Chris Hemsworth as Thor.

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At the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame, Thor handed over the rule of the surviving citizens of Asgard to Valkyrie.

Portman played Foster in the first Thor movie back in 2011, directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh, and then again in Thor: The Dark World in 2013.

She played her again, albeit very briefly, in Avengers: Endgame.

Love and Thunder will land on November 5, 2021.

The announcement came among a raft of news from the comic book studio at Comic Con in San Diego, including plans for a Blade reboot, the Black Widow movie, and a Doctor Strange sequel.