Natalie Portman Bows Out Of ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ As Tessa Thompson Opts In


Natalie Portman has decided that two Thor movies were enough, as reports surfaced on Tuesday evening that Portman has decided against appearing in Thor: Ragnarok. Having played Dr. Jane Foster in the first two films centering on the Norse god, her absence could be quite noticeable but the studio sure seems to be trying to make us forget she won’t be in the film considering the number of big names who will be. Among the people who will be making an appearance in Thor: Ragnarok is Mark Ruffalo, who will be reprising his role as the Hulk.

Along with Chris Hemsworth, like Thor, the two actors are the only Avengers, who are not in Captain America: Civil War. Natalie Portman is also not in that film, for obvious reasons, but one has to wonder if Portman is done with superhero movies altogether. Natalie Portman has had a longer history of appearing in comic book movies than some might think, as long as you count graphic novels among comic books. Natalie Portman showed off her action-hero chops in V For Vendetta, which centered around a superhumanly strong hero sporting a Guy Fawkes mask in a dystopian future Great Britain.

In that film, Natalie Portman went from being the innocent female lead to a shaved head tough girl who joined “V” in his quest to bring down a dictatorial British government. Knowing that, it’s not that Natalie Portman isn’t able to handle action movies. Despite all that, it doesn’t appear there is any chance Natalie Portman is going to be coming back and because she’s stepped away from the film, she won’t be able to work alongside actors such as Cate Blanchett. Slashfilm reports Blanchett will be taking on a new character, though it doesn’t appear just who the actress will play. Is it possible Cate will be replacing Natalie Portman as Thor’s love interest? No, it doesn’t sound like she will, but no details about her role have been released yet.

What we do now is there are some fan-favorite characters who will be returning for a third go-round in Thor’s little corner of the Marvel Comics Universe. Tom Hiddleston is going to be reprising his role as Loki (Thor’s half-brother), and Jamie Alexander is returning as Sif. Sif seemed to have eyes for Hemsworth’s Thor in previous chapters of the trilogy, so perhaps she can step in where Natalie Portman left off. If Sif does want to move in on the God of Thunder, she’ll have another new addition to the franchise to contend with.

ComingSoon.net reports Tessa Thompson will be joining Thor: Ragnarok and she is set to take over the role of potential love interest from Natalie Portman. Much like Blanchett, Thompson’s character has not been revealed yet. If she is indeed going to be the love interest for Thor, it’s possible she could be playing someone like Amora the Enchantress. The most interesting thing about the addition of Thompson is her ties to actors in Thor: Ragnarok. Before the final chapter of MCU’s Asgardian trilogy hits the silver screen, Thompson will star alongside Natalie Portman in Annihilation. Thompson is also named a series regular in the upcoming HBO series Westword, alongside the man who will play Odin in Thor: Ragnarok, Anthony Hopkins. All of these shifts in the third movie in the trilogy comes as the other stories in the Marvel Comics Universe are starting to ramp up, such as next month’s Captain America: Civil War. Natalie Portman has apparently decided she’d rather step back than be a part of that ramp up.

[Photo by Jon Furniss/AP Images]

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