Why Natalie Portman Originally Left The Thor Movies

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Here's why Natalie Portman initially left the Thor movie franchise after Thor: The Dark World. Portman will be making her glorious return to the MCU in Taika Waititi's Thor: Love and Thunder, reprising her role as Jane Foster and, more importantly, transforming into Mighty Thor. Portman has been absent from the MCU for quite some time, so why did she originally exit the Thor franchise?

Jane Foster was first introduced as an astrophysicist in 2011's Thor. After investigating New Mexico with her team, she encountered the God of Thunder and quickly got caught up in the demigod's Asgardian conflict. Jane later became Thor's love interest and returned in Thor: The Dark World. While snooping around an abandoned warehouse, Jane was infected by the Aether, the liquified form of the Reality Stone. The Aether was later drawn out of Jane and Thor helped save the day with the help of his allies on Earth. The relationship between Thor and Jane seemed fine by the end of the movie, but that was clearly not the case following Thor: The Dark World.

Related: Female Thor Explained: How Jane Foster Became Worthy

Jane was mentioned in passing in other MCU installments but Natalie Portman didn't appear in any films. The character did make a cameo appearance in Avengers: Endgame, but the scenes were put together using deleted footage from Thor: The Dark World. Portman did, however, record new lines that the Russo Brothers could use in the movie. Even with Portman's involvement, there was no real indication that she would be returning to the Thor franchise, or the MCU for that matter, especially based on the reasons why she left in the first place.

Up until Thor: Ragnarok, Portman was the female lead of the Thor films, so it was surprising when