In somewhat surprising news, Natalie Portman has announced that not only will she not appear as Jane Foster in the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok, but that she probably won’t appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe again ever. This is a rather disturbing turn of events that could prove to be a bigger problem than people think.
For all the success that Marvel films have generated, there have been a number of glaring, repeated weaknesses from film to film: poorly-written villains, lackluster scores, failure of anyone important to stay dead…but Portman’s exit could be an indication of another problem, one that could have huge consequences in the very near future–unsatisfying exits and endings.
First, let’s get this out of the way: Natalie Portman is a legitimate star, a great actress and absolutely justified in pursuing better avenues for her talents. The Jane Foster portrayed in the Thor films have been, at best, poorly used, and at worst, a prop. From the first time she appeared, her role has been confined to spouting science-sounding nonsense, being rescued by Thor, and participating in cinema’s least convincing romance. This is hardly Portman’s fault—lay this at the feet of the various writers and directors of the God of Thunder. I completely get why she wants to do something more interesting.
But Portman is hardly the first actor to exit the MCU. Terrence Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle. Edward Norton by Mark Ruffalo. No one is really sure if or when Gwyneth Paltrow will return. Recasting is inevitable in an undertaking as large as Marvel’s, where there are multiple films and stories spanning over many years.
But Portman’s exit feels different. She’s a marquee name and an MCU mainstay. Her departure has both short-term and long-term repercussions.
First off, the mysterious disappearing girlfriend thing is starting to get annoying. First, we find out in Civil War that Pepper Potts (after being mysteriously absent since Iron-Man 3) has split with Tony, and now all signs point to a similar storyline for Jane. This is just weak story-telling. Personally, I think a story where superheroes get dumped sounds AMAZING. I would totally sign up to watch Thor “sad-dial” Heimdall in sweatpants, eating Haagan Dazs, and crying to Bridget Jones’ Diary.
My weird vision of superheroes reenacting “rom-com” cliches aside, there’s another reason that this becomes tricky, and it involves Chris Hemsworth’s contract. Hemsworth is just one of the original Marvel leads whose contact ends following the Infinity Wars. And while it’s easy to say that Foster and Potts are just minor characters, how does Marvel hope to wrap these stories up without the key love interests?
Mostly, I’m sad we won’t get to see the storyline from the comics where Jane becomes the new Thor. That sounds like the best premise of a Thor movie yet (which is an admittedly low bar, but still). I’d love to see how a mortal handles the sudden acquisition of nearly unlimited powers, traveling through space, and dealing with all of the Asgardian drama. It seemed like an easy win. Oh well.
Instead, I think we’re in for one of the following futures for Thor (in order of plausibility):
- Thor: Ragnarok is the last solo Thor film and Hemsworth appears sporadically in big team-up movies (like Robert Downey Jr.) or via an occasional cameo or post-credits scene(s).
- The Avengers Infinity Wars is Thor’s last appearance.
- Thor is recast with a new actor.
Frankly, some of this probably depends on the success or failure of the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok. If it kills at the box-office, there’s always the possibility that Marvel and Hemsworth could reach an agreement. While killing Thor off would inject some much-needed unpredictability and drama into the MCU, it would be very uncharacteristic of the studio we’ve seen so far.
No, I think the much more likely scenario, whether or not Hemsworth appears in another Marvel film after Infinity Wars, is to keep the option open. Maybe Thor appears again, maybe not. Which makes sense from a business perspective (hey, maybe we decide to reboot if Ant-Man 4 bombs!), but is terribly unsatisfying to me.
Marvel has been adept at world and character building, but has had limited-to-terrible success at wrapping them up. This is the inherent nature of comic books—no one dies or says goodbye (at least not permanently). But films are different. Good stories have satisfying conclusions, and Marvel hasn’t shown whether they’re able do that yet.
Maybe in three years we’ll look back at Natalie Portman’s and Gwyneth Paltrow’s (presumed) exits as outliers in a universe brimming with impactful final acts. I certainly hope so. But so far, the studio is off to a bad start at good endings.