Natalie Portman doesn’t know if “Thor: Love and Thunder” will include a breast cancer storyline for her character Jane Foster, but she’s definitely intrigued by the possibility.
“It’s just very rare that these kinds of big entertainment films look at more serious, real-life issues,” she told Variety at L.A. Dance Project’s 8th annual fundraising gala at downtown gallery space Hauser & Wirth on Saturday night. “I really don’t know anything about it. I haven’t seen anything, but I’ve heard the same rumors as you have, and it’s exciting to think about.”
Portman is set to reprise her MCU role in the fourth installment of the superhero franchise, in which Jane becomes Thor. Director Taika Waititi first told Variety’s Marc Malkin earlier this month that the movie could include the cancer storyline, which appears in the “Thor” comics.
“I think that’s a really powerful part of the books. I think it’s really cool that she’s fighting this thing and there’s two battles going on. Personally I really love that storyline,” he said. “But whether it ends up in the film is yet to be seen.”
Meanwhile, Portman gushed over Brie Larson’s work in the standalone “Captain Marvel” movie. Although she was unable to attend the dance gala, Larson was a co-chair of the evening.
“I was actually really inspired by her training for ‘Captain Marvel,’” she said. “It was so incredible what she was able to do.”
The big picture behind these future blockbusters — an opportunity to make the Marvel world less male-dominated — isn’t lost on Portman.
“It’s pretty awesome, and I’m grateful to be around someone inspiring like her,” she said of Larson. Portman hopes they might spend more time together in the future, specifically on the set of “Captain Marvel 2” or “Thor 4: Love and Thunder.”
“I love the cross-pollination of all the [Marvel] movies,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons it becomes so powerful: All of the supporting players in each movie — you’ve seen movies where they’re the leading players. So you really relate to all of the characters in such a deep way.”
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