Marvel actors dedicate a lot of themselves to the cinematic universe they're a part of,
and almost everyone who's ever been a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far
gave another piece of themselves to Avengers: Endgame, arguably the biggest and most epic
superhero movie ever committed to film.
One Endgame star, however, put hardly any effort into their role in the epic superhero
assemblage.
If you don't know by now, major spoilers ahead.
The film's co-directors Joe and Anthony Russo recently revealed that Natalie Portman didn't
film any new footage for Avengers: Endgame, despite actually being fairly important for
the plot.
What audiences saw of her was actually unused footage from Thor: The Dark World.
The only thing Portman did do for Endgame?
A few lines of voiceover, according to a recent Entertainment Weekly interview with the Russo
Brothers.
Anthony Russo further explained that Portman's voice is heard, quote, "when she's talking
in the distance, that's it."
That moment comes when she's speaking with the Asgardians, thanking them for looking
after her.
It's something of a surprise appearance considering her total disappearance from the MCU when
Thor: Ragnarok debuted.
"Sorry to hear that Jane dumped you."
"She didn't dump me.
I dumped her.
It was a mutual dumping."
In Endgame, Portman's character Jane Foster pops up during the sequences on Asgard, when
Thor and Rocket travel back to Thor's home in the year 2013 to retrieve the Reality Stone
as part of the Avengers' time heist mission.
In Thor: The Dark World, Jane became the host for the Stone when she walked through a portal
and came into contact with the Aether, the dark red fluid also known as the Reality Stone.
For months leading up to the release of Avengers: Endgame, fans speculated that Jane might have
an important role to play in how Earth's Mightiest Heroes would try to defeat Thanos.
This turned out to be true…
though it wasn't the only theory for how Foster might have lent a hand to the Avengers.
Some fans thought that perhaps Jane would return and offer her expertise in astrophysics
to help the superheroes navigate the Quantum Realm.
You might recall her reference to the Asgardian machine she was being studied with during
Thor: The Dark World:
"That's a quantum field generator, isn't it?"
"It's a soul forge."
"Does a soul forge transfer molecular energy from one place to another?"
"Yes."
"Quantum Field Generator."
This one didn't pan out, clearly, but the funny thing is that Portman's Jane genuinely
was meant to have a more substantial impact in Avengers: Endgame.
Endgame screenwriter Stephen McFeely told The New York Times that the first draft of
the screenplay didn't see the action rewind to The Avengers from 2012 to grab the Tesseract.
Instead, Endgame went back to Asgard to obtain the Reality Stone and the Space Stone:
In that early version of the Avengers: Endgame script, Jane and Thor actually spoke to and
interacted with one another.
Fellow scribe Christopher Markus noted that Thor would've had long scenes with Foster.
Those sequences were probably pretty awkward, as Jane would be unknowingly talking to a
Thor from the future, a future where the couple is no longer together.
Plans for Avengers: Endgame obviously ended up changing.
While it makes sense that Jane wound up being part of the story, it's interesting that Portman
returned to the MCU at all, even in the incredibly limited capacity she did.
A few years after the release of Thor: The Dark World, Portman announced that she was
"done" with the superhero film franchise, though she did leave things open for a possible
return down the line.
She told The Wall Street Journal back in 2016:
It's unlikely at this point that Portman will sign another Marvel contract and shoot something
new for the MCU, especially after Thor teamed with the Guardians of the Galaxy at the end
of Avengers: Endgame.
Then again, Jane Foster wielded Mjolnir for a few years in the comics, proving that you
don't need to be the Odinson to be Thor.
If Portman's ever bored and looking to buy a few new boats a few years from now, there's
probably at least a potential movie or two where she headlines over Chris Hemsworth…
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