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.
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:
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:
"There's a moment in the MCU, if you're paying very close attention, where the Aether is there and the Tesseract is in the vault. In that iteration, we were interested in Tony going to Asgard. He had a stealth suit, so he was invisible, and he fought Heimdall, who could see him."
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:
"As far as I know, I'm done. I don't know if maybe one day they'll ask for an Avengers 7 or whatever, I have no idea. But as far as I know, I'm done. It was a great thing to be a part of."
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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