Natalie Portman Picks Up Mjolnir For The First Time In Thor: Love and Thunder Trailer

After an almost decade-long hiatus from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Natalie Portman has returned to the world of Thor as Jane Foster, but now, she’s gotten a bit of a promotion. In the first teaser for the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder, we get a peak at what we can expect from the fourth iteration of Thor’s story, which includes his ex-girlfriend, Foster, taking over his post as the God of Thunder.

The trailer for Thor begins by showing Chris Hemsworth’s character going through the stages of his life before putting away his hammer, Stormbreaker, and announcing that his “super hero-ing days are over.” To the tune of Guns ‘N Roses’ “Sweet Child ‘O Mine,” we see Thor set out on a new journey with the Guardians of the Galaxy, which is where we last left him following Avengers: Endgame. As Thor attempts to find himself, we see shots of what’s to come in the film, including Chris Pratt reprising his role as Peter Quill, and Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, and Vin Diesel joining once again as well. Tessa Thompson also returns as the new King of Asgard, while director Taika Waititi is pulling double duty, also playing Korg, whom we met in Thor: Ragnorak. We even get a quick glimpse of Russell Crowe who is joining the cast as Zeus, but so far there’s no sign of Christian Bale, who will play Gorr the God Butcher in the film.

Portman, though, gets the star treatment in the trailer, with a debut in the last moments of the clip. The actress left the franchise following Thor: The Dark World in 2013, reportedly unhappy with the film and the replacement of director Patty Jenkins with Alan Taylor, according to Variety. Apparently, it was Waititi who convinced Portman to return for this upcoming iteration. In Love and Thunder, Portman will pick up Mjolnir, making her worthy of the Thor title, something that Hemsworth’s Thor doesn’t seem to pleased about in the trailer.

Thor: Love and Thunder premieres in theaters July 8th. Watch the trailer below: