Thor Love and Thunder – Who is Jane Foster's Mighty Thor and powers explained

Thor: Love and Thunder will mark the first time an Avenger has received more than three standalone films. Similarly, the Asgardian's fourth solo outing will see the return of a former love interest who possesses the powers of God of Thunder.

Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) were surprised and excited to see Natalie Portman back as Jane Foster following the announcement at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 as her comic character's counterpart, Mighty Thor. We preview how similar or different her superhero origins and powers will be between the comics and MCU canon.

Thor: Love and Thunder – Jane Foster's comic book and MCU origins

Before gaining the powers of the Mighty Thor, Jane Foster was first introduced to Marvel Comics readers in the Journey into Mystery comic, issue #84, published in 1962. The comic, a collaboration created by Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and Larry Lieber, would see Foster becoming the main love interest for the God of Thunder.

Throughout its 52-issue-run, Jane and Thor would encounter many hurdles, as most couples do, including Jane not being worthy of being Thor's wife and Thor hiding his true identity. The latter results from using his secret identity, Dr. Donald Blake, which he eventually revealed to Jane.

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While they separated at the behest of Odin, they would rekindle many years later until tragedy struck for Jane. Not only did she lose her husband and young son in a motor vehicle accident, but she would later be diagnosed with breast cancer.

Jane's cancer diagnosis would've been the end of the beloved astrophysicist; it became the starting point of her next journey in Marvel Comics. Following a series of events that led to Thor being unworthy of his bestowed weapon, he relinquishes his name and weapon on the moon before a worthy warrior claims Mjölnir.

Their identity remained a secret as their powers were transferred to them; Thor eventually discovers that it was Jane who became the new Thor. In the comics, when she reverts to her human self, any advancements in her cancer treatment would be undone, leaving Jane in a state of pain and endless suffering.

When she's the Mighty Thor, her heroic efforts are renowned not just on earth but on Asgard. In becoming worthy to wield Mjölnir, she would earn her place in Asgardian mythology as the Mighty Thor and lead her comic book series run.

So, how will her MCU origins compare to her comic book appearances? It's apparent from the trailers that the fourth Thor entry, Love and Thunder, is heavily inspired by the Mighty Thor series.

Whether it will retain most of her origin story or deviate from it remains clear, but fans are nevertheless excited to see the return of the famed astrophysicist. While her absence from the MCU was noticeable in Thor: Ragnarok as Jane and Thor had broken up at the time, she was briefly seen in Avengers: Endgame before her surprise return in Love and Thunder.

The trailers have given audiences glimpses of Jane as the Mighty Thor, biceps and all, and wielding a reassembled Mjölnir; how she ended up having the weapon in her possession hasn't been explained. While that may be a mystery, could it have anything to do with Thor's mental and physical state post-Endgame, or does the film's villain, Gorr the God-Butcher, have anything to do with it?

Thor: Love and Thunder – Comic and MCU superpowers explained

As we expect a slight difference between Jane Foster's origins in Marvel Comics and the MCU canon, the same extends to her superpowers. The trailer not only shows her wielding Mjölnir, which we're unsure how it was put back together, but we saw a few powers gained as the Mighty Thor.

According to Portman, in an interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show, she revealed that Jane's MCU powers would be vastly different than Thor's MCU powers. "So, she does have powers. It's not exactly the same as Thor. It's her own version of it. And, she's called The Mighty Thor."

As the Mighty Thor, her powers are sourced from Mjölnir, in which she gains the ability to create and use lightning, the power of flight, and godlike strength, speed, and agility. Additionally, there are other powers she'll gain from the mighty weapon, including electrokinesis, power from the comic books, and seen in a trailer.

While she can channel her abilities through Mjölnir, the trailer also gives us a glimpse of her not using the weapon to launch lightning bolts at enemies. It hasn't been seen if she can also wield another ability to generate stars with the hammer, but we hope Love and Thunder will elaborate on this ability.

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The upcoming Marvel Studios film has much room to explore Jane's newfound superhero abilities and the extent of her powers with Mjölnir in her possession. How she gains the weapon and becomes the Mighty Thor will have to wait until next month to learn more.

Thor: Love and Thunder launch in theatres worldwide on 8th July 2022. Tickets are now available for bookings and experience all the electrifying love and godly thunder.

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Featured image courtesy of Marvel Studios.