CBM has been abuzz with Green Lanterny goodness since the trailer débuted the other day, but lets not forget about another little movie from the Marvel camp to be released next year. In Thor, Natalie Portman plays love interest to the God Of Thunder, Jane Foster. In the comics Foster was never really up there in terms of recognisability with say Mary Jane in Spider-Man, or even Betty Ross in Hulk. But Portman reveals that both her her and director Ken Branagh made sure she would be a memorable presence in the film..
“I signed on to do it before there was a script. And Ken, who’s amazing, who is so incredible, was like, ‘You can really help create this character.‘ “
“I got to read all of these biographies of female scientists like Rosalind Franklin who actually discovered the DNA double helix but didn’t get the credit for it. The struggles they had and the way that they thought — I was like, ‘What a great opportunity, in a very big movie that is going to be seen by a lot of people, to have a woman as a scientist.’
In the comic Foster is also a nurse, but her character was altered to be more relevant to the mythology that will be present in the movie. So instead of looking after the invalid Donald Blake(who will not feature in Branagh's film) she will be working to understand Thor's Asgardian(alien) heritage..
She’s a very serious scientist. Because in the comic she’s a nurse and now they made her an astrophysicist. Really, I know it sounds silly, but it is those little things that makes girls think it’s possible. It doesn’t give them a [role] model of ‘Oh, I just have to dress cute in movies.’”
Let's hope that kind of hard research pays off and Thor is as good as we all hope it will be. We find out one way or the other when it hits theatres on May 6th 2011(April 29th for me;). A new trailer is also rumored to be attached to
Tron: Legacy which opens next month.