Marvel's Thor: Love and Thunder - Natalie Portman's body transformation stuns fans

Natalie Portman has bulked up for her role in Thor: Love and Thunder. Photo / Supplied / Marvel Studios

Newly released photos of Natalie Portman in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder film have fans stunned at the star's body transformation.

The 40-year-old mum-of-two is shown sporting ripped arms that could give co-star Chris Hemsworth a run for his money in the latest publicity stills released for Marvel's next big screen outing.

Co-star Tessa Thompson is shown alongside the actress in one photo, looking equally buff, but it's Portman's transformation that's garnered the most attention – she looks a world away from the actress best known for gamine roles like Jackie Kennedy or the doomed ballerina Nina in Black Swan.

Fans are going wild at the sight of Portman's new look:

Girls don’t want boys girls want Natalie Portman as Thor pic.twitter.com/y2Y53d1xiz

— Selina (@ECNALHANID) May 7, 2022

Me after spending too much time looking at Natalie Portman's Thor arms pic.twitter.com/Pa6PwHUaFQ

— i should be writing write now (@kellyrhonesdead) May 10, 2022

every pic of buff natalie portman from the Thor movie sends me to the moon https://t.co/qtEIQjfRG8

— alex (@alex_abads) May 16, 2022

If you think Anakin was a bitch in the prequels for turning evil over his wife, then I implore you to look at pictures of Natalie Portman's arms in 2022, and then try and tell me you wouldn't turn to the dark side for that woman.

— The4thSnake (@4thSnake) May 12, 2022

I'm entirely too bisexual for Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth (not to mention Tessa Thompson) to have arms like that all in one movie ok

— Nicole (@InkonaBlock) May 17, 2022

Not everyone's a fan, though: in an op-ed for Gawker, writer Fran Hoepfner lamented the fact Portman was one of many acclaimed actors swept up in the Marvel universe.

"It's impossible to believe that what people want from Portman … is for her to get jacked," she wrote.

Tessa Thompson (left) and Natalie Portman, selling tickets to the gun show. Photo / Marvel Studios

"Enough time has passed under the tedious reign of Disney's superhero movies that we know legitimately great and versatile actors are wasted, smoothed out and plumped up, for less than 10 minutes of screen time."

Portman is one of many big screen stars to unveil their Marvel-facilitated superhero body transformations in recent years, among them Kumail Nanjiani and Chris Pratt.

Portman has previously opened up about the extreme measures needed to get superhero-buff for Thor, telling talk show host Jimmy Fallon it had been quite a shock after the inactivity of lockdowns.

"I've had like months of pandemic, eating baked goods and laying in bed and feeling sorry for myself. I'm, like, super tired after working out. And during. And dreading before," she said.

• Thor: Love and Thunder is released in New Zealand cinemas on July 7.