Natalie Portman will not be reprising her character in the upcoming superhero sequel, Thor: Ragnarok.
The Oscar-winning actress played Jane Foster, love interest of Chris Hemsworth's Asgardian god, in the previous two movies - 2011's Thor, and 2013's Thor 2: The Dark World.
But Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige revealed on Friday that Natalie would not appear in the next movie Thor: Ragnarok, which is due to be released in 2017.
/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/GLBEXUKG53FGDYIOWVH2IEYF7Q.jpg)
"(There are) many reasons (she won't appear), many of which are in the film, so you will see that," Kevin told the Empire Film Podcast. "There are only a couple scenes on Earth in this movie. The majority, 95 per cent of the movie, takes place in the cosmos."
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.He also stressed that a third movie in a film series provides "the opportunity and the time to really change things up".
Jane Foster was mentioned in last year's Avengers: Age of Ultron movie, during a conversation between Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark and Thor, but was not actually seen.
Her last appearance in the Marvel universe was in Thor: The Dark World, which featured her character being poisoned by a powerful entity known as the Aether, bringing about a near-apocalypse.
/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/DVBHXL6JWK57NZ5MXRB6HCAJUI.jpg)
While Natalie is not yet returning to the superhero franchise, Chris will reprise his hammer-wielding role for the third Thor instalment, while Mark Ruffalo will be returning as Bruce Banner / Hulk. Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett and Jaimie Alexander are also confirmed to be starring in the superhero movie.
- WENN