Natalie Portman Joins the Cast of Thor

As long as she is rocking the short hair, I'm down.

She has never struck me as someone who's enjoyed her nerd-roles in the slightest. I'm curious if she actually does or if Branagh is just a really good pitch-man, OR maybe the Queen Amidala action figure revenues just ain't what they used to be.

That said, this pleases me. Greatly.

Your Natalie poster was worth the price of admission, Paul.

whoever photoshopped her in that Thor helmet is my new hero

didn't know much about this movie but i'll definitely be keeping an eye on it now. natalie portman has definitely been in some kick ass movies! *cough* V for Vendetta *cough*

I'm disappointed I must say.  Her acting is pretty bad at times, like when she was mugged in the beginning of the "V For Vendetta" movie.  Even in her acclaimed movies, she stands out as a weak link.  I wish someone else was cast.  She'd make a good "Wasp" though!

At least it isn't Megan Fox...

Paul wins purely for the Natalie Portman as Thor image

"Garden State" was good.

I want Chris Hemsworth as Donald Blake to bang the staff against the sidewalk, summoning a thunderclap. I then want Natalie with helm, hoody, and hammer to appear out of the pyro. 

"For Odin! For Asgard! Raaaaarrhhhh!!!!!!!!"   

Maybe she will use the word "love" more than Star Wars...

Sort of smart move from a technical standpoint, as she is a tiny lady, thereby making Thor look bigger and more godlike.  Peter-Jackson-Points!

@MeanOldPig - You're gonna blame her for a script written by George Lucas' neck parasite in the 90s?  

@Paul - I don't blame her for those lines at all. It's just for some reason she always gets stuck with lines that I just laugh at.  Another example would be the Shins line from Garden State.

the last two movies I saw her in were V for Vendetta and The Other Boleyn Sister.  She seems to get these roles that she doesn't quite have the gravitas to pull off.  I think the most impressive thing she's done is a rap video.  Still, she deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Natalie Portman's fine by me. Somebody gave me a copy of the Samberg cd not long ago and forced me to listen to the Eazy-E mock "No More Questions" that she does. It's funny, kinda. Compared to everything else on SNL I guess Samberg takes the cake, which ain't sayin much.  

My favorite thing Natalie Portman? Team Sleep's song titled, simply, Natalie Portman. Here's a link to a live performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPzU5GX-0iQ. Mmmm, sweet sweet avant garde. 

We're talking Thor here so unless she's got a broadsword or magic spells I imagine her role to be as miniscule as Liv Tyler's in Incredible Hulk.

If this movie's a flop, the blame won't fall on her shoulders.

There are no small roles, only short actors. 

I got to go with Branagh's instinct here.  The guy knows from acting.  This is the former The-Next-Olivier who made Henry V in his late 20s.  

This movie is shaping up to be pretty exciting. I'm a huge fan of Branagh, and these casting announcements have all been very exciting. May 2011 seems so far away though. It's crazy to think that I'll be done with college by the time this movie comes out.

Boo!

She's not a good actor! Boo!

Seriously, I have never watched a film with her in it and thought: "She was the best part of this". Bad choice, bad bad choice.

Good Lord, The Avengers in 2012 is going to be an expensive movie to make.

How many times in a day can the iFanstaff use the word "verily" in posts??

The Thorification of this website will not stand.  

How bad a choice can this be?  She's a competent actor and she's playing Jane Foster so she's not entirely pivotal to the flick.  Also I doubt she, or any other big name supporting character from the other Marvel flicks, (IE Gwyneth Paltrow, and the like) will be anywhere near the Avengers movie.

Natalie Portman is all wrong for Jane Foster! She is a winsome little elf, and the character is famous... for being... someone I cannot ever remember encountering in a comic in my life.

Wait! She was on Cap's side in Civil War.

That sounds like Natalie.

I'm not familiar with the character but I like Natalie Portman.

Who *do* you people like?

Sheesh.

ooh damn. She's gonna drink and fight, and #@$! Thor all night!

Seriously though, a year ago I had zero hopes for a Thor movie, and now it's looking like it might have some chops.

This is pretty good news. Im looking forward  to the movie a bit more now, although I still think Alexander Skarsgård would of made the perfect thor.

I dont know who I would want for this role. Plus Hawkboy is right that she might not play too big of a role in this...

Still I do not want Natalie Portman...no way.

I can imagine a thread from 2-3 years ago about Gwyneth Paltrow joining Iron Man's cast would have looked a lot like this.  And who's laughing now Ms. Potts!?!

I already wanted to see this for pure comic action reasons. now i want to see it for lusting after Natalie portman reasons. 

On a purely shallow level (Actually that may be my only level) I like my women a little more 'zaftig' then Ms. Portman.

Well, I'm looking forward until at least the teaser trailer is released to start hating on it.  :)  Really though, I've got nothing against Portman.

On another note, it's nice that Paul got to be the one to release a little news around here.   I thought only the "Big 3," as I've suddenly decided to call you guys, did these types of releases.  Good for you there, Paul.

Natalie was stuck with bad material in the Star Wars films, but I thought she was great in "Closer".  I'm willing to give her the benefit and look forward to seeing her in "Thor" (especially if she rocks the short hair).

@Hawkboy, I totally agree with you on women in general, but Portman's special. ;)

I *love* Natalie Portman. I'm now officially going to see Thor in the theatres instead of waiting for DVD/cable. 

actually, all australians are buff enough to play THOR.

I'm happy to have Natalie Portman in the movie, but I wish she was playing the Lady Sif and Jane Foster wasn't in the movie.  I'm very excited either way.

Isn't Sif tall and statuesque, like a warrior, and isn't Portman like 4'7" and 74 lbs?

@josh: She's smaller than that, I reckon. I saw her do Shakespeare in the Park once... so tiny.

@JOSH: yep i saw her in a bar in sydney during some star wars filming. tiny

Last I heard, the majority of the film will be set in Asgard. This makes the likelihood of her appropriately being Jane Foster kinda slim.

If only Andy Samberg was playing Thor and it was a rapping musical. :)

Branagh is making extremely smart moves. An almost no-name for Thor, some random dude for Loki, then someone completely recognizable for a supporting role. I love Natalie Portman and am glad that she is in something that I already know has great potential. And yeah, she is tiny, so that'll definitely help with the perpsective thing.

I don't think Branagh is up to this job. He was great at light Shakesperean comedies but when he tried Frankenstein it was a mess. Unless Thor is going to be a humourous escapade set on an English country lawn, then Branagh isn't going to be in his element. Since he was a good actor he can direct acting well but he doesn't control the overall structure. He generally works hard but on the set of Frankenstein I saw him asleep at the monitor during the shoot, not a great advert for him.

Natalie Portman's resposne to all the fanboy hate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlEC0bS2UMw

And I might add, lechu techapsu meeshe'oo sheyen'uh'uh'ne'uh etchem. I probably made some mystakes and you won't read exactly it as people say it...

@JeffR - Thanks, man. I've done a couple of news posts here and there though. And I'll be on Oracle duty with Jimski next week during SDCC, so there's more stuff like this in my immediate future. ;)

What the frak, who can hate on Natalie Portman? What the hell? That's like saying you hate oxygen. Down with water! This is people looking for something to whine about, who enjoy complaining and being offended over nothing.

I both hate oxygen and am offended by that post. I--

 GHK! *asphyxiation*

I absolutely cannot shake the Nat rap from my head today. Not a bad song to have in steady rotation though.  

She is a Goddess, I'm pretty sure of that and yes you can quote me.

If only. Her being blue and naked all the time sounds good to me.

@Paul: As long as you and Jimski keep sticking Thor helmets onto pictures of whoever you're discussing, I'm there.  I don't care if the breaking news is that Stan Lee is going to be the new regular writer on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, I want a Thor helmet on him or Spider-Man.  In a pinch, both.  :)

Internet trolls hate beautiful successful women who they have no chance of ever meeting. It's really just a projection of their own feelings of inadequacy, sad really.

Don't be racist towards internet trolls. They are not all the same.

I like her as long as she's not playing any kind of queen.

I guess she will be fine.

I was not sure if Don and Jane would be in the move, or if it would focus mostly on Asgard.  So is the same guy playing Thor and Don?

As far as I can tell, that's the case. 

I was going under the assumption that this movie would be set when Thor and Sif were really young based on who they cast as Thor, so I don't think Portman's size would have be a problem as Sif.  I also thought Don Blake was not involved, but if Jane Foster is, that must not be the case.  My confidence is high though, there are good people working on this and Marvel Studios has not disappointed me yet (I know they've only released two movies but Incredible Hulk was sounding like it would already be their first stumble and I ended up loving it).

We have high heels nowadays... We can make her bigger!

Natalie Portman should never be allowed to have long hair again. She looks too good with short hair!

If you want Natalie Portman goodness, seek out Goya's Ghosts.