Chris Hemsworth says Natalie Portman had 'real concerns' about Jane's return in 'Thor: Love and Thunder'

• Chris Hemsworth said that Natalie Portman had concerns about her return in "Thor: Love and Thunder."
• Because Jane Foster hadn't been involved in the MCU in years, Portman questioned the continuity of the film.

Chris Hemsworth said that "Thor: Love and Thunder" costar Natalie Portman had some apprehension about her character Jane Foster's return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

"You know, this was a very different direction for the character, and I think had some real concerns about, 'Hang on, does this match? The continuity from this to that…'" Hemsworth said in the latest installment of Marvel's behind-the-scenes documentary called "Assembled," released on Thursday on Disney+.

He continued: "And we just said, 'That doesn't matter.' That's what happened in 'Ragnarok.' We went, 'Who cares about anything we've done before?' And so, it was just kind of a rebirth or a new exploration of the character and she was down for it."

Portman first portrayed the astrophysicist in the first standalone "Thor" film released in 2011. She returned in the 2013 sequel, but wasn't part of the 2017 film "Thor: Ragnarok."

Jane was last mentioned in "Avengers: Endgame" (2019) when Thor revealed that they broke up at some point.

When Jane returned in "Love and Thunder," it was revealed that she had stage 4 cancer. After science failed her, she summoned the power of Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, and took on the identity of Mighty Thor.

"Love and Thunder" filled in some of the gaps and questions regarding Jane and Thor's relationship via a flashback montage.

For the fourth installment of the "Thor" franchise, the studio asked Portman to work out and get as large as possible. In addition to weight training and cardio, she consumed copious amounts of protein shakes.

In the documentary, Portman said, "Despite having been in lots of action movies, I'd never really done any fight training or anything." So, she was elated to be given the chance to bulk up for the film.

"It was really fun to get to train for the first time in my life to be strong, you know?" she added. "Usually, as women, we're training to get as small as possible. So it's exciting to actually be working towards being bigger."