Behind The Scenes of Marvel Studios' 'Thor: Love and Thunder' with Natalie Portman

A mysterious, yet slightly familiar new hero emerged during Marvel Studios' Thor: Love and Thunder, as Thor is reunited with his old flame, Jane Foster, who is...different. She's become mighty, specifically The Mighty Thor! Now fans can go behind the scenes of Natalie Portman's return to the Thor films with the upcoming release of Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love And Thunder The Official Movie Special, hitting bookstores everywhere on September 19, 2023.

Lavishly illustrated with stunning behind-the-scenes images and production art, director Taika Waititi and cast members Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Tessa Thompson reveal the secrets behind the creation of the spectacular movie.

Pre-order Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love And Thunder The Official Movie Special at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million or wherever books are sold.

You can get as sneak peek of the book here with this exclusive excerpt of Natalie Portman 's interview about becoming The Mighty Thor and what it was like to get back into the MCU!

NATALIE PORTMAN

What was the draw of joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

I was excited to work with Kenneth Branagh on a big Super Hero movie, particularly one that’s inspired by Norse mythology. It just seemed like someone with this Shakespearian background would have a really interesting take on it. Then, of course, Thor went in this unexpected direction with Taika Waititi at the helm. It was exciting to come back with a totally different lens on the same sort of world.

What was it like working with the rest of the cast on the first Thor film?

It was incredible being introduced to such enormous talents like Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston in the early days as they established their Marvel Studios characters. To see such great actors before the world gets to see them is rare and incredible, especially when they are that caliber. So that was amazing. And then, of course, to work with Kat Dennings and Stellan Skarsgård, who I worked with on a number of scenes in the first two films, had a great sense of energy.

Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder reunites you with Chris Hemsworth.

It’s just incredible to watch Chris’ talent, and he’s just so agile with moving from serious scenes to extreme comedy. He has incredible comedic talent and he has such a quick brain for changing things up, assimilating information, reacting in a creative way, and coming up with new ideas he’s just so committed and works so hard. It’s really impressive to watch him work. I always have to remind myself that I have to act in a scene and I can’t just be an audience.

What did you think when Taika Waititi pitched the story for Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder?

Taika came over to my house to talk to me about it. I had not been in the last film, Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok which was so wonderful and had really enjoyed watching it. When he talked to me about coming back, he told me about how Jane would be The Mighty Thor. It was interesting to consider what that experience could be like. The process of working on a film with Taika is so exciting because it’s so improvisatory and just keeps you on your toes all the time. And so it seemed like it would be a really exciting challenge.

The Mighty Thor has a real physicality. How did you prepare for the role?

It was really fun to get to train, for the first time in my life, to be strong. Usually, as women, we’re training to get as small as possible. So it’s exciting to actually be working towards being bigger. It was a really great experience. I worked with a great trainer, Naomi Pendergast. And then also doing the stunt training with the stunt team was incredible. That was fun. I had never done any real training despite having been in lots of action movies, I’d never really done any fight training or anything like that. It was exciting to do flying, take off’s, landings, and that sort of thing.

The wirework helped achieve that sense of swooping around and helping Valkyrie in battle, or just flying in and out of frame. It was fun to look like I’m flying!

Read the full interview in Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder The Official Movie Special, on sale September 19! Plus, interviews with Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi, and a look behind-the-scenes at the making of the hit movie! Pre-order your copy of the book today!