Kenneth Branagh knew that Natalie Portman was perfect for the role of Thor’s main character, Jane Foster.
The film’s co-writer Zach Stentz said in MCU: Reign of Marvel Studios by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzalez and Gavin Edwards that director Branagh was “very enamored” with Portman after meeting her.
“He was very attracted to her, not in a romantic sense, but with her intellect,” Stentz said of Branagh (quoted in Vanity Fair). “Jane is a physicist and we needed someone who could convey that intelligence. That’s what struck him about her: He said, excuse me, “Because the last thing we need is nuclear physicist Denise Richards.”
Richards played a nuclear physicist in the 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough and won a Razzie Award for her critically panned performance.
Portman said she agreed to appear in Thor because she hoped Branagh’s take on the Marvel character would be “very weird.” Portman played Jane in three of the four Thor films, returning in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder as a reformed Lady Thor.
Stenz recalled that Branagh wanted to change some aspects of the comics for the film adaptation, which was suggested by Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige.
“One of my most vivid memories of those note-taking sessions was that Bran didn’t like the name Mjolnir because it was hard to pronounce,” Stentz said. “He turned to all of us and asked, ‘Should we call the hammer Mjolnir?’ I see that it is made of some metal called “Uru”. Can we call it Uru instead? Or will the fans hang me?
Stentz continued, “Kevin (Feige) just smiled a little, ‘Ken, the fans would hang you.’ ‘Fine. Then we won’t do it.”
Branagh’s original vision for Marvel’s Thor comics was to capture the Shakespearean aspect of the mythical Norse stories. According to the director of “Ghosts in Venice”, “Thor” will be elevated on screen by combining the folklore of different cultures.
“If the actors take these stakes seriously, it will be passionate and very intense,” Branagh said. “This observation of ordinary people – even though they are gods – at the foibles of people in power is an obsession of great storytellers, including Shakespeare and the Marvel Universe as well.”
He continued: “Shakespeare was interested in the lives of medieval royal families, but he also explored Roman and Greek myths for the same purpose. I think Stan Lee turned to myths that Shakespeare didn’t use.”