Who is Jane Foster? The New Mjolnir Bearer

Find out in our post who is Jane Foster, the heroine of Thor: Love and Thunder, a Marvel Comics movie starring Natalie Portman soon. We tell you about the character’s origin, biography, powers and abilities, armaments, and the different appearances. Read us!

Who is Jane Foster?

(Image: Marvel Comics)

Jane Foster was created by artist Jack Kirby and writers Larry Lieber and Stan Lee. This fictional character appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics and is portrayed by a high school student who falls in love with the superhero Thor Odinson.

Jane Foster is a character that has evolved in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, marked by torrid romances, adventures, and exciting fights. For many, this character was relegated to the background. Now she will reappear with a remarkable transformation in the upcoming Thor movie. Let’s see a little about this heroine.

Jane Foster’s Origin and Biography 

(Image: Marvel Comics)

Early Days

Jane had lost her mother, who died of cancer when she was only nine years old and was raised by her father, a plumber by trade. To give her everything deserved, her father worked two jobs so she could attend medical school. Her childhood was good, with a devoted father, who was always there, at her birthdays, and softball games, encouraging her in all her goals. Sadly, he later passed away from a heart attack.

Already graduated as a nurse, she was hired by Dr. Donald Blake, a lame doctor whose identity was used for many years by Thor, the Asgardian God. This superhero with two identities manages to make Jane fall in love with him, unaware that they are the same person, thus forming a love triangle that lasts a long time until Thor reveals his true identity. This revelation caused Thor to be punished by the god Odin.

Jane’s character was put under shadow when Sif is introduced, who officially appears as Thor’s bride in the comics, and who in fact in the original Norse myths is posed as such. So, Jane marries Doctor Keith Kincaid, with whom she has a son, Jimmy. This event practically liquidated the character of Jane Foster from the comics.

The Re-emergence of the Character

(Image: Marvel Comics

After 30 years, Jane appears not as a nurse but as a doctor, playing an important role as health personnel in Civil War, helping Captain America’s side, and assisting Spider-Man.

It is noteworthy that the character of Jane Foster appears in September 1962 for the first time in the comic Journey into Mystery #84. The story reveals that in 1978 and 2014, Jane handled Thor Odinson’s hammer, adopting the name of Thor, the Goddess of Thunder, so she joined the Avengers.

At that time, Jane was widowed, losing her husband and son in a car accident, and developing metastatic breast cancer. Thor invites her to Asgard for more advanced medical treatment than they could give her on Earth. This way is how she takes the hammer and becomes the new Thor.

The character’s new personality is given without revealing who she is. This fact infuriates the god Odison until he grants the blessing to his replacement. But, what they did not know, was that every time she took the hammer, her body got worse, reversing the chemotherapy, so the treatment she received, turned out harmless. This gives a bloody twist to the plot. In Secret Wars, 2015, all this is discovered.

So, for almost three years, we see her fighting with the Avengers, but these transformations leave her almost dead. Unfortunately, in her last fight against the villain Magog, where she is forced to retake the hammer, which costs her life.

But as in Marvel, no one dies forever; Odin takes pity on her, reviving her and allowing her to join the Valkyries. This Jane is now cured of cancer. She adopts the alias of Valkyrie, embodying the classic character we have seen.

Powers and abilities

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Jane Foster gains all of Thor’s powers when she wields Mjolnir. This skill includes increased durability, superhuman strength, the ability to fly, and control over lightning and speed.

Jane Foster has a better command of Mjolnir than Thor. This heroine can change the speed and trajectory of the hammer, in addition to being able to trap her enemies by spinning it around them. Thor believes she is more worthy than him to wield the Mjolnir, so he favors her. 

Jane Foster also has a weapon called Undrjarn, which she wears strapped to her arm. The most important feature of this weapon is that it can transform into various objects, such as a sword or an arrow. When she is Valkyrie, she can use the Undrjarn to travel to the sky of the Asgardians (Valhalla). Jane Foster also can know if someone is going to die by looking over their heads. 

Armament

(Image: Marvel Comics)

The most important armament of this heroine is her bracelet, the Undrjarn, which was created from the remains of Mjolnir, which came from Earth in 1610. The Undrjarn the All-Weapon is transformed into different armaments, as she wishes.

Appearances of Jane Foster

There are several appearances of Jane Foster in comics, television, and movies. We will tell you a little about it.

Who is Jane Foster in the comics

There are several comics where this character has been present, to know who is Jane Foster, we must take a look at them:

(Image: Marvel Comics)

• Ultimate, the heroine, appears briefly in the first Ultimate Marvel series as a nurse convinced that Thor is the God of Thunder.
• What if…?, is produced for 1978 and was titled “What if Jane Foster had found the hammer Thor?”, where she appears as a goddess, transformed, called Thordis. With superpowers, she manages to rescue Donald Blake from danger. She manages to save Asgard and is forced by the god Odin to leave the hammer to Blake, who transforms into Thor. Despite losing her powers, she remains in Asgard, maintaining her status as a goddess.
• Marvel 1985 takes place in 2008, with Jane’s character appearing in issue #6 and at the end of Marvel 1985. Her role is as a nurse, being present when Jerry Goodman wakes up from his coma, which has been in love with her since childhood when he read Thor Comics, asking her out.
• Thor, The Mighty Avenger, was a comic published between 2010 and 2011, which had no continuity. Jane’s character reappears at the Bergen War Memorial Museum in Bergen, located in Oklahoma, where she heads the Nordic Antiquities Department. Thor and Jane head adventures together, with her becoming his partner after Thor’s expulsion by Odin.

Who is Jane Foster on Television

(Image: Marvel)

Jane Foster has made several television appearances: 

• In the voice of Peg Dixon, she appears in The Marvel Super Heroes, in the segment of The Mighty Thor, with a secondary role.
• She also appears in The Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, in the voice of Kari Wahlgren. Her character is a paramedic, not a nurse, and has a heroic touch that surprises Thor.
• And she appears in the 4th season of Avengers: Secret Wars, voiced by Erica Lindbeck, as the female version of Thor.
• As an interdimensional research intern, she appears for the first time. In this two-part episode, Avengers No More, she works to find a way to return Iron Man to his reality. His mission is to stop Ultron, who has his body. The research initiated by Expo Stark is interrupted by Leader, who attacks the prototype reactor A.R.K., whose damage must be repaired by Jane. This scattered the Avengers, so she works to find out where the members of the Black Panther group were sent.
• In the episode Kang Present and Future, she locates the members of the Avengers through time and space, giving them unique binding bracelets to recapture them.
• Loki, in the episode The Return, takes over Earth, which causes the Avengers and the new Avengers to return to recapture it, defeating his army and inventing a satellite that prevents the World Breaker ships from returning to Manhattan and destroying it.

In Westland | Marvel Animated Universe

• In the Westland episode, Loki is part of the Avengers, and Jane is a Calamity sheriff who helps Vision stop Kree, a giant robot, from destroying the town. Jane and Doctor Strange abandon the Avengers because they don’t know if Loki is helpful or not.
• In The Wasteland episode, Jane helps the Avengers activate the Bifrost to get rid of Battleworld, where she is trapped in quicksand by Beyonder. To free herself, Jane, using her Mjolnir bracelet, transforms into a female Thor and activates the Bifrost, thus defeating Beyonder.
• At the end of the episode Everything Comes to an End, Jane, along with Thor and Doctor Strange, faces Loki. Thor’s brother was deceiving them since he always had the eye of Agamotto in his hands, defeating him and preventing him from using the ultra darkness to destroy the entire universe. As a reward, Odin grants Jane the new hammer he is enchanting, Thunderstrike.

Natalie Portman promises to reprise her role, reappearing in Disney’s animated series “What if…?”

In Movies

(Image: Marvel Studios/The Direct)

In theaters, films financed by Marvel Cinematic Universe embody Jane Foster, such as:

Thor (2011) a live-action film starring Natalie Portman and directed by Kenneth Branagh. Her version of the character takes a turn and becomes an astrophysicist who falls in love with Thor.

In The Avengers (2012), Jane does not appear, but if Phil Coulson shows an image of Portman where S.H.I.E.L.D. Guards her to protect her from the evil Loki.

In 2013, in Thor: The Dark World, Portman, directed by Alan Taylor, Portman reappears, along with Thor traveling to Asgard to analyze the weapon of Malekith the Damned. In the events of Thor: The Dark World (2013). Portman plays Jane again during a scene that takes place in Asgard.

Jane is mentioned along with Pepper Potts in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), when Tony Stark and Thor explain their absence from Maria Hill’s party. In this film, Jane is a leading astronomer of the world for her work in the Convergence.

In Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Jane abandons Thor for seeking the Infinity Gems, a mutual breakup. This plot came about as Portman decided not to reprise her role as Jane, so Gabby Carbon played that role.

Jane does not appear in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), but with Darcy Lewis, they manage to survive Thanos’ snaps.

In the fourth movie of the character Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) film, Portman will reprise her role as Jane Foster, introducing her as the female version 2022 of Thor.

Fans are Eagerly Awaiting Jane Foster’s Return in Thor: Love and Thunder

(Image: Marvel Comics)

In several Thor movies, actress Natalie Portman has played the character of Jane Foster. And fans are eagerly awaiting her return in the Thor: Love and Thunder movie, already announced by Marvel Comics.

The actress returns and promises to play this character in style, becoming the powerful Thor, the Goddess of Thunder. This superhero is the female version of the male character we already know.

With her customary weaponry, the hammer Mjolnir, Thor’s female version embodies it, assuming a series of Asgardian virtues. This hammer with a soul and mind only allows those worthy of carrying it to do so. One such person is Jane Foster, who acquires its divine abilities and gifts.

We expect the performance of the famous actress to be fabulous. What is your favorite appearance of Jane Foster?.

Featured Image Via Marvel Comics

 

I am a circus aerialist influenced by Dick Grayson and Spider-Man. Fortunate to write about the characters that inspired me. I also have a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and a Master's degree in International Trade.