Thor Love and Thunder did many things well (and some not so well), but one of the highlights of the film was seeing Natalie Portman's Jane Foster back on screen alongside Chris Hemsworth's God of Thunder. Their dynamic was something director Taika Waititi and crew have received mountains of praise for, as the pair reunited on-screen for the first time in nearly a decade.
After the events of Thor: The Dark World, it felt as though that Portman's Foster would never be seen or heard from again in the MCU. Then, when Thor and Jane's breakup happened off-screen before Thor: Ragnarok, that fate seemed sealed for the character.
That was, until it was announced that Portman would be back for Love and Thunder, this time getting some Asgardian powers of her own. Jane's return provided some of the best moments of the movie, including one that filled in a lot of blanks for the audience. And it turns out that particular highlight came together very, very late in the process.
Love and Thunder Reshoots Score an Ace
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Thor: Love and Thunder co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson revealed one of the film's best moments came together very late in the process, happening during the project's reshoot schedule.
Addressing the rom-com montage between Jane Foster and Thor, Robinson said "that was something Taika [Waititi] conceived of in additional photography." The Marvel writer remarked that it was not just "conversations with Taika," but "conversations with Chris and Natalie," where they really tried to nail down "how much do [they] want to show" to maintain that balance of "ex-girlfriend vs. Mighty Thor:"
"That was all Taika. That was something Taika conceived of in additional photography and they shot after they shot principal. There was definitely a lot of back and forth on what happened. What do we want to show? It was not just conversations with Taika, but conversations with Chris and Natalie. Really trying to flesh out, “How much do we want to show? How much of it is ex-girlfriend vs. Mighty Thor?” Really trying to find the balance across the board of what is Jane’s story and what should be the focus? Something that came to the surface was wanting to know more about the past of that relationship."
Robinson also shared what it was like working with Waititi to balance all of these super-powered characters and how hard it was. She said that this delicate balance is built into "the ethos in the Taika Waititi school of screenwriting," noting that there was a real effort to make it "feel inclusive across the board and for every character." She indicated that they wanted to create an environment "where everyone feels like they can laugh at each other" without it ever being "meanspirited:"
"All of it is so in the ethos in the Taika Waititi school of screenwriting and really wanting it to feel inclusive across the board and for every character to be able to shine and subvert it in unexpected ways. There are moments where Val and Jane look at Thor, especially when he blasts out of the town hall and walks back in. “What are you doing?” And later, for Jane to have those moments. It’s about giving each character a space to shine comedically without making that character the butt of the joke. That is what Taika does so well. Being able to create a space where everyone feels like they can laugh at each other, but it’s never malicious. It’s never meanspirited."
Lastly, the screenwriter looked back on moments like coming up with all the catchphrases for Jane Foster in the film. She said it was a process of looking at the script every day and saying "throw it out. Let’s rewrite it. Let’s rewrite it again." This allowed for an environment of "collaborating together," with Robinson calling it "a very, very expensive run and gun indie film:"
"We had a script and every day it’d be like, “throw it out. Let’s rewrite it. Let’s rewrite it again.” It was a lot of me running around with a laptop and typing things down and listening. “Does this work?” Carrying a computer around and being like, “I think I wrote what you guys wanted?” It was a very, very expensive run and gun indie film. It’s not about Taika throwing things out, but everyone collaborating together and really getting it up on its feet and everyone having a voice."
Working on Waititi Time
It is amazing the environment that Taika Waititi seems to foster when working on his films. When looking in from the outside, it certainly seems like a lot of fun being in the writers' room or on-set for a Waititi production.
And the Jane/Thor rom-com montage seen in Love and Thunder seems to be a perfect example of that. Sure, it came together late in production, but that made it no less of a collaborative process. Even as tight as these reshoot schedules tend to be, Waititi was ready and willing to listen not just to the other writers but to the actors who bring these characters to life.
When it comes to the characters of Thor and Jane, there are probably few people in the world who know these heroes better than Chris Hemsworth and Jane Foster. So they were surely both valuable resources in coming up with what would be a perfect fit for the movie.
This is just another example of Marvel reshoots producing moments of gold. When fans hear the word 'reshoot', they usually run in fear. But additional photography is just the nature of the blockbuster game right now, especially with the ever-changing interconnected narrative tapestry that Marvel Studios is spinning.
Just think, without the Love and Thunder reshoots, fans would have missed out on this moment of absolute hilarity.
