When Thor Love and Thunder came out, there were many different “threads” that needed to be told in terms of the plot. One of which was Natalie Portman’s return as Jane Foster, who (much like in the comics) gets cancer, and then after that wields Mjolnir to become The Mighty Thor.
Many people were curious how the Thor Love and Thunder team would handle this, and according to writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, the story of Jane having cancer was there from the start.
“It was always there. Obviously, it’s in the comics, and it was in Taika’s first draft,” Robinson said. “And then it was just about, you know, what does this mean? We had a lot of conversations, especially with Natalie, about, you know, we have a responsibility here. What an amazing thing to be able to show a superhero with cancer and really not shy away from the ugliness of it and the things that are hard about it, but also really being able for this character to shine. A lot of the conversations were like, ‘How do we do this justice and how do we put something on screen that’s going to mean something and resonate with cancer survivors?'”
It was also revealed that the opening scene with Gorr killing his first god almost wasn’t at the beginning, but instead, it was going to be the scene with Jane getting treatment for her cancer:
“I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this, but I think it’s fine: In the original draft, it was actually before the Marvel [Studios logo]. It was even earlier in Taika’s original draft. That always was a moving piece — ultimately, it did become [the origins for] Gorr and I think it’s awesome,” she said. “But [Jane’s cancer] was never going to be a gotcha moment. It was always, like, this is the story of this woman. This is her arc. And this is where it starts.”
To their credit, they did indeed showcase Jane fighting with her cancer to the end, but how well they did that storyline has been heavily debated by fans ever since the movie came out.
Source: Variety
