Thor's Human Characters Were Never In The Mix For Ragnarok

Jane Foster and her friends were never going to appear in Thor: Ragnarok. Writer Eric Pearson revealed in a recent interview with CinemaBlend that Jane (Natalie Portman), Darcy (Kat Dennings), and Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) were never really in consideration for the space-set film due to how much ground it already had to cover.

"This is such a different one, and Sakaar and the Hulk take up so much time," he said, referring to the desolate planet where Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is banished to by Hela (Cate Blanchett). "Sakaar is crazy enough on its own. If you brush by it... people probably already think it's verging on too crazy. So, if you're going to gloss over that, then I think that people would have been bothered or not enjoyed it as much."

Pearson said that they only had so much "real estate" to work with, and with all the doings on Sakaar, as well as the introduction of Tessa Thompson's warrior Vaklyrie, there simply wasn't enough time to revisit the Thor's earthly friends. "It was a bit under a crunch deadline building this script, and there are certain things that they told me [to use in the script], but they were like, 'Don't feel like you've got to work in everybody,'" he said. "'Just make it as good and tight as you can.'"

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige previously offered a pretty simple explanation for why Jane and co. wouldn't appear in the film, saying that Thor and Jane have simply broken up. "He's off exploring the universe, still trying to police it and control the mayhem," said Hemsworth. "But he's certainly enjoying being a drifter, being a solo cowboy out there."

It's not entirely surprising that Portman isn't appearing given her past comments about her role in the MCU. Rumor has it that the actress tried to quit during The Dark World after the studio fired Patty Jenkins, the director she suggested for the project. (Jenkins would go on to direct DC's Wonder Woman and its upcoming sequel.) In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in 2016, Portman said that, as far as she knew, she was done in Marvel movies; however, she did say that it was "a great thing to be a part of."

Thor: Ragnarok is directed by Taika Waititi based off a script from Pearson, Craig Kyle, and Chris Yost. Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Jeff Goldblum, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, and Rachel House also star in the movie, which hits theaters on Nov. 3.