The anticipated release of Marvel Studios’ latest Thor adventure, Thor: Love and Thunder promised fans the return of Doctor Jane Foster and the introduction of her tenure as the Mighty Thor. Jane’s time as Thor was quite the adventure, with it involving her heroism and the now unworthy Thor.
With Thor: Love and Thunder released, it’s time to take a look at what exactly Marvel Studios took from the comics for Jane, and what they left behind. Most comic book adaptions pick and choose what stories they want to tell, for the sake of their cinematic adventure and arc.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
8 Cancer Diagnosis
The first-time cinema audiences are reintroduced to Jane Foster in Thor: Love and Thunder is not a fun one. It’s rather sad to see Jane Foster go through chemotherapy. It may be uncomfortable for some, considering the way cancer tries to destroy the lives of family and friends. Jane explains that she is in stage 4, but tries to remain positive.
For the comics, Jane was diagnosed with breast cancer whilst Thor was away battling Gorr the God Butcher. She spent her time in the care of Asgard, where she underwent therapy, but refused magical treatments. Both cases of her diagnosis are sad, but Doctor Jane Foster keeps on fighting.
7 Worthy Of Thor
In the MCU, as Jane tries to cure herself of her cancer, she knows she is fighting against time. She has tried a lot of things but to no avail. When reading a book on Norse Mythology, she feels Mjolnir call to her from New Asgard, so she ventures off to find Thor’s destroyed hammer. It reassembles itself upon being near Jane, and her being worthy is due to Thor’s love for her being imbued into the hammer.
The comics depict some similarities. Mjolnir telepathically seeks Jane out, until she can resist it no longer. Mjolnir was left abandoned on the Moon after Nick Fury whispered something to Thor’s ear to make him unworthy of his weapon. Jane travels with Heimdall to the hammer’s location and is transformed into the Mighty Thor.
6 Battle Against Gorr
Thor: Love and Thunder have Thor, Mighty Thor, and Valkyrie team up to defeat Gorr. The trio of Asgardians takes it upon themselves to rid the universe of a being who seeks to end the life of all gods, innocent or otherwise. There’s lots of action, with Mighty Thor being at the forefront with her new abilities and wit. Gorr is a notable villain from the Thor mythos and Jane’s first bad guy.
As for the comics, Jane never battles or interacts with Gorr, both in and out of her time as the Mighty Thor. Part of the reason for this is that in the comics, Thor dealt with Gorr with himself from the past and future. So whereas the film has two Thors and a Valkyrie, the comic has three Thors of past, present, and future.
5 Secret Identity
As audiences follow Jane’s journey through Thor: Love and Thunder, they learn immediately of her tidings as the Mighty Thor. Audiences get to see her travel to New Asgard to find Thor’s destroyed hammer, Mjolnir. She briefly wears a helmet in battle, but it is for fighting, rather than to keep her identity secret.
When Jane took upon the mantle of Thor, her identity was kept secret for a great while. The way she spoke, and the helmet she wore, helped to keep her disguise. Even Thor did not recognize Jane, and introduced himself as Odinson, for he was unworthy to be called Thor. She hid her identity from the rest of the world for a great while, including from the Avengers.
4 Captain America Relationship
Although Thor: Love and Thunder is a love story between Thor and Mighty Thor, there is not a lot of time dedicated to that matter. The two share a few moments, and they have great chemistry together, considering they have shared a romance in Thor and Thor: The Dark World, but broke up sometime before Thor: Ragnarok. Their breakup and romantic interest are the flagships of the film.
In Mighty Thor’s comic run, Jane doesn’t exhibit romantic interest in Thor Odinson, not until toward the end of her time as the hero. Instead, she exhibits a lot of feelings for Sam Wilson’s Captain America. The two share a few romantic moments in the comics and even fly off to her place for a few more.
3 Abilities Of Mjolnir
After being destroyed by Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, the wondrous Mjolnir was no more, and Thor replaced the weapon with the mythic Stormbreaker. With Jane’s reemergence to New Asgard, Mjolnir was imbued with new life and resurrected itself. The hammer was reforged, with magical cracks of lightning seeping through. Its new abilities gave it sentience, as well as the ability to split into shards to seek out multiple targets at once.
The comic version of Mjolnir does not exhibit the traits seen in the film. What allowed Jane to wield the hammer was after Thor was unworthy, and the inscription of the God of Thunder's weapon was changed from “he be worthy” to “she be worthy”. The hammer was not destroyed but merely left on the Moon awaiting a new worthy Thor.
2 Doctor Jane Foster’s Death
In the film, Jane tragically dies after wielding Mjolnir too many times. Each time she uses the hammer, it progresses her cancer until she is far worse than what she was before using Mjolnir. The reason for this is that the magic needed for the hammer was draining Jane’s mortal body, which made her weaker against cancer. She dies in Thor’s arms, and dies a god, entering Valhalla.
The comics’ version of Jane dies but for different reasons. Mjolnir is still the purpose of her death, but not because it drains her. During Jane’s chemotherapy, whenever she wields Mjolnir, it purges all toxins from her body. This includes the chemotherapy drugs, making it so that cancer would metastasize and reach stage four. As the Mighty Thor, Jane’s dying act was to save Asgardia one last time, but she is resurrected by Thor and Odin channeling the God Tempest.
1 The New Valkyrie
At the end of Thor: Love and Thunder, Jane accepts her death and enters willingly into the gates of Valhalla. Here, she is reunited with Heimdall, and the rest of Asgard’s fallen. It’s a bittersweet moment, as audiences see that Jane has moved on to the next life, and there is closure for her character in her sad goodbye to the MCU.
When Jane Foster dies in the comics, she is more reluctant to enter the gates of Valhalla. Thanks to Thor, Odin, and Mjolnir, she was able to resurrect, albeit as a human. She also promised to remain in chemotherapy. A long time after Jane beat cancer, she looked over the bodies of fallen Valkyries, where their spirits asked if she would become a Valkyrie. Her answer was an astounding yes, making her a Marvel superhero once again.
Thor: Love and Thunder is currently available in theaters.