First off, the name is Mighty Thor! And secondly, if you can't say Mighty Thor, I'll accept Dr. Jane Foster! And thirdly, eat my hammer! 
- —Mighty Thor[src]
History
Discovering Thor[]
Jane Foster was traveling in a van with her colleague Erik Selvig, and her assistant Darcy, when the mysterious weather event subject of Foster's research unexpectedly resulted in a powerful vortex before them.
As they struggled with the zero-visibility conditions, the van collided with a man who had stumbled out of the dust into their path. The man, who only announced himself as Thor, was injured again when Lewis tazered him, prompting them to take him to hospital. These events transpired in Puente Antiguo, New Mexico.
The following day, Darcy made a surprise discovery when she noticed the figure of a man in one of the photographic images captured from the atmospheric event. While Jane realized that the newcomer might be able to shed some light on the event, Selvig was more skeptical. So began a lengthy disagreement between the two, with Foster theorising about the possibility of an Einstein-Rosen Bridge and Selvig insisting that everything Thor had been saying about gods and other worlds was nothing more than delusional talk based on old myths.
Despite Selvig's concerns, Jane's interest in Thor pushed her to find out out more and the trio set off for the hospital to find the stranger. Once they were reunited, the trio and Thor went to a local diner where Jane pressed for more information, trying to make sense of what he was telling them. It was there that Thor overheard news of his missing hammer and set off on his own to retrieve it. Returning home, Jane and her colleagues found S.H.I.E.L.D. agents confiscating their equipment.
After commiserating with her colleagues over the loss of their property, Jane chanced upon Thor again and volunteered to assist him with reacquiring his hammer. This goal proved unsuccessful when Thor, stealing into the temporary S.H.I.E.L.D. compound that had sprung up around the artifact, found himself unable to lift it and allowed himself to be caught.
Jane enlisted Erik in helping her get Thor released, which led to a series of events that bonded the expanded group more closely, Selvig befriending the man and Foster starting to view him as a romantic interest as he offered his own insights into her theories and returned an important piece of Jane's confiscated property: her journal. Selvig reveals to Thor that he is a father figure to Jane, having taught with her father at university. He refers to Jane's father in the past tense.
Thor and Jane's time together was cut short when first several of Thor's friends from Asgard arrived to take him home, and then The Destroyer arrived to kill him.
Thor ultimately beat The Destroyer, regaining his hammer and his full power in the process. Jane could see what he really was for the first time, but with the return of Thor's power came the return of his responsibility to his realm and his people. Thor insisted that Coulson return Jane's property to her, and Coulson agreed, also offering her a job.
She initiated a kiss with the God of Thunder just before he returned to his home. Jane then returned to her research into the Einstein-Rosen Bridge, searching for a way to be reunited with Thor.
The Convergence[]
Following the Battle of New York and Thor's brief return and departure, Jane apparently abandoned her efforts to re-open the Bifrost at Earth's end, attempting to move on with her life. However, when the Convergence began to take place- a rare event in which all of the nine realms came into close alignment- Jane was accidentally exposed to the long-lost Aether, prompting Thor to return to Earth to visit her and take her to Asgard for closer examination.
After Frigga sacrificed herself to save Jane from Malekith during the Dark Elves' invasion of Asgard, Thor, Sif, Heimdall, Volstagg, and Fandral were forced to break Loki out of prison so that he could use one of his paths out of Asgard to take Jane and Thor to the realm of the Dark Elves in the hope that Thor could destroy the Aether after Malekith extracted it from Jane but before Malekith could absorb it himself. This plan ultimately failed- seemingly resulting in Loki's death- but Thor and Jane were able to return to Earth in time to stop Malekith, Jane and Erik managing to extract the Aether from Malekith once more. Having delivered the Aether to Asgard, Thor, having concluded that he was ill-suited to be king of Asgard as he lacked the temperament to make the necessary hard decisions, returned to Jane on Earth.[4]
Breaking Up with Thor[]
Jane and Thor would spend their days together, teaching each other about their respective worlds. During this time, Thor made a promise with Mjolnir so that it would always protect her.[1] Jane became Earth's most renowned astrophysicist due to the Convergence being proof of her theories, touring the globe to give lectures in all kinds of locations; Thor even noted that she had been nominated for a Nobel Prize.[5] Over time, however, Jane and Thor started developing fears of loss, worrying that since she was mortal their relationship would never last forever. They started closing themselves off from each other, straining their relationship, and eventually, Foster wrote a note to break up with him.[1] Their breakup became public knowledge; fans of Thor had heard that Jane dumped him, but Thor claimed in response that he dumped her, although he later amended it by saying that it was a "mutual dumping".[6]
The Mighty Thor[]
In 2018, Jane was slain by Thanos's snap[7] and resurrected in 2023 by Bruce Banner.[8] Some time afterwards, she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. She began to undergo chemotherapy, but despite her efforts to overcome it with science, she found out chemo had minimal effect on her cancer. One day, she heard a call from Mjolnir and visited its remains in New Asgard. Her presence caused the hammer to reforge itself and transform her into the Mighty Thor.
With her newfound powers, Jane helped to defend New Asgard from Gorr and his Shadow Monsters. When Thor joined the fight, he was dumbfounded to find Jane wielding his hammer and dressed just like him. They had no time to talk in the heat of battle, but were too late to stop Gorr from kidnapping Asgardian children.
Jane learned from Thor that Gorr was infected by his weapon, the Necrosword, and that the children had been taken to the Shadow Realm. She proposed using a tour boat as a conduit to harness the Bifrost and travel to Omnipotence City to raise an army. Before leaving with Thor, Valkyrie, and Korg, Jane found out that her mortal form was weaker after harnessing the powers of Thor.
The four traveled to Omnipotence City, where its ruler, Zeus, refused to help, but did say Gorr was headed to Eternity. Valkyrie and Jane decided to steal Zeus's Thunderbolt, which they did during the ensuing battle. The group departed to the Shadow Realm, where Jane confided to Thor about her cancer. Thor reminded her how she made him worthy when they first met.
The group arrived at the Shadow Realm, where they were quickly trapped by Gorr. Gorr sensed that Jane was dying and related to her because of their use of weapons that powered them yet also weakened them. They were forced to flee back to Earth, with Gorr stealing Thor's new weapon, Stormbreaker. Now weaker, Jane was ushered to a hospital. She tried to leave to get back to the fight, but Thor stopped her, saying that Mjolnir was draining her ability to fight the cancer, and left to fight Gorr himself. During the ensuing fight, Jane felt Thor being beaten by Gorr and resumed the form of the Mighty Thor to help him one more time. While she was able to destroy the Necrosword, she finally succumbed to her cancer and died. But; due to her death on the fields of battle; Jane was worthy of Valhalla, where she was welcomed by Heimdall.[1]Attributes
Powers
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Transportation
Notes
- Natalie Portman portrays Jane Foster in Thor, Thor: The Dark World, and Thor: Love and Thunder.
- Jane Foster did not make an appearance in Marvel's The Avengers due to Natalie Portman's pregnancy and subsequent maternity leave, although her image was briefly displayed when her whereabouts (an observatory in Tromso, Norway) were reported to Thor, with Phil Coulson assuring Thor that she was in protective custody and safe from Loki. She was also absent in Age of Ultron, although Thor stated that she was away receiving a Nobel Prize for her work.
- In the comics, Jane Foster was the only human who met Thor and was a nurse rather than an astrophysicist. The films change her occupation and give her own colleagues Erik Selvig and Darcy Lewis.
Trivia
- According to the Thor movie website, Jane has a doctorate in particle physics and is conducting postdoctoral research at the time of the first film. Her ID (seen in the movie, but also distributed as bonus material in the Phase 1 DVD set) identifies her as affiliated with "Physics/Astrophysics Research Department, Culver University Science Center, Experimental Particle Physics."
See Also
- 10 appearance(s) of Jane Foster (Earth-199999)
- 4 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Jane Foster (Earth-199999)
- 5 minor appearance(s) of Jane Foster (Earth-199999)
- 5 mention(s) of Jane Foster (Earth-199999)
- 33 image(s) of Jane Foster (Earth-199999)
- 1 quotation(s) by or about Jane Foster (Earth-199999)
- 1 item(s) used/owned by Jane Foster (Earth-199999)