Just as Nikki Finke “TOLDJA” almost four months ago, Oscar-nominee Natalie Portman has been tapped for Marvel’s Thor, in which she’ll play love interest to the Norse god-turned-superhero. No stranger to comic book adaptations nor to reworkings of Scandinavian properties, the actress will play “Jane Foster,” a nurse who becomes Thor’s love interest when the “powerful but arrogant warrior” is banished to Earth by his fellow Asgardians. So far, Portman remains the sole household name cast in the movie, which stars Chris Hemsworth as the title hero, Tom Hiddleston as the villainous Loki and Brian Blessed as Thor’s father, Odin. Fellow Oscar-nominee Kenneth Branagh is directing.

The former child actress follows in the tradition of well-known but questionably talented starlets playing uninteresting love interests in comic book adaptations: Kim Basinger in Batman; Katie Holmes in Batman Begins; Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Dark Knight; Kirsten Dunst in the Spider-Man movies; and Gwyneth Paltrow in Iron Man. To me, Portman seems like a cross between the last two actresses. She’s done the “manic pixie dream girl” thing like Dunst, but she’s a little more high class, a la Paltrow. Marvel claims they’re updating the Foster character for the film, which is good considering few comic enthusiasts even know or care much about her, but it still seems likely Portman may actually have less to do in this movie than she did in The Darjeeling Limited (not including the Hotel Chevalier prologue).

Personally, I think Branagh should have hired Maia Brewton for the role, especially now that people are re-watching Parker Lewis Can’t Lose on DVD. Sure, she hasn’t been around in awhile, and it would be stunt casting, but I always prefer stunt casting to bad casting.

Check out some other film blog responses to the casting after the jump:

• Rob Bricken at Topless Robot thinks Portman’s character will be useless and unnecessary:
  

  Call me crazy, but I really didn’t need a token love interest in my Thor movie, especially Jane Foster…why, when you have all these warriors and goddesses and sorceress would you decide to have some boring, plain-jane Earth nurse (no offense to nurses) who’s barely been in a handful of Thor comics, virtually none of them meaningful? Whatever.

• Paul DeBenedetto at Wednesday’s Child also addresses the dullness of the character:
  

  My intial reaction is… well, who cares? First, Jane Foster is about as memorable a superhero love interest as Zachary Taylor was as a president (her entire history on Wikipedia encompasses about four paragraphs); and second, this confirms that Thor is going to be set completely off-Asgard, which I just don’t think can be interesting (unless it’s a fish-out-of-water story akin to Paul Hogan in Crocodile Dundee, in which case I’ll be first in line.)

• Vince Mancini at FilmDrunk doesn’t sound too enthused with Portman or the film’s official synopsis:
  

  And now Natalie Portman has been tapped (hee hee!) as the female lead. Yay, Norse Gods of Thunder looove cerebral New York hipster chicks!…Huh, sounds kinda like the Bible, or Transformers.

• John at The Movie Blog isn’t too hot on the casting, even if he is a fan of Portman:
  

  Ok, I’m thrilled that Portman is on the film, I think she’s just top notch in every way… but I’ve been dreading hearing that the lead female actress (whoever it ended up being) would be primarily a “love interest”.

  Do we really ned to see to see Thor second guessing his heroic ways for the sake of a relationship??? Man I hate love stories in my action movies.

• Alex Billington at First Showing appears to be a fan of Portman and the decision to cast her:
  

  Portman has been making some very interesting choices recently, with this and Your Highness and Hesher, which can only mean good things, because the more screen time she has, the better. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what she can do in Kenneth Branagh’s Thor!

• Kevin Coll at Fused Film also likes Portman, preferring her to another potential female costar:
  

  A wonderful actress Portman is a charming and beautiful talent with Branagh there to guide her she is one of the best lead actresses to hit a comic-book adaptation in a long-time. Jessica Biel has also been rumored for the role of Thor’s Asguard lover, Sif, an Asgardian warrior and lover of Thor, she spends much of her time worrying about and searching for him.

  Should be interesting if they have two love interests but Portman and Hemsworth will make a hot couple for sure.

• Robert Fure at Film School Rejects believes Portman brings some added prestige and cuteness to the film:
  

  Marvel’s Thor just got an injection of class and street cred with the addition of Oscar-nominated actress Natalie Portman.  The cute as a button actress, who survived the new Star Wars trilogy to become a respected thespian, will play Jane Foster, a nurse who was involved in a love triangle between Thor, herself, and Donald Blake.

• Dustin Rowles at Pajiba thinks the addition could make Thor too smart for a summer blockbuster:
  

  That’s kind of a clusterfuck of names, which suggests that Thor could be a smart, killer comic-book movie, or a complete goddamn mess. I like the idea of a Shakespearean comic-book movie in theory, but then again, Branagh’s Hamlet tested my limits.

• Niall Browne at ScreenRant somehow finds the casting ironic. Alanis Morissette might agree:
  

  There’s also a certain real-life irony in Portman’s be cast, as she’s about to start shooting Your Highness in Kenneth Branagh’s home town in Belfast, Ireland.

• Beaks at Aint It Cool News speculates on how the character will be changed:
  

  According to Marvel, Foster will be “updated” for this film. I suppose this means she’ll now be a doctor instead of a nurse? We do know she won’t be Donald Blake’s love interest, but that’s only because Thor’s human alter-ego isn’t being written into Branagh’s film.

• Caitlin Petrakovitz at i09 thinks maybe Blake will be in it now and wonders if Portman will make up for a certain previous role:
  

  The most interesting thing about Natalie Portman’s casting in Thor isn’t just her chance to redeem herself from the Star Wars prequels — it’s what her role tells us about the Thunder God’s surprising status in the movie…this probably means we’ll be seeing a lot of Thor’s human alter ego, Dr. Donald Blake.

• Kyle Buchanan at Movieline acknowledges that Portman is already a fanboy’s dream girl even before this role (though he’s disappointed she isn’t playing the title role):
  

  In addition to being a respected actress, Natalie Portman is something of a geek muse, having traipsed through properties like Star Wars, V for Vendetta, Mars Attacks!, and the dystopian sci-fi fantasy Where the Heart Is. Now, she’s been cast in another fanboy property (and no, it is not Asteroids, despite our best advice).