Marvel has been hit with backlash over the recently realised Thor: Love and Thunder and its "disgusting" portrayal of Jane Foster's cancer narrative.
Taika Waititi's second take on the Thor franchise ranked as Marvel's fifth-highest opening weekend, totalling $143m but the film has been met with criticism, most notably because of Jane Foster and how they chose to portray her cancer.
After her last appearance in 2013's Thor: The Dark World, Natalie Portman's Jane Foster not only battled aliens but cancer too. While she does undergo chemotherapy, changing into the Mighty Thor sets her back to square one.
Fans were rattled by the storyline, with one Twitter user writing: "I think the most disgusting thing about #ThorLoveAndThunder is the way they handled Jane Foster's cancer. Specifically the chemo scene.
"It's a delicate thing to deal with, especially in a super hero movie for kids, but holy damn if you can't do it with respect don't do it at all."
"I'm so p*ssed about the way they handled Jane's cancer," another added.
https://twitter.com/JDavenport98/status/1545519434277834752
Once Thor realises that Foster's transformations are killing her, he begs for her to stop but with Christian Bale's Gorr the God Butcher fast approaching, Foster continues to fight on to detrimental results.
However not everyone has taken issue with the plot point and some have praised the film for its comic accuracy; given that Foster has a similar arc in comic books.
https://twitter.com/wanderaesthetic/status/1545591174668468224
"Jane Foster's storyline had insane emotional resonance for me. Both my mother & a close friend battled cancer a couple years ago. Thor's desire to protect Jane & Jane's struggle to keep fighting really hit home. I think we all needed to hear a story like this," said one user.
Another added: "Listen, killing Jane Foster Thor is a bummer but as a medical professional it would have irritated me a lot more if we magicked or determinationed our way out of stage IV brain cancer."
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