Natalie Portman picks up the hammer as new Thor in Love And Thunder

LOS ANGELES - It's hammer time as actress Natalie Portman takes up the role of Thor in the upcoming movie Thor: Love And Thunder.

In a first-look teaser from Marvel Studios on Monday (April 18), Portman, 40, is seen in the final few seconds of the clip set to Guns N' Roses classic rock ballad, Sweet Child O' Mine.

Actor Chris Hemsworth, 38, who has played Thor in multiple Marvel movies since 2011, shared the trailer on Twitter. He wrote: "All the feels of a classic Thor adventure. Big, loud and crazy and full of heart. You'll laugh, you'll cry, then you'll laugh so much you'll cry some more."

In the trailer, his character is seen planting his hammer in the ground and saying: "My superhero-ing days are over."

The fourth film in the Thor series is due out in July and directed by Taika Waititi, who helmed the well-received Thor: Ragnarok (2017).

Waititi was also reportedly the one who persuaded Portman to return to the series after last appearing in 2013's Thor: The Dark World as Jane Foster.

The Black Swan (2010) star, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of a troubled ballerina, was said to have left the series as she was unhappy with the replacement of the original director Patty Jenkins with Alan Taylor on The Dark World.

Hemsworth, one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood, had hinted at future Thor roles in December 2021 on Australian morning show Today.

"As long as they'll have me, I'll turn up," he said. "But I feel like there might be waning, that kind of enthusiasm for me."