Natalie Portman Recruits Obi-Wan Kenobi Star For New Series
Natalie Portman is coming back to both the MCU and Star Wars and it looks like she's making some contacts on the way.
Natalie Portman is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the upcoming and hotly anticipated Thor: Love and Thunder, but it looks like that is not the only Disney franchise she has her fingers in. Specifically, she has recruited Obi-Wan Kenobi star Moses Ingram for her new series Lady in the Lake on Apple TV+. Ingram will co-star with Natalie Portman in the show, which will also feature Y’Lan Noel, Mikey Madison, and Stranger Things’ Brett Gelman.
Lady in the Lake is adapted from a best-selling mystery novel by Laura Lippman and is set in 1960s Baltimore. It primarily follows a housewife turned investigative reporter named Maddie Schwartz (Natalie Portman) parallel with a civil rights activist and mother named Cleo Sherwood (Mose Ingram) against the backdrop of the unsolved murder of a young woman. Lupita Nyong’o was originally cast in the Cleo Sherwood role but exited for so-far unknown reasons. The series will join the increasing amount of content being produced by Apple TV+ in competition with other streaming platforms like Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, and Paramount+
We also recently received word from our trusted and proven sources that Natalie Portman will be returned to the Star Wars universe in her iconic role as Padme Amidala, so we are likely about to see a whole lot more Portman. While we do not currently know how Natalie Portman will return as Padme, Lucasfilm has recently shown a willingness to delve into the backstories of legacy characters. Obi-Wan Kenobi, in particular, has been praised for bringing Hayden Christensen back to the role of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader and Ewan McGregor as the title character; could we soon be seeing a Padme Amidala series?
Regardless, fans of Natalie Portman are already excited to see her return as Jane Foster in Thor: Love and Thunder. The early reports that she would be reprising her character as the Mighty Thor version of the character have proven out, as have reports that she got pretty jacked (and taller) for the role. The preceding Thor: Ragnarok (also directed by Taika Waititi) is one of the most critically beloved of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so there is a lot riding on the success of this one. But ever since we saw Natalie Portman as Jane Foster with Mjolnir in hand, we are pretty sure things are going to be just fine in Thor: Love and Thunder.
While Lupita Nyong’o has exited Natalie Portman’s Lady in the Lake, she will be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe herself in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. At this rate, it seems only of time before we see Moses Ingram herself show up in the MCU. It seems practically every day that we see reports of a new star joining Marvel, and given that Ingram has Disney’s back in other, more unfortunate circumstances, it would be no surprise to see them finding a role for her in that universe. But before then, we will see Moses Ingram and Natalie Portman together in Baltimore, which is close to as good.
