Bob Chapek ran The Walt Disney Company from February 25, 2020, until the board removed him on November 20, 2022. Natalie Portman played Jane Foster, later Mighty Thor, in Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder. That film opened in U.S. theaters on July 8, 2022, while Chapek still held the job. On June 23, 2022, both appeared at the world premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. Wire photos put Portman on the carpet in a sequined Celine minidress. Chapek stood with other Disney and Marvel people that night. They were not partners. One ran the company. The other starred in a film the company released. Portman had last played Jane in Thor: The Dark World in 2013. She skipped Thor: Ragnarok. Love and Thunder brought her back. Chapek’s years also covered park shutdowns, heavy Disney+ losses, and Florida’s political fight. On September 29, 2026, Gallery Books published his memoir, Behind the Castle Walls. He says he did nothing wrong and blames Bob Iger. He’s 67. He now advises private firms, including NinjaTech AI, and he told Bloomberg he hasn’t returned to a Disney park. Portman, born June 9, 1981, still acts and produces. Their public overlap stays that premiere.
Why the 2022 Premiere Is the Real Link
People search these two names and expect a secret. There isn’t one. Here’s the thing. Disney CEOs show up when a Marvel film opens. Stars show up because it’s their movie.
Portman came back as Jane Foster and picked up Mjolnir. Hemsworth, Thompson, Bale, and Waititi shared the carpet. Chapek’s job was smaller. Show the company’s face. Then leave.
I don’t read one photo as friendship. It was a call sheet. A few hours in Los Angeles. Done. Strange pairing on paper, really.
What Chapek Actually Controlled
He became CEO weeks before COVID closed the parks. Iger stayed executive chairman and kept creative sway through late 2021. Film calls were not Chapek’s alone.
Love and Thunder still opened on his watch. Reviews split. Sales started hot, then cooled. That doesn’t prove he cast Portman. Marvel locked her return earlier. A short CEO run makes every title look like a verdict. This was a summer comic-book movie.
The 2026 Memoir
Silence ran almost four years. Behind the Castle Walls is 272 pages, written with Don Yaeger. The New York Times saw an early copy. Chapek rejects the blame. He calls Iger’s push relentless. He told CNBC he warned the board about Iger weekly. Bloomberg quoted a quieter private-equity life. He says Disney thinned its timeline so his years look smaller. That’s his side.
Chapek’s 2026 Memoir and Current Path
The memoir dropped September 29, 2026. Chapek blames internal pressure and Iger’s return for his exit. He describes feeling erased from company history. In recent talks he says he hasn’t returned to the parks. He now advises startups and real estate groups. One original take: the timing of the book, four years later, lets him reframe a period when Marvel stars like Portman delivered solid box-office results even as leadership changed. That contrast between on-screen success and boardroom drama still stands out.
One overlap bugs me. The board extended his contract in June 2022. Five months later he was gone. Neither one saved him.
Portman After the Hammer
She left the Marvel circuit. Smaller films filled the space. In October 2024 she wore a chin-length bob at the Ballon d’Or in Paris. Vogue called the fad Team Bob. Hair only. Not Chapek. She and Benjamin Millepied divorced in 2024. By 2025 reports tied her to Tanguy Destable. None of that touches Disney’s top office. People still search Jane Foster.