Portman: Thor's female friendship is rare

Though Thor: The Dark World is doubtless a movie about gods and men, there's a pretty big part for women to play, too.

And the prominence of strong female characters in the film is something stars Kat Dennings and Natalie Portman are both proud of.

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"I think it's really nice that you have this female friendship," Natalie Portman, who plays scientist and love interest Jane Foster, told Yahoo Movies UK. 

"I just learned about the Bechdel test… and it's amazing how few movies pass that test," she continued, explaining the simple theory applied to films to measure gender equality.

"In this, to have two women who are scientists, discussing their scientific inquiries - of course, also joking around with each other and laughing and having a good time while they're searching for something career-wise - is pretty rare in this kind of asexual popcorn movie," Portman added.

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Co-star Dennings agreed, adding: "Darcy is the audiences eyes and it's nice that that's a girl but there are a ton of really strong females in all the Marvel movies - especially in Thor."

The actress went on to give a shout-out to co-stars Jamie Alexander and Rene Russo for their roles as Asgardian warrior women Lady Sif and Frigga: "Sif's really strong, Frigga's really strong - especially in this movie."

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Thor: The Dark World arrives in UK cinemas on October 30. Watch the full trailer below.