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At the end of Thor (2011), SHIELD promises to give Jane Foster her equipment back, so that she could continue her research. It was not clear (at least to me) if she was going to work with SHIELD, or whether SHIELD just decided to support her (possibly in order to please Thor).

In the second Thor film, Jane still seems to distrust SHIELD. She is very much concerned that they might show up after Darcy called up the cops (after Jane disappeared for a few hours).

What happened? Did she continue mistrusting them even after the end of the first film (even though they gave her her equipment back), or did they have another falling out?

It seems likely to me that somewhere in the MCU material this was addressed more specifically than in the second Thor film.

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  • I don't recall it being stated that she was working for SHIELD. In fact it seems likely that she wasn't since Selvig had to be recruited into SHIELD to work on the tesseract. They sponsored her research which is not the same.
    – Paulie_D
    Jul 13, 2021 at 14:56
  • @Paulie_D You are right, I edited my question. Thank you!
    – Wade
    Jul 13, 2021 at 15:16

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I believe Jane is sponsored by S.H.I.E.L.D. to continue her research into opening the wormhole (Bifrost). I don't believe the full line makes it into the film but from the script on IMSDb:

Thor: Know this, son of Coul. You and I, we fight for the same cause -- the protection of this world. From this day forward, count me as your ally. If you return the items you have stolen from Jane Foster.

Coulson: Not stolen. Borrowed. You'll get your equipment back. You're going to need it to continue your research... which, after today's events, SHIELD would like to fully sponsor. If that's all right with you.

Thor

It would seem in industry terms that she is more of an independent contractor for S.H.I.E.L.D. at this time rather than being directly employed by them. In The Avengers we get a hint that they move her out of the way from the action:

Coulson: As soon as Loki took the doctor we moved Jane Foster. We've got an excellent observatory in Tromso. She was asked to consult there very suddenly yesterday. Handsome fee, private plane, very remote. She'll be safe.

The Avengers

This is expanded upon in the tie in comic Thor: The Dark World Prelude. In it we see what happens to Jane here after getting moved around. Essentially she is left in the dark and finds out Thor is on Earth after moving to Tromso. She then finds out Thor just leaves without making contact with her. This is enough to push her over the edge and not want to continue on her research anymore. After all she was doing it for him and his actions make it seem like he doesn't want to see her.

Darcy and Jane talk whilst looking to the stars, quoted below
Click image to enlarge.

Darcy: Jane... he'll come back.

Jane: No. He won't. Thor was here, and then he just left again. No message, nothing. Not a word. For the last year. every waking thought I had was of him. Of finding him. All the work I did, it was for nothing. So, that's it. I'm done.

Thor: The Dark World Prelude

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  • So essentially it seems she stopped working with SHIELD because she stopped trying to contact Thor, and after that she didn't want them to interrupt her new research... But it is still strange to me - why would they interrupt? They know her now, they would have probably sponsored her again...
    – Wade
    Jul 16, 2021 at 10:35
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    @Wade I think the point is she doesn't want to continue the research she was working on, the one S.H.I.E.L.D. was sponsoring her for. What she moved on to next S.H.I.E.L.D. might not have had an interest in.
    – TheLethalCarrot ♦
    Jul 16, 2021 at 10:49

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