Zendaya’s MCU character is not Mary Jane Watson, and that’s a good thing


Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a huge success, and it’s somewhat surprising that it can maintain its popularity despite its complexities.

That said, while the MCU is massive in its own way, the comics are a different beast, and there are plenty of things from the comics that have yet to appear on screen. But Spider-Man is an exception, as it’s so popular that there were five non-MCU Spider-Man movies before Marvel finally got it back.

However, since there have been so many Spidey movies, fans get tired of watching the same stories over and over again. That’s in part why Zendaya’s MCU character is not Mary Jane Watson is ultimately a good thing.

Who does Zendaya really play in the MCU?

Zendaya on the red carpet
Zendaya Steven Ferdman / Getty Images

In the MCU Spider-Man movies, Zendaya plays a character named Michelle Jones, but everyone calls her Michelle or MJ. In the movies, she is portrayed as a lone nerd, as she, along with Peter Parker, is part of her school’s decathlon academic team. It’s also a bit awkward and quirky, as it makes some sarcastic jokes here and there. And of course, as Zendaya plays her, she’s also black.

While the clues and clues were there, Marvel took the time to reveal the fact that his character was going to be Peter’s love interest. For most of Homecoming, No one called MJ by name.

At the end of the movie, a teacher calls her Michelle and she replies that her friends call her MJ. To fans, MJ represented Mary Jane, as in Mary Jane Watson, and thus pointed to the fact that she would be Peter’s love interest.

How MJ is different from Mary Jane Watson

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As fans commented on Reddit, there are a lot of differences between MJ and Mary Jane. Of course, since the comics are so vast, there have also been many different interpretations of Mary Jane.

However, most of the time, Mary Jane is portrayed as a redhead, with an outgoing personality and generally not very nervous.

Obviously, MJ is different from all of that. But with that said, there are some interpretations of Mary Jane that have some similarities to MJ. For example, there have been performances of Mary Jane where she was a nerdy character.

However, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. MJ doesn’t have much screen time Homecoming, but she has a much bigger role in Far from home. Her character will definitely change and evolve, so there is a chance that MJ will become more similar to Mary Jane that many Spidey fans are familiar with. Still, many fans are fine with this remake of Peter’s love interest.

Why Zendaya is not Mary Jane Watson is a good thing

As Marvel fans on Reddit said, the Spider-Man story has been told so many times that many aspects of its story have been put to death. For example, Sony tried to make two Spider-Man trilogies, and in each, Sony decided to show Uncle Ben’s death. Marvel did not want to repeat Sony’s mistakes, so for Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel decided not to show Uncle Ben’s death at all.

This was probably the same reason that Marvel decided to create a new Mary Jane for the MCU. Mary Jane is already done, as is Gwen Stacy, who is Spider-Man’s other big love interest. Making the same characters again would be boring, so Marvel decided to allow Zendaya to breathe new life into it.

And also, with a new character, Marvel has more freedom to do whatever he wants with her and Peter’s relationship. This opens the door, creatively speaking, and means that fans won’t know what’s to come in the upcoming movies.