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Who does Zendaya play in Spider-Man: Homecoming?

By Buckie Wells

Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing
Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing /
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With the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming upon us, it’s time to get to the bottom of who Zendaya Coleman is really playing and whether it’s Mary Jane Watson.

Between Spider-Man: Homecoming and her upcoming role in Hugh Jackman’s The Greatest Showman film, don’t be surprised if Zendaya becomes the next leading lady of Hollywood. Despite her young age, she proves to be a very talented and charismatic entertainer, even if you may not have seen her in that much yet.

Since Marvel first cast her in the role, speculation ran rampant as to who she’d be playing. Of course, early reports pegged her to be playing Peter Parker’s most famous love interest, Mary Jane Watson. Further, following reports that director Jon Watts wanted to make the movie as diverse as possible to reflect Queens, it seemed appropriate for Zendaya to play MJ.

But since then, Zendaya has clarified over and over that she’s not playing Mary-Jane Watson in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Now that many critics saw the film early, Zendaya’s role has been clarified for everyone. And no, she’s not playing Mary Jane.

(Spoiler alert! Don’t go any further unless you really want to know who Zendaya really plays in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.)

According to Bleeding Cool, Zendaya is not playing Mary Jane Watson. While she is playing a version of MJ, she’s actually playing Michelle Jones, who simply goes by the nickname “MJ” as an homage to the original.

Further sources say that her role in the film is very small. In comparison, Peter’s actual love interest in the film is Liz, who shares a “close” relationship with Vulture. I mean, no pun intended, but superheroes often find themselves in tangled webs when it comes to mixing business and personal lives. Peter Parker was, after all, best friends with the son of his nemesis, Norman Osborn. Luckily, Homecoming won’t be rehashing that storyline with the Osborns either. Or Gwen Stacy.

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Spider-Man: Homecoming opens in theaters on July 7, 2017.