Spider-Man: Homecoming has assembled a very talented and diverse group of young actors, but outside of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, no one cast has much in common with their comic book counterparts. That’s particularly the case with those we know are playing Liz Allen, Ned Leeds, and Flash Thompson, so when it was seemingly revealed that Zendaya is actually going to be revealed as Mary Jane Watson, no one was particularly surprised (though an awful lot of people were very upset).
In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight, the actress has elaborated on those rumours in order to set the record straight once and for all. “I’m not Mary Jane unfortunately, but I am in the movie which is exciting.” Asked again by the reporter if she’s Mary Jane, Zendaya denied it and confirmed earlier reports that she’s actually playing a character called Michelle. It’s obviously possible that she’s just trying to keep secret what Marvel hopes will be a big secret, but it’s not looking likely right now.
As for her experience working on Spider-Man: Homecoming, she added: “It’s incredible, you know? It’s such a huge project to be part of. I mean, who could pick a better thing to be your first movie? Like, I’m speechless. If I could pick a movie, it would be Spider-Man, so I got it.” For now, it appears as if we’ll have to accept the fact that Peter’s first love in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be Liz Allen instead of Mary Jane or Gwen Stacy, but it’s not as if that’s unfaithful to the source material!