Far From Home Zendaya IS MJ

[Limonade]

She's not Mary Jane Watson, but neither is anyone else. She's Peter's "MJ".

You think they're going to introduce a Mary Jane Watson and then have Peter call her MJ as well? Not happening, she's it ladies and gentlemen.

Yeah that would turn people off and make Peter a bit clingy.

 

[lordofthenerds]

Yeah that would turn people off and make Peter a bit clingy.

Because he would appear to be only interested in females nicknamed "MJ"?

 

[fan4stic]

Introduce Michelle's separated at birth twin sister.

 

[JOE]

The MJ we had in the Raimi series won’t be missed, at least by me anyways. I like the fresh approach while still paying homage in the smallest way possible.

 

[lordofthenerds]

Has anyone else considered that this version of MJ may be a response to the fans' shallow reactions to Shailene Woodley as MJ? Like someone at Disney just said "well if they're going to be that immature about it, then **** it".

 

[Jesse Jimenez]

Has anyone else considered that this version of MJ may be a response to the fans' shallow reactions to Shailene Woodley as MJ? Like someone at Disney just said "well if they're going to be that immature about it, then **** it".

I still think Shailene Woodley would of been a great Mary Jane.

 

[Limonade]

Because he would appear to be only interested in females nicknamed "MJ"?

Yeah. Kinda of how Hulk Hogan dated a younger version of his wife--which actually looked almost like his daughter.

 

[I Am The Knight]

 

[Iceman]

nope, never thought that would happen, I'd have preferred they just had the balls to call her maryjane and make her less droll and ironic and more like the MJ we know
I don't need a white redhead supermodel, but don't distort her personality that way, MJ is too important to Spidey's mythos for that

people complained Garfield right out of the role for being "too cool to be Peter", but completely changing MJ's personality is totally fine?

I'm not really sure what the point of what they are doing here is, but it's not working for me. If they want Zendaya in there they should use her properly and not be ashamed about it, otherwise fine if they want to stick to what to they're used to and comfortable with. This halfway house thing is a loser all round so far.

 

[GuestStar2004]

They could have just made liz the love interest for these films. We had MJ and Gwen already so just go with Liz rather then make a new character up

 

[BoredGuy]

^exactly!
I thought his crush on Liz was great, and with the drama with Vulture being her daddy, I thought for sure they would've stuck with that for a minute
but nope, always gotta go back to Gwen or MJ...

"but we don't have a maryjane in this movie"
"so just pick a character and say her nickname is MJ!" (apparently J Jonah Jameson was a producer on this, lol)

 

[Marvel united]

I think having Liz and Betty as the love interests of the first trilogy would have been great, in line with the 60s era and preferred to what they're doing with MJ. I still don't get what they're going for, exacly. If they wanted her to be MJ, they should have just let Zendaya play the role of Mary Jane Watson. If not, let Michelle be a new character with no connection to the MJ from the books

 

[I Am The Knight]

I'm hoping that they will introduce Betty (and the Bugle with JJJ in tow) and just leave Zendaya as Michelle, Spider-Man's quirky civilian pseudo sidekick or something.

 

[Schlosser85]

In a weird way, this reminds me of the half-assed way Nolan made Robin John Blake a kinda sorta not really Robin stand-in. Either let JGL play Dick Grayson, or don't shoehorn in an eye-rolly and pointless "Robin" shout-out in the last five minutes.

 

[UltimateWebhead]

In a weird way, this reminds me of the half-assed way Nolan made Robin John Blake a kinda sorta not really Robin stand-in. Either let JGL play Dick Grayson, or don't shoehorn in an eye-rolly and pointless "Robin" shout-out in the last five minutes.

Yes, this. I know Feige said the MJ line at the end of homecoming was meant to be a sort of recognition for the relationship with Peter and Mary Jane but it was incredibly forced and definitely eye rolling. I'd prefer a real take on Mary Jane but just let Michelle be her own thing...there's no need to make such pointless references. Cause she's clearly not the real MJ, even though she probably should have been. Zendaya would have made a great update to the classic character.

 

[GuestStar2004]

They likely chose the name knowing they wanted her first name to begin with M and surname J.

So they always kinda knew what the idea was with the character. i doubt it was a coincidence.

 

[Scarlet Spider]

I'm hoping that they will introduce Betty (and the Bugle with JJJ in tow) and just leave Zendaya as Michelle, Spider-Man's quirky civilian pseudo sidekick or something.

They already introduced Betty Brant:

She was a high school reporter and Liz's best friend.

She's also in the sequel.

Spoiler

Supposedly, spotted on set holding hands with Ned Leeds.

 

[GuestStar2004]

Well Ned needed a love interest too i guess.

 

[Ozbridge]

With Zendaya's relationship with Tom and her big following I honestly don't see any young actresses having bigger role than her.

 

[Iceman]

Yes, this. I know Feige said the MJ line at the end of homecoming was meant to be a sort of recognition for the relationship with Peter and Mary Jane but it was incredibly forced and definitely eye rolling. I'd prefer a real take on Mary Jane but just let Michelle be her own thing...there's no need to make such pointless references. Cause she's clearly not the real MJ, even though she probably should have been. Zendaya would have made a great update to the classic character.

Is it too late to turn it around and just make her MJ?

 

[rebellion]

ned looks like ganke, betty brant looks like gwen, mj isn't exactly mary jane.... i like what MCU has done, but when marvel proper is producing i expect a higher degree of fidelity to the source material.
and all those changes are just distracting and frustrating.

 

[UltimateWebhead]

Is it too late to turn it around and just make her MJ?

I wouldn't say it's late but so far her characterization isn't in line with a classic interpretation. Imo, I would just prefer they drop the whole 'call me MJ' nonsense and just have an original character called Michelle. Have the MJ line be a throwaway and don't bring it up again. Michelle can end up being a great character in her own right without trying to be something she's clearly not.

 

[Iceman]

I wouldn't say it's late but so far her characterization isn't in line with a classic interpretation. Imo, I would just prefer they drop the whole 'call me MJ' nonsense and just have an original character called Michelle. Have the MJ line be a throwaway and don't bring it up again. Michelle can end up being a great character in her own right without trying to be something she's clearly not.

Makes sense. But would you then prefer they do or don't include a real MJ down the line?

 

[GuestStar2004]

i'd say they have no plans to introduce the "real" MJ down the line, hence the MJ reference being thrown in at all.

 

[Dark Raven]

Because he would appear to be only interested in females nicknamed "MJ"?

Just like Superman only hangs around with people with the initials LL:

Lois Lane
Lucy Lane
Lex Luthor
Lena Luthor
Lionel Luthor
Lillian Luthor