Far From Home Zendaya IS MJ

[Leo Zelinsky]

I'm guessing from seeing previous posts by Leo, that he is not well versed in comics.

I'm not the biggest Spider-Man fan and that doesn't bother me. My two movie showings will mean no less than any hardcore fans purchase.


But my X-MEN knowledge I'd rival against any fan on this site. So to say I'm not versed in comics isn't accurate. Unless you're speaking specifically about Spider-Man. But I do dabble in Spider-Man. My username even comes from Spider-Man. But I actually read comics every single Wednesday. My LCS knows my pull list includes any book with a mutant in it. So yes I actually read comics.

 

[ragingdemon155]

I'm guessing from seeing previous posts by Leo, that he is not well versed in comics.



It may seem cliche when you don't know how that plays into Mary Jane's character. Yes, at first she seems to be flighty and superficial. But it's only a facade. She uses that 'mask' as a way to hide her pain from having a troubled home life. In the end, we learn that MJ is a deeply compassionate, warm, caring and thoughtful person. It's seriously one of the best character arcs.



They've made a bevy of changes to characters throughout the MCU. The changes made to Spider-Man are in line with everything else. Though with the supporting cast it does feel like change for the sake of change.

I think Spider-Man would've been better off if Sony and Marvel worked out a deal before making the ASM movies. In a better world, that would've happened.

Completely agreed. MJ does have the cliche party girl personality at the start but there is so much more to the character then that. It’s a mask to cover up all of her own personal demons that she struggles with. The character is much more complex that how she’s been portrayed in the movies so far. Her personality at the start should be the polar opposite of Peter which has been mentioned here already.

Raimi has a decent version of the character but damn I had such a strong dislike for the casting for her that I just couldn’t stomach it.

 

[random_havoc]

I'm not the biggest Spider-Man fan and that doesn't bother me. My two movie showings will mean no less than any hardcore fans purchase.


But my X-MEN knowledge I'd rival against any fan on this site. So to say I'm not versed in comics isn't accurate. Unless you're speaking specifically about Spider-Man. But I do dabble in Spider-Man. My username even comes from Spider-Man. But I actually read comics every single Wednesday. My LCS knows my pull list includes any book with a mutant in it. So yes I actually read comics.

The point we're making being that your lack of appreciation for the real MJ character and your lack of thorough Spider-Man comic reading is likely not a coincidence. She's excellent in the comics and it's terrible she's never been done close to correctly in the films.

 

[Leo Zelinsky]

The point we're making being that your lack of appreciation for the real MJ character and your lack of thorough Spider-Man comic reading is likely not a coincidence.

Yeah if he wouldve said that then fine. But he said I don't read comics... which is a snobbish thing to say.


Honestly it's just my opinion at the end of the day.


I feel Spider-Man fans are spoiled honestly. I don't goto see a Spider-Man movie to see Uncle Ben, or care about Aunt May being old, or if MJ is black, or care about Flash Thompson in the slightest. Far From Home will most likely be Spider-Man'' fifth cool appearance in a row in the MCU. I am a X-MEN fan and if you don't like Wolverine then it's been a ****ty two decades.


Who knows when the X-MEN will appear in the MCU and I bet it won't be as quickly as Spider-Man appeared.


I've lurker these boards when a Spider-Man drops... I know many didn't want MCU Spider-Man and hated every single change they made and spazzed out over it like Harryoscorp.

Imo the stuff you guys are nitpicking about is something fans of FF/X-MEN would imo be appreciative over getting love from the studio finally.

 

[UltimateWebhead]

I'm not the biggest Spider-Man fan and that doesn't bother me. My two movie showings will mean no less than any hardcore fans purchase.


But my X-MEN knowledge I'd rival against any fan on this site. So to say I'm not versed in comics isn't accurate. Unless you're speaking specifically about Spider-Man. But I do dabble in Spider-Man. My username even comes from Spider-Man. But I actually read comics every single Wednesday. My LCS knows my pull list includes any book with a mutant in it. So yes I actually read comics.

Yeah if he wouldve said that then fine. But he said I don't read comics... which is a snobbish thing to say.


Honestly it's just my opinion at the end of the day.


I feel Spider-Man fans are spoiled honestly. I don't goto see a Spider-Man movie to see Uncle Ben, or care about Aunt May being old, or if MJ is black, or care about Flash Thompson in the slightest. Far From Home will most likely be Spider-Man'' fifth cool appearance in a row in the MCU. I am a X-MEN fan and if you don't like Wolverine then it's been a ****ty two decades.


Who knows when the X-MEN will appear in the MCU and I bet it won't be as quickly as Spider-Man appeared.


I've lurker these boards when a Spider-Man drops... I know many didn't want MCU Spider-Man and hated every single change they made and spazzed out over it like Harryoscorp.

Imo the stuff you guys are nitpicking about is something fans of FF/X-MEN would imo be appreciative over getting love from the studio finally.

Whoa. Easy there.

My comment was specifically in reference to you not knowing much about Spider-Man comics. Since we're in a Spider-Man thread, I thought that would be implied but maybe I should have been more specific.

Also, my comment was a simple and direct observation based on your views about both Ben and Mary Jane since you lack an appreciation for their comic iterations.

I'm not at all snobbish. Fans of Spider-Man or any character really, come in all shapes and sizes. Some only like the movies or other media. Again, it was a simple observation but I do sincerely apologize if you were offended by my comment.

The MCU movies are by and large made for the general audience. It's about making entertaining stories that the average movie goer can cling to and will pay money to see. Sure there's comic references but they care more about making cohesive, fun stories. Accuracy towards the source is not a big priority.

And imo I wouldn't say spoiled. If some fans on here act like that, they're not a representative of most of us. Just know that many people on this board are well read fans. These characters are important. Their legacy is important. So, when we point out things we take issue with, it's not out of arrogance or being spoiled. At least for me I really did enjoy Homecoming but I can also point out what I believe to be its flaws without ruining what I do enjoy.

 

[GuestStar2004]

I've lurker these boards when a Spider-Man drops... I know many didn't want MCU Spider-Man and hated every single change they made and spazzed out over it like Harryoscorp.

No my recollection was that many wanted it because people thought Marvel were gonna make the most faithful spider-man to date. but you was never gonna please everyone.

 

[random_havoc]

Yeah if he wouldve said that then fine. But he said I don't read comics... which is a snobbish thing to say.


Honestly it's just my opinion at the end of the day.


I feel Spider-Man fans are spoiled honestly. I don't goto see a Spider-Man movie to see Uncle Ben, or care about Aunt May being old, or if MJ is black, or care about Flash Thompson in the slightest. Far From Home will most likely be Spider-Man'' fifth cool appearance in a row in the MCU. I am a X-MEN fan and if you don't like Wolverine then it's been a ****ty two decades.


Who knows when the X-MEN will appear in the MCU and I bet it won't be as quickly as Spider-Man appeared.


I've lurker these boards when a Spider-Man drops... I know many didn't want MCU Spider-Man and hated every single change they made and spazzed out over it like Harryoscorp.

Imo the stuff you guys are nitpicking about is something fans of FF/X-MEN would imo be appreciative over getting love from the studio finally.

I also love the X-Men, and the piss poor quality of a lot of the X-Men movies and lack of faithful adaptation (eg Juggernaut in X3) of a lot of the X-Men lore should make you more sympathetic to people who love Mary Jane but have not once had a good film adaptation of her. Heck even the recent Spider-Man game (which was otherwise excellent) gave us an MJ who was absolutely nothing like the comics version, she was instead just Lois Lane jr for some stupid reason.

I expected better from Marvel Studios regarding this character. Giving her nickname for another completely different character to use I find frankly insulting.

 

[Kon]

No my recollection was that many wanted it because people thought Marvel were gonna make the most faithful spider-man to date. but you was never gonna please everyone.

In hindsight, the most faithful spider-man movie was not very likely, since MCU has always had certain changes in its characters or support characters.

Why it would be different for Spider-Man?

I also love the X-Men, and the piss poor quality of a lot of the X-Men movies and lack of faithful adaptation (eg Juggernaut in X3) of a lot of the X-Men lore should make you more sympathetic to people who love Mary Jane but have not once had a good film adaptation of her. Heck even the recent Spider-Man game (which was otherwise excellent) gave us an MJ who was absolutely nothing like the comics version, she was instead just Lois Lane jr for some stupid reason.

I expected better from Marvel Studios regarding this character. Giving her nickname for another completely different character to use I find frankly insulting.

I do not think "should" is the word. However, fans of X-Men comics should be prepared for changes in the adaptation, since they won't be a "faithful" adaptation either.

That said, many people say that MCU has good quality. Then, X-Men in MCU would probably have better movies (for many people) than the previous X-Men movies.


It is true that they seem to want to avoid using a faithful version of Mary Jane. I suspect they do not like her being a model.

 

[GwensNeckBrace]

I've warmed up to her character a lot after seeing Far From Home. Oddly enough, I didn't find the movie as enjoyable as Homecoming, but Zendaya was one of the highlights of the film. Stoked to see where her character goes from here.

 

[Legendver2]

I thought this was way better than Homecoming. And I can totally see this MJ being one of those ugly duckling char that's gonna turn into the classic knockout supermodel MJ in the future, and this is just her awkward high school phase.

 

[Schlosser85]

I thought Zendaya was a little flat and she and Holland didn’t have that much of a “click”, personally.

 

[jolldan]

I was glad how they re-worked the her knowing Peter is Spider-Man reveal to be more of a suspicion at best.

Also had to laugh when she brought Peter that mace

 

[terry78]

Once the reveal happened she really started to act more like classic MJ, being proactive in helping Spidey.

 

[ragingdemon155]

Zendaya won me over in this film. Is she the an accurate depiction of the comic book version? Absolutely not. However I am loving this “interpretation” of the character and that’s coming from a die hard MJ fan.

The chemistry between her and peter works big time. I’m glad she had more screen time this time around and it gave them a chance to flesh her out just a tad bit more. All in all I just feel the “teen romance” between the two works.

I do believe as a far as faithful adaptions go, Sam raimi did a decent enough job. Much better then the mcu version as far as that goes...However the casting of Zendaya is just so much better. She’s just so much more likable on screen. It’s not even close.

 

[random_havoc]

Having watched far from home, I still had "Michelle" and find the character disrespectful to the Spider-Man mythos. Hindered my enjoyment of the whole film

 

[random_havoc]

Zendaya won me over in this film. Is she the an accurate depiction of the comic book version? Absolutely not. However I am loving this “interpretation” of the character and that’s coming from a die hard MJ fan.

The chemistry between her and peter works big time. I’m glad she had more screen time this time around and it gave them a chance to flesh her out just a tad bit more. All in all I just feel the “teen romance” between the two works.

I do believe as a far as faithful adaptions go, Sam raimi did a decent enough job. Much better then the mcu version as far as that goes...However the casting of Zendaya is just so much better. She’s just so much more likable on screen. It’s not even close.

Nothing about her personality in the Raimi movies was like Mary Jane from the comics. We still haven't had the character from the comics actually done on film

 

[fan4stic]

Nothing about her personality in the Raimi movies was like Mary Jane from the comics. We still haven't had the character from the comics actually done on film

In the trilogy she was someone who tried hide her issues a lot of the time behind a mask of confidence and in the first movie more than the rest, popularity. She also had the backstory of her having issues in her homelife.

 

[Mistah K88]

I will say that MJ was more enjoyable this time. In Homecoming she was too much of a jerkette for my liking.

 

[Mike Murdock]

In Homecoming, she was pretty much there for some asides and laughs. This movie, she felt like a much more fleshed out character and was a lot of fun.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I don't see her fleshed out in the least. What's her home life like? What is she looking for in life? What is her attraction to Peter about exactly? Is it puppy love or something deeper and if so, again, what is it based on beyond that the writers have deemed it so?


I have zero issue with the on the surface changes here. This is the MCU MJ and that's all fine. Race bending, changing the character up... I don't have any issue with any of that... But they have come up with nothing beyond Daria-lite material for her. I don't even understand why Peter is interested in her because they have spent no time explaining it since, remember in HC he was actually interested in ANOTHER girl. So this film we get right to "Iwanna plan a romantic moment with MJ" even though the previous film there was no romantic spark between them that I can recall outside of that final look of her's at the end which could have also been about her suspicions about his secret. Even then... Okay she liked him. Where did HIS interest come from? It occurs off camera apparently.

I think the issue is that the supporting cast was fine last time. They felt pretty real for high school kids living in the MCU. But this time out, and this includes both MJ they were boiled down to caricatures used as vectors for gags. This was a step back into Raimi territory and not one I appreciated. And it's really bad for MJ and Ned since they along with May should be more than just caricatures.

 

[roxas99]

I don't see her fleshed out in the least.

I disagree

MJ definitely felt more like a real character this time around and felt I understood her a lot more
I mean I actually liked Zendaya in Homecoming but her role in that film was pretty much a glorified cameo

I do agree that the film does not really show us the origin of Peter and Mj romance but the real life chemistry between Tom and Zendaya completely sells that these are two people who are falling in love with each other. This is rare situations were the power of actors overshadowed the flaws of the script

I never really took those Tom and Zendaya dating rumors seriously but there were definitely times while watching this film that I did wonder if it was actually true lol

 

[Mysteryman]

Jolldan,
This is not a spoiler thread but if you want to talk about specific scenes, please use spoiler tags.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I disagree

MJ definitely felt more like a real character this time around and felt I understood her a lot more
I mean I actually liked Zendaya in Homecoming but her role in that film was pretty much a glorified cameo

I do agree that the film does not really show us the origin of Peter and Mj romance but the real life chemistry between Tom and Zendaya completely sells that these are two people who are falling in love with each other. This is rare situations were the power of actors overshadowed the flaws of the script

I never really took those Tom and Zendaya dating rumors seriously but there were definitely times while watching this film that I did wonder if it was actually true lol

What EXACTLY did you understand about her more? I would be interested since I really didn't feel she was developed anymore than what we saw in HC. She was the nerdy teen filled with sarcasm and who uses ironic detachment as her chosen defense mechanism there... And that's all she was here. Are we given a reason why that is? What does she truly believe in? Did we learn what the attraction to Peter IS in this movie? Peter has a sincere charm in his befuddled responses to her... Okay. AND? I didn't feel any of the chemistry you did. I'm not saying you're wrong but I just didn't see it in the least. And once again... This has nothing to do with any deviation from MJ in the comics. Make MJ non-white. Fine. Make her a dark humored sarcastic nerd. Fine. But... Ya gotta go deeper than that, especially when you are making the character the other side of a romance that includes our protagonist. At least for me. YMMV.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Jolldan,
This is not a spoiler thread but if you want to talk about specific scenes, please use spoiler tags.

T'was unfortunately in commercials and trailers available to all before release.

 

[roxas99]

What EXACTLY did you understand about her more?

well the big thing for me is that I got more of feel of who this character actually is but I think that was due more to Zendaya having more screen time than anything in the script. In homecoming I really did not know what to make of Michelle. did she really want to be friends with peter or was she some type of crazy stalker chick who was just using peter to get to spider-man

she was someone who showed up out of nowhere from time to time and she always seem to be following peter where ever he went. Honestly if they really wanted to they could have easily turned Mj into twist villain who was really working with vulture at the end of that film since we really did not know anything about her or her true motivations


In far from home because she has way more screen time
they mystery behind her character fades away and it becomes pretty obvious that she is not the evil stalker chick that I thought she was and she clearly cares about peter