In the comic books, Mary Jane Watson loves to party because she has an unpleasant home life, and it's now been revealed that this was something Marvel Studios considered exploring with MJ in
Spider-Man: Homecoming. During a recent spoiler Q&A about
Spider-Man: Far From Home, writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers revealed some deleted scenes from the 2017 release.
Asked why we've seen so little about MJ's backstory in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, McKenna explained that there were scenes shot that never made it into the final cut or the Blu-ray.
"There was a moment when they come back from Washington in Homecoming — I don't think it made it into the movie — where you get the sense where she clearly doesn't have someone there to pick her up and meet her at the bus and May and Peter offer to give her a ride home," he explained.
"You get a sense maybe there's some sad home life going on, and I think it's alluded to in some of the things that she says in this movie. With all that stuff, you never want to lean too hard into it. You want to tell a story with as few words as possible. I think we kept it kind of small and as nuanced as we could."
Interestingly, Spider-Man: Far From Home alludes to Flash Thompson having a pretty miserable home life, but never really expands on it so who knows if that's something that could be explored in the next movie.
Do you think we need to know more about MJ's backstory in the MCU?
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about the sequel's biggest theories and unanswered questions!
What Happened If You Were On A Plane When You Blipped?
This is a question that has been bugging fans for a while; when The Hulk snapped his fingers and used the Infinity Stones to bring everyone back, did the people who were in planes, trains, and automobiles reappear where they were before even if that meant they would plummet from the sky?
"We asked that exact question," McKenna says
"Bruce, in making the snap back, made sure to think about everyone being safe and sound. People were not falling 35,000 feet out of the sky. That would be a bummer." However, the people who were in planes that lost their pilots did presumably remain dead, which is definitely a depressing side to what's been dubbed "The Blip."
Where Did "Peter-Tingle" Come From?
Spider-Man finally gets his Spider-Sense in the sequel, but why did the writers go with "Peter-Tingle" instead of referring to it by the same name the wall-crawler does in the comic books?
"Somehow, tingle came up. Spider-Tingle, and then [director Jon] Watts said Peter-Tingle," McKenna explains.
"That's horrible, yes! We have to use that. That's super embarrassing." Sommers added:
"It's just the kind of thing your aunt would call it that would embarrass you."
With any luck, though, that's not a name we'll hear more of moving forward...
Is E.D.I.T.H. Named After One Of Howard Stark's Old Flames?
Eagle-eyed fans (with a particularly good memory) noted that in
Agent Carter, Dominic Cooper's Howard Stark dated a woman called Edith. As a result, speculation online has pointed to Tony possibly naming his final A.I. after this woman (which would seem a little odd but there you go).
Well, as you might expect, that wasn't the case.
"If you want the real answer to that, we knew that Tony would come up with a funny acronym for the system like he does for everything," McKenna says.
"So we came up with the most Tony version of it, and it just happened to be EDITH."
E.D.I.T.H. obviously stood for "Even Dead I'm The Hero."
Was J. Jonah Jameson Based On The Version From The Video Game?
There's definitely some similarities between the way J.K. Simmons portrays J. Jonah Jameson in
Spider-Man: Far From Home's mid-credits scene to the version of the character from the
Spider-Man video game. Was taking the one-time newspaper publisher down that contemporary route a case of corporate synergy or pure coincidence?
"They were talking about bringing back J.K. pretty early in the process," said Sommers.
"Then it was pitched by someone on the team to have the Daily Bugle now be this Internet kind of thing and have him be more of an Alex Jones kind of character. We all liked that idea ,so that's what we went with." So, no, the game didn't play into their creative process regardless of how good it was!
Are There Any Other MCU Characters Who Are Skrulls?
"It's certainly possible," Sommers admits.
"We didn't write anything in specifically and we have not personally planned anything out, but I think it certainly opens up a world of possibilities that is very exciting." That definitely sounds like a "wait and see" type of answer and while the post-credits scene was played for laughs, it leaves the door open to seeing more Skrulls in disguise now.
Can Skrulls Hide From E.D.I.T.H.?
Neither Peter Parker nor Quentin Beck appear to be wearing E.D.I.T.H. while in the vicinity of Nick Fury and Maria Hill, but if they had, would the A.I. have revealed that they were actually Skrulls?
Maybe, maybe not!
"Nick Fury is clever enough that he knows an end run around EDITH. Maybe he's part of the network?" McKenna muses.
"Did Tony, who designed the system, know about Skrulls? If he did, was he working in league with Nick [and the Skrulls], so he would want to protect Skrull identity?" If that's the case, it could change everything we know about the MCU...
Are There Alternate Earths In The MCU?
We know from Doctor Strange that there is indeed a "Multiverse," but that could mean a lot of different things. The question is, do alternate worlds exist within the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
"Someone in the creative team pitched the multiverse idea…and immediately we said yes. That would be a great way. People would ask fewer questions," Sommers said when asked how the concept came about.
"It seemed like a great way to help Beck accomplish his goal, and help us get one over on the audience."
As for whether there are different versions of Spider-Man and other characters out there, McKenna adds:
"In the comic books there are multiverses obviously. Whether there is a multiverse in the MCU remains to be seen."
What Did Jake Gyllenhaal Bring To The Role Of Mysterio?
Getting Jake Gyllenhaal to join a superhero franchise can't have been an easy feat for Marvel Studios. After revealing that they sat in a room with the actor to go over his scenes on a number of occasions so he could take the character to
"another level," McKenna went on to talk about another small detail Gyllenhaal pushed for which ended up making a big difference.
"He wanted a beard. He was right. It was one of those things. He knows as an actor what plays and what doesn’t. What we really wanted was someone to really be an alluring, father-figure replacement for Tony [Stark]. Jake knew how to do that, from his performance all the way down to his hair. If you look at him, you think, 'Oh! I want that guy to be my new dad.'"
Wait, They Haven't Seen The Original Spider-Man Movies?
We're not sure about Sommers, but during this interview, McKenna admitted that he hasn't seen Sam Raimi's Spider-Man while elaborating on the decision to bring J.K. Simmons back.
"I had never seen the original Spider-Man movies and I pitched him and everyone said, “No… We can’t do that!” I’m still waiting for Sony to get me my free copies, but they never gave me the free copies," he admits.
"Once we realized that news would play a huge part particularly in the undergirding of the movie in terms of facts and fantasy, facts and fiction, then we played around with the idea that Mysterio would be pulling one con at the end."
"It became clear that it would be a perfect entree for J. Jonah Jameson. And then we were thinking, “How do you top J.K. Simmons?” And you know how you top J.K. Simmons? You get J.K. Simmons." That makes sense, and it's not necessarily a bad thing that McKenna wasn't thinking about past versions of Spidey while writing
Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Was J.K. Simmons Always Going To Return?
"We always hoped that it would be him," Sommers said when asked if they wanted to bring Simmons back from the start.
"And then the decision was, in what form? Was he going to be like he was before? We decided that maybe a better reflection of how things have changed, how media has changed, would be instead he’s more of this Alex Jones figure now. That was the big decision."
Were The Skrulls Set To Play A Larger Role In The Story?
Perhaps the biggest surprise in this interview is the reveal that there was a version of
Spider-Man: Far From Home that would have actually seen the Skrulls play a key role throughout the story.
"It’s funny, there was a very, very early iteration of the Mysterio story that actually did involve the Skrulls that we kicked to the curb early in the story-writing process. Because this really became a con artist movie, essentially, we really went along with how many ways can we deceive the audience? How many twists and turns can we have? It seemed like it was an idea that Jon Watts had kicked around early on that we embraced as something people would love to have. There’s always one final twist, and we would be living up to what we were trying to emulate and celebrate."
That certainly would have been a good way to set up a storyline like Secret Invasion and would line up with rumours we heard about Skrulls invading the Earth after Avengers: Infinity War.
Is "Secret Invasion" Coming?
That's the million dollar question, but one the writers are unable or unwilling to answer.
"We do not know," Sommers claims.
"I hope so, that would be cool. I’d like to see that."
"We are currently driving on our way to Marvel, we don’t know why or what they want," McKenna claimed.
"They don’t even show us the menu for lunch." Now, it seems as if we'll just have to wait and see but it would be a missed trick for Marvel Studios to not delve into that popular storyline.
Many thanks to The Hollywood Reporter and Variety for the quotes used here.
Continue reading below to check out what
we want to see next from Spidey in the MCU!
Spider-Man On The Run
The movie kicking off with Peter Parker on the run from the authorities definitely makes sense. and with the world still reeling from the Sokovia Accords and Thanos' attack, something tells me the likes of General Ross won't want to hear the web-slinger's explanation that Mysterio was a fraud.
After all, the evidence is stacked against him and even if he has managed to clear his name, the police probably won't trust the hero and he'll find himself being pursued by them constantly.
Throw in the fact that the media will also be in hot pursuit and there's no way Peter is going to be able to just return to high school and continue as normal. so having him go on the run and essentially be a criminal is an exciting and very different route to take Spider-Man down in future adventures.
J. Jonah Jameson's Vendetta
It would be a terrible shame for J.K. Simmons' return as J. Jonah Jameson to be a one off, so this new take on the character definitely needs to factor into the third movie in a big way.
Kevin Feige has said that this version of Jonah exists on the "fringe" of news media so him wanting to validate his claims about Spider-Man seems like an obvious route to head down, and he could decide to hire someone like the Scorpion to unmask the web-slinger or uses some Spider-Slayers!
Seeing Simmons' face on one of those robots would be awesome, and even if he doesn't directly factor into things, he should still be shown tearing into New York's "menace."
Kraven's Last First Hunt
Right now, Kraven the Hunter is the clear fan-favourite choice to battle Spider-Man in the next movie, and while it's been said that Sony Pictures is working on a solo movie that would somehow adapt "Kraven's Last Hunt," it seems highly unlikely that will happen due to the wall-crawler sticking around in the MCU for the foreseeable future.
Kraven the Hunter arriving in New York to track down the man who murdered Mysterio adds up, and elements of the classic story mentioned above could easily be adapted.
After all, the deluded Kraven could still try to replace Spider-Man and burying Peter alive would make for a great visual. I wouldn't want to see Kraven end his life by the time all is said and done as he would make a great addition to a certain sinister team, but the potential for an epic movie is still there.
Mysterio Lives!
Mysterio's plan may have failed, but he still had the last laugh because he outed Spider-Man's secret identity and made the world think that Peter Parker is a villain. It seems crazy that these two wouldn't cross paths again, and while it definitely appears as if Quentin Beck is dead, I'm not convinced.
We know that Kraven uses hallucinogenics on his foes, but how cool would it be for a mid-credits scene to reveal that Beck was pulling the strings and creating those so-called hallucinations?
Making Mysterio one of Spider-Man's main enemies and the possible leader of the Sinister Six instead of Doctor Octopus or the Green Goblin may seem controversial, but the groundwork for that has definitely been laid, and this would make for one heck of a jaw-dropping reveal.
Oscorp Wants Its "Experiment" Back
We still don't know who the new owner of Avengers Tower is but Marvel Studios is well aware that fans are hoping its Oscorp, and they do seem like the most likely possibility as of right now.
Yes, Norman Osborn has been seen on screen before, but there's a ton of potential for him in the MCU, especially if we get to see his Dark Reign and the formation of the Dark Avengers. Revealing that the spider that bit Peter came from Oscorp would finally address that big mystery, and Norman targeting Peter because he wants to run tests on his "experiment" seems like a Green Goblin thing to do!
Kevin Feige says that Marvel Studios doesn't really want to go down the route of villains who gained their powers in science experiments gone wrong, but we've seen enough bad guys with ties to Tony Stark and now that Norman knows who Spider-Man is, that would make it even easier for him to track the wall-crawler down (in his Goblin form if he's been experimenting on himself).
Spider-Man Meets Venom
There have been rumblings for a while now that Venom could be about to make the leap into the MCU, and while that's going to be hard to pull off, there's no better team than Kevin Feige and Jon Watts to find a way. There's definitely a desire among fans for this crossover to happen, and Spidey finally getting his hands on that alien suit would be something else.
With rumours swirling that this is going to happen, it's hard not to wonder whether there's not some smoke to this particular fire, but it all depends how
Venom 2 plays out next year.
Regardless, it's hard to say how someone like Venom could factor into a story about Spider-Man's identity being outed to the world, but if The Life Foundation is a subsidiary of Oscorp, this could all tie together in a satisfying way that makes fans happy.
Scorpion Strikes
Spider-Man: Homecoming devoted its mid-credits scene to teasing the Scorpion's arrival in the MCU and, well, he was nowhere to be seen in
Spider-Man: Far From Home!
That was a shame, but there could be a very good reason for that. In the comic books, J. Jonah Jameson is responsible for the villain's creation and if he wants to be credited as the one who stops the "menace" Spider-Man, then TheDailyBugle.net owner helping turn Mac Gargan into Scorpion obviously makes sense.
Michael Mando is a terrific actor, but
Spider-Man: Homecoming really didn't give him chance to shine. By having him suit up and run wild in this movie, he could have a lot of fun, and once again add another possible villain to the Sinister Six's roster!
Meet The Hobgoblin
If Oscorp is going to be introduced, then why not hold off on going down the Green Goblin route and bring us the Hobgoblin instead? Whether he's linked to Oscorp or not (he really should be), Spidey battling this villain would be something new and a lot of fun to see on screen.
Roderick Kingsley could try to frame Ned Leeds, or Marvel Studios could head down the Ultimate route by making Hobgoblin a monstrous Harry Osborn who has completely lost control.
There are a lot of different comic books that Jon Watts can turn to for inspiration and having Hobgoblin come before the Green Goblin really wouldn't be the end of the world (it's definitely better than what
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 did by having Harry become a Goblin before his father!).
Spider-Man Vs. The Avengers
This could be a tough one, as it seems The Avengers have disassembled for the time being. However, if Marvel Studios reforms the team in the meantime, then they could definitely come after Spidey.
After all, he's currently in control of E.D.I.T.H. and if they buy into Mysterio's claims that he's lost control and wants to be the next Tony Stark, they'll want to talk to him and possibly take him down.
If Earth's Mightiest Heroes making a cameo is too ambitious, perhaps the lawyer Aunt May hires for Peter could be Matt Murdock, a character better known to comic book and Netflix fans as Daredevil.
The Sinister Six Assembles
Heading into
Spider-Man: Far From Home, rumours were swirling that the mid-credits scene would feature the big screen debut of the Sinister Six. Fans are desperate to see the wall-crawler face a team of his greatest foes, but it looks like Marvel Studios is choosing to take a slow burn approach.
Well, assuming that we get at least another two villains in this sequel, there's really no reason why we can't finally get a hint about the Six coming together to take Spider-Man down once and for all.
The Vulture surely wants revenge, while the aforementioned theory about Mysterio making his return also adds up. Whatever happens, we need to see Spidey taking on this team and while a third movie is a little too soon for this, it's about time the stage was set for it to finally happen.