SPOILERS: Kevin Feige Discusses Controversial SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING Twist

SPOILERS: Kevin Feige Discusses Controversial SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING Twist

If you've seen Spider-Man: Homecoming, you'll know there's a shocking character reveal but Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has now revealed what's in store for Mary Jane Watson moving forward...

By JoshWilding - Jul 10, 2017 02:07 AM EST
Filed Under: Homecoming
Source: IGN
One of Spider-Man: Homecoming's most baffling (and arguably infuriating) moments comes when Zendaya's character Michelle reveals to Peter Parker and company that her friends refer to her as "MJ."

Michelle has nothing in common with Mary Jane Watson and while it would be no bad thing for Peter and "MJ" to get together somewhere down the line, fans won't be happy if she ends up being a radically different take on the fan-favourite redhead. Well, fear not, as Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and Spider-Man: Homecoming producer Amy Pascal as confirmed that Michelle is not Mary Jane. 


Well, we never even looked at it as a big reveal necessarily but more of just a fun homage to his past adventures and his past love. She's not Mary Jane Watson. She never was Mary Jane Watson. She was always this new high school character, Michelle, who we know there's an "M" in Michelle and an "M" in Mary. [laughs] So we're so clever and we thought, "Wouldn't it be neat if her initials were MJ?" And then I think it leaked that she would be playing MJ and then it became a whole headache for Zendaya to have to navigate. It was never a big, "Oh my God, it's a big reveal!" There are big reveals in the movie. That's not one of them.
 
Pascal added to that by stating, "She is not going to end as being Mary Jane Watson," while Feige would reiterate that by reassuring fans they're not changing things up too drastically. "She's not Mary-Jane Watson. Is she going to date Peter? Are they going to fall in love? She seems to be intrigued with him. There's a nice chemistry there. Who knows what will happen in the future films?"

It's possible that Marvel and Sony wanted to test the waters with the whole "MJ" reveal and that they've now realised that it would have been a mistake to handle Mary Jane like this. Alternatively, it could have just been a way of poking fun at reports that Zendaya is playing Mary Jane! What do you guys think? As always, share your thoughts and theories in the comments section down below. 
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adamstom97
adamstom97 - 7/10/2017, 2:31 AM
... or, it could be what Feige says it is. No need for any other explenation, they just thought it would be a nice nod.
Origame
Origame - 7/10/2017, 3:04 AM
@adamstom97 - A nice nod that complicates things unnecessarily. What, we get the actual Mary Jane who has the same nick name as an already established character here? Remember, it's a joke to us the audience. It's not a joke to the people here. Michelle's nick name is actually MJ.
AwesomePromoz
AwesomePromoz - 7/10/2017, 4:53 AM
In the current comics, Peter is single and there is no relationship with MJ. That's how Marvel want it. They have moved away from the whole Tiger/soulmates/marriage stuff. Like Barbie and Ken splitting up.

So Michelle/MJ is going to play an important role in his life, but probably not romantic.
Argetlam22
Argetlam22 - 7/10/2017, 7:48 AM
@TheFamousJMC - I agree with that. All the previous movies have made a huge deal out of the Peter's love life and using it as leverage against him as a superhero. It's sort of overplayed at this point and it is really nice to see a fresh spin that doesn't lean heavily on the damsel in distress shtick.
RebelCommander
RebelCommander - 7/10/2017, 9:13 AM
@adamstom97 - Exactly, just like the Robin nod at the end of TDKR, just a nod no reason for anyone to be upset by it at all...
AwesomePromoz
AwesomePromoz - 7/10/2017, 9:47 AM
@Argetlam22 - The new movie has a very strong Kickass influence, but without the R rating.
ThouBear8
ThouBear8 - 7/10/2017, 10:51 AM
@Argetlam22 - this is a very good point & it made me realize something I didn't think about till now. This was the first Spider-Man movie to not have the love interest kidnapped or trapped by the main villain. Literally all of the first 5 movies had Mary Jane / Gwen Stacy in danger because of the villain. That's insane to think about. I'd love to see them not have a damsel in distress next movie again.
SethBullock
SethBullock - 7/10/2017, 1:03 PM
This has to be the dumbest twist ever in the history of cbm.

What is the point? If she is just a new character called Michelle, then why did Marvel Studios decide that her nickname should be MJ? That can only confuse everybody once the real MJ is introduced sooner or later. And if she is the real MJ, then what's the point of changing "Mary" for "Michelle" and that she is nothing like her comic book counterpart?

This is just a huge unnecesary f*ck up.
Aangatang
Aangatang - 7/10/2017, 1:23 PM
@adamstom97 - Exactly. And they wanted to make this iteration of Spider man as different as possible to the rest so it makes sense that they wouldn't wanna use the real MJ... again it's just us nerds that b*tch about this sort of thing.
Lostcause
Lostcause - 7/10/2017, 3:22 PM
@TheFamousJMC - He is going to end up with Barbara "Bobbi" Morse AKA Mockingbird in the comics. They have the hotts for each other and she quit taking orders and left S.H.E.I.L.D.to help him and Silver Sable.
Argetlam22
Argetlam22 - 7/10/2017, 6:34 PM
@VicMackey - It's ridiculous to think that Mary Jane is the only MJ in the whole marvel universe.
tripttwe
tripttwe - 7/10/2017, 11:29 PM
@adamstom97 - This is obviously a spin of the 616 & the Ultimate universe with twists. I hope it is MJW, and I'm interested in seeing where it goes. My two cents...
AwesomePromoz
AwesomePromoz - 7/11/2017, 12:38 AM
@tripttwe - I'm fine with her as MJW when she looks like this...

tripttwe
tripttwe - 7/11/2017, 8:36 AM
@TheFamousJMC - I expect her to grow into that! That'll be the big "Face it Tiger, you just hit the jackpot!" reveal! MJ had more personality as a high school kid in Homecoming than she's had in the past thirty years. Don't get me wrong- I LOVE MJ. I was done with comics for years after One More Day, but this was a much-needed personality upgrade. She has always been supporting of Peter, but she has more dimensions now...
Deodorant
Deodorant - 7/10/2017, 2:31 AM
I'm up for her as the love interest. Would be funny if its like the cartoon 'Hey Arnold' where the bully chick 'Helga' has a hidden crush on Peter. I'm up for a change, rather than the same old crap 'The amazing spider-man' tried to pull off unsuccessfully.
Origame
Origame - 7/10/2017, 3:04 AM
@Deodorant - She's not really a bully though. Maybe if they had this Flash be his love interest.
Deodorant
Deodorant - 7/10/2017, 3:37 AM
@Origame - lol!
darthgeekboy
darthgeekboy - 7/10/2017, 9:20 AM
@Deodorant - i agree. this MJ is just about as smart as peter, maybe even smarter. she's witty, quirky, independent, funny, and not some baggage-laden mess. i love this new MJ and so did the theater i went to. hope they keep her for the whole spiderman run.
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 7/10/2017, 2:40 AM
Would have been better to just have her be Michelle. She's a great character, but now she's all bogged down in this bullshit of whether she's comic-accurate or has a love destiny or all that... Just completely unnecessary. I get that it's maybe a little difficult to navigate the situation of Peter's love life in film, because they don't want to revisit the past two franchises, but this, and making Angourie Rice Betty Brant were two of the most unforced errors of all time.

But, things without all remedy should be without regard. What's done, is done.
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 7/10/2017, 2:47 AM
By the way, what was the deal with this?



Did I miss something or was there maybe some more "Spidey at the dance" stuff they cut out?
noahthegrand
noahthegrand - 7/10/2017, 2:49 AM
@Spock0Clock - no idea. Must be a deleted scene or something. I'd guess it was Vulture related due to them hanging from a helicopter. I kinda want to see whatever that was.
Scarilian
Scarilian - 7/10/2017, 3:12 AM
@Spock0Clock -

They filmed an entire sequence where the Vulture actually attacked the Homecoming dance, destroying the roof of the building and forcing Spider-man to save those involved - which would have introduced him to a red headed girl he would have crushed on. Then they would have confirmed her as Mary Jane during a post credit scene mirroring the 'face it tiger' sequence.
Kurne
Kurne - 7/10/2017, 2:47 AM
They really didn't need to do things like making Ned [like] Ganke, dressing Betty up as Gwen and emphasising on Michelle's "MJ" initials. They're running the risk of confusing people should any of those characters truly be introduced in the future.

That being said, they don't bother me much while watching the movie... but yeah, it'll likely hit hard(er) once we put those guys side by side with their counterparts in later films.
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 7/10/2017, 3:01 AM
@Kurne - I think they're just closing doors off that they could (should) have left open. Angourie Rice is a stellar cast for Gwen should they want to make her a more important character later. Michelle is a great character on her own without associating her with a character that is pretty different in the comics. Ned/Ganke is just a tricky case because they're just poaching him from Miles Morales' supporting cast. It works in the film itself, but it's more than a little problematic.

Going forward: this is Peter's support cast in the MCU. Ned is his best friend. MJ is the snarky smart girl in his class. There's not going to be a Gwen (unless they release the Bluray with a different label and just Jedi Mind Trick people like George Lucas), or if she does, she won't be physically like her comic counterpart. And it's sort of been the approach Feige has had since Civil War with Aunt May.

Overall, this stuff is lower priority for me than the rogues gallery (which Homecoming nailed exquisitely) and the psychology and essence of Spider-Man and Peter (which was very much on point) and also just his place in the MCU (which was solid and compelling). The supporting cast changes have just primarily felt different for the sake of the difference. Not an improvement, but not a decline, either. Mostly head-scratching and slightly frustrating. Fly in the ointment stuff.
Kman
Kman - 7/10/2017, 6:29 AM
@Spock0Clock - well said... exactly how I feel. Not a huge deal, but annoyingly frustrating and confusing. And it wasn't all that clever to begin with... the whole MJ switcheroo scene.
Deonox
Deonox - 7/10/2017, 8:03 AM
@Kman - While i do find it frustrating, I kinda almost like this whole not know what's going to happen next for Spiderman. Like Aunt May knows, will vulture come back? Will he meet Mary-Jane, or Gwen? Is Michelle just a friend? Will he date Betty? Who's the next villain? How old is Miles? Will Glover suit up as Prowler? Will Oscorp buy the old Avenger's building? When is JJ coming in?
Kman
Kman - 7/10/2017, 8:06 AM
@Deonox - that brings me to my next gripe.... Why does everybody need to figure out his identity?!?! (I know this a common complaint) But it is starting to resonate with me. Aunt May knowing after this film complicates things more than needed at the moment. But I am also interested in some of the plot directions you just mentioned... Especially the Oscorp idea.
Deonox
Deonox - 7/10/2017, 10:55 AM
@Kman - I agree, I'd be okay if she found out after the second one. That way it's senior year and she has to come to grip with it as Peter gets ready for college. But i guess it has to do with the been there, done that factor of the previous spidey movies.
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