People have been speculating for a long time who Zendaya could be playing in Spider-Man homecoming. Some assumed she would just be this Michelle character Marvel told us she was, others thought she could be Liz Allen (although this has been proven false now due to the casting of Laura Harrier as Liz), and now rumors persist that Zendaya is playing none other than Mary Jane Watson, with new reports from Vulture saying that her being MJ was intended as a suprise for the end of the film. I'll only say quickly that I have no problem with Zendaya playing MJ, Marvel hasn't let us down with casting yet so let's just see how it turns out, but that's not what this article is about.
The idea of a twist got me thinking, if this is what Marvel has intended to do, how excactly would they hide a twist like this for the film? What would be done to make sure people don't figure it out within the film itself or within the marketing when it eventually ramps up? Well here in this article I'm going to list a few possibilities of what they could end up doing. Now please keep in mind I don't necessarily think these are all plausible ideas, but it's fun to speculate. So without further ado, let's begin.
Possibility Number One: We Never Hear Her Name In The Film Until The End.
Now this one is probably the most unlikely out of all of the different possibilities. A girl in a high school environment and one that interacts with the main character and that she has been given a name outside of the film, the likely hood that her name will never be heard in the film is really out there. But it is one possible way that they could hide her identity, say every time anybody is about to say her name Zendaya's character would then cut them off or some other event would happen so that we don't hear it. Only for her to ask Peter to call her MJ by the end of the film.
If this was the way Marvel did it it would get a lot of groans in the audience that contrivances keep happening to stop us from hearing her name it would get old fast. So I think we're pretty safe to assume this wouldn't be a way it could be done.
Possibility Number 2: An Exchange Student/New Student That Hides Her Real Name.
This is a situation I could see being a lot more likely than some of the options on here because if she had been going to the same schools with Peter or people Peter knows than her name would be a pretty public thing, to the school and to the students. So what could be the possibility is that they take the aspect of MJ where she was abused by her father and tried to escape from that by being a bit more chipper, happy and outgoing out in public, only in this movie take it a step further by having her have a fake name to pretend she isn't the person she is back home. Only to trust Peter with her real name because of how much she trusts him.
Of course that's just me speculating again and with the film having a John Hughes kind of comedic tone that may be something they wouldn't want to tackle in these movies till much later down the road. I would believe they would want to have a lot more fun with the first movie in this new franchise, if she is an exchange/new student they could reveal this face in future films.
Possibility Number 3: MJ Does Mean Mary Jane & Mary Jane Is A Name Only Her Friends Call Her.
This is one I feel will probably be the second most likely out of all of the possibilities I have listed here, some people have nick names they like to go by with their friends only but not with people they don't know particullarly well. Mary is apparently a very common nickname for Michelle so this would make sense for her character to want that as her nickname if this is what they were going for. It would explain why teachers call her Michelle as well as why Peter would never find out till later down the road, as he would only hear her name as Michelle throughout the film. Only for her to ask him to call her MJ or Mary Jane when they go to the Homecoming dance at the end of the film. Seeing Peter as her friend due to what he did throughout the film.
The only kind of issue that I can see with this explanation is that I find it hard to believe with how High School is that nobody would ever hear that she is called MJ around friends, unless we don't see her with any friends throughout the movie, which again I have my doubts about happening.
Possibility Number 4: Being Called MJ Is How She Breaks Out Of Her Shell.
I have a feeling deep down in my gut this is probably what Marvel is going with in regards to this twist if this report is true. Due to set photos from Homecoming including some of Zendayas character looking like she is dressed in a more subdued and nerdy way. While other set photos at the homecoming dance show that she is looking much more lively and dare I say attractive, (which will be posted in the comments to keep the formatting of my article intact.) I get the impression that throughout the film Michelle as a character will be a lot more too herself and only saying the occasional sarcastic remark to people when she feels she can get away with it. But throughout the course of the film with her hanging around Peter she realizes it's best if she went out of her shell and became a more outgoing person, starting with shortening her name down to Mary Jane Or MJ.
What contradicts this unfortunately is some of the footage that was described at SDCC described her being a bit more outgoing and more sarcastic, which woukdn't really work with the breaking out of her shell idea. Of course this could only be one scene from the film and she could be much different throughout, this will have to be one where we just wait and see.
Possibility Number 5: MJ Isn't Short For Mary Jane. It's Short For Michelle Jane.
Now this is the possibility I really don't want to be what is done. IT screams change for the sake of change and fans would be absoultly livid with rage if this change was made. It's bad enough changing a race of a character and having the internet react to it, but changing the characters name? Especially one as iconic in Spider-Man's world as Mary Jane Watson? Fans wouldn't stand for it.
But this is still something that is a possibility unfortunately, the Vulture article described specifically that Zendayas character asks Peter to call her MJ. Not Mary Jane, or just Mary but MJ. Which could mean that her full name is Michelle Jane Watson and throughout the series we only hear her referred to as MJ or Michelle but never Mary Jane. Wanting to be called MJ as something less formal from Michelle when they are at the homecoming dance.
Again I highly doubt this is what Marvel would do, It would cause unnecessary negative attention to the film from fans and Marvel definitely does not want that kind of attention, so let's hope Marvel decides to stay away from this end of the spectrum.
Conclusion
Of course these are just some of my ideas on what could be done to make this twist be effective in Spider-Man Homecoming. Could all of these reports be complete BS? Of course they could be, but it's still fun to think about what could be done with a twist like this, hiding an important characters identity like that.
So please comment down below and tell me, did you like the article? Do you have any of your own ideas? List them down below, and please be sure to have a good day.