Earlier this week, we learned that Stranger Things star Sadie Sink has joined the cast of Spider-Man 4. Given her red hair, it didn't take long for fans (and scoopers) to speculate that she might be playing everyone from Jean Grey to Firestar and Mary Jane Watson.
However, a new report from Jeff Sneider claims Sink will play the latter, meaning the Marvel Cinematic Universe will soon have the "real" MJ. That seems problematic on several levels, not least because it diminishes the work done by Zendaya as Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home's Michelle Jones Watson.
There is one way to make this work, though.
With Spider-Man 4 set to be released between Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, it will almost certainly be a Multiversal tale. In fact, if Doomsday ends with the creation of Battleworld, chances are that's where Peter Parker's next adventure is going to be set.
In the comics, when the Multiverse was destroyed and Doctor Doom used the stolen powers of the Beyonders to create a new reality he ruled over, it was essentially a patchwork quilt of worlds, including a very different New York ruled over by a villain known as Regent. There, Spider-Man was once again married to Mary Jane and they even had a daughter, Anna-May "Annie" Parker.
We expect Spidey to be a major problem for Doom in Avengers: Doomsday, so how better to take him off the table than by giving the web-slinger his perfect life? That could involve creating a reality resulting in us getting a "classic" Spider-Man story.
Imagine a Spider-Man 4 where Peter is best friends with Harry Osborn and Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy are battling for his affection. The college student works at The Daily Bugle as a freelance photographer and moonlights as the Amazing Spider-Man, a (mostly) beloved hero. Marvel Studios can deliver a Stan Lee/Steve Ditko/John Romita Sr.-inspired Spidey yarn...before Peter figures out all is not right and his love for his MJ helps him to see through the fake world God Emperor Doom has willed into existence.
Post Avengers: Secret Wars, we've no doubt some of those elements - Gwen and a new Norman Osborn, perhaps - could carry over into the new MCU.
There have been rumblings about Spider-Man 4 being both street-level and Multiversal in nature, so Peter setting out to break free of his false reality gives Marvel Studios - and us - the best of both worlds (literally). The moment has passed for us to get a "classic" take on Spidey in the MCU, what with him being Iron Man's former protege and all, but this approach has real potential.
Ultimately, it's important to note that Sink hasn't been confirmed as MJ and could just as easily be playing Gwen or Black Cat. We'll have to wait and see, but this makes us feel a whole lot better about getting another Multiverse movie next summer.
Spider-Man 4 has been officially dated for July 31, 2026, with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton helming a script penned by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers.