Since it was announced yesterday that Stranger Things star Sadie Sink had joined the cast of Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures' upcoming Spider-Man 4 in a "significant" role, speculation has been running rampant on who she might play, with the early favorites being Spidey mainstays Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy, Felicia Hardy, or Angelica Jones.
While it may be a while before we get any sort official reveal from the studios, Jeff Sneider, during tonight's installment of The Hot Mic with Jeff Sneider and John Rocha, has seemingly revealed her role and it seems as though she will indeed be playing Mary Jane Watson.
Sneider, if you remember, was the first to break the story that Sink was the frontrunner for Jean Grey in Marvel Studios' X-Men and admits to being surprised that Sink was announced for Spider-Man 4 instead of the mutant reboot, but says he heard from his sources last night that Sink will likely be playing Watson, not Jean Grey.
With Zendaya playing the MCU's Michelle Jones-Watson, it will definitely be a surprise for fans to hear that a second MJ could soon be introduced, but considering that the film will be set inbetween the events of the multiversal blockbusters Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, there's a very good possibility Sink will be playing some variant of the web-slinger's most iconic love interest.
Following the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, it's been long expected that Zendaya and much of the original cast would take a bit of a backseat in the upcoming Spidey sequel for story reasons, as well as Zendaya's other film/tv commitments, so we've known for quite some time that a new leading lady would likely co-star with Holland, although many were expecting the film to introduce Black Cat, rather than a new Mary Jane.
Additionally, Sneider notes that, if Sony were to include Jean Grey (or any X-Men character) in Spider-Man 4, the studio would have to give a co-producer credit to Lauren Shuler Donner, which the studio presumably doesn't want to do.
He does say one, possibly two, big MCU characters are still expected to appear in the film, but he's not yet sure who they could be. Previously, Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans starred in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders were in Spider-Man: Far From Home, and then, of course, Benedict Cumberbatch and Benedict Wong featured in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
He also adds that some of the names he's reported on recently, like Julia Butters and Harris Dickinson, while he's heard they're certainly in the mix for X-Men roles, are actors Marvel Studios likes overall, so, if another opportunity presents - similar to Sink and Spider-Man 4 - there's always a chance those actors could accept different roles, especially with X-Men in the very early stages of development and still without a director.
Spider-Man 4 is set to swing into theaters on July 31, 2026!