Earlier this week, the news broke that Sadie Sink has joined the cast of Marvel Studios' Spider-Man 4. Despite initial reports about the Stranger Things star suiting up as Jean Grey, we've since heard she's playing Mary Jane Watson.
Spider-Man: Homecoming introduced Zendaya's MJ, with Spider-Man: No Way Home revealing that her full name is Michelle Jones Watson. Throwing the "real" MJ into the mix is an intriguing decision and one that's drawn a mixed response from fans.
Taking to Instagram, Sink has broken her silence on her reported casting by sharing an X post from a fan who jokingly suggested that she'll play Spider-Man 4's Uncle Ben.
You shouldn't need us to tell you that Sink is kidding but it seems highly doubtful she would comment on the news in any way unless she has actually boarded the long-awaited movie.
Spider-Man 4 will be released between Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, with the prevailing theory being that it's going to be set on Battleworld. If so, it might explain how and why Earth-616's Peter Parker will cross paths with Mary Jane.
During a recent interview, longtime Spider-Man franchise producer Amy Pascal said, "We're starting shooting the next Spider-Man movie with Destin Daniel Cretton. He's a wonderful director. I love Just Mercy, I love Short Term 12, I love Shang-Chi. I think he did a wonderful job."
When it was put to her that No Way Home felt like the perfect send-off for the web-slinger, Pascal responded, "Well, we have to deal with the fact that he decided he was going to give up being Peter Parker."
"And he was going to focus on being Spider-Man because being Peter Parker was too hard," she teased. "That's what the movie is about."
The implication is that we'll pick up with a Spider-Man who has put Peter to one side, not dissimilar to what Andrew Garfield's Amazing Spider-Man did after Gwen Stacy's death. In the case of the MCU's Spidey, it's a little more literal after Doctor Strange's spell made everyone forget he exists.
"I read it three weeks ago and it really lit a fire in me," Holland has said of Spider-Man 4's script. "Zendaya and I sat down and read it together and we at times were like bouncing around the living room."
"Like this is a real movie worthy of the fans’ respect, but there [are] a few things we need to figure out before we can get that really going. But it’s exciting and I’m really, really excited about it."
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.
[UPDATE: After the post above went viral, there's speculation on social media that the screenshot has been faked; unfortunately, as Instagram Stories disappear after 24 hours, there's no longer any way of checking, though Screen Rant appears to have seen it. Either way, we'll have more on Sink's casting for you later today]