In the buildup to Spider-Man: Brand New Day's release, reports indicated that Zendaya's MJ would have a greatly reduced role in the movie. While it's true that the character doesn't have quite as much screen time as she did in the previous films, Peter Parker's (former) love interest still has an integral part to play.
We catch up with these characters four years after the events of No Way Home, but after reading an early draft of the script, Zendaya was concerned that the young adult version of MJ had lost some of the quirkiness she had as a teenager.
“I remember reading a draft,” the Dune: Part Three star tells EW. “We wanted to mature the characters, obviously, but I remember when I read it, I was like she’s too, for lack of a better term, normal. I was like, ‘Where did all her weirdness go?’ We gotta do like an MJ pass of the script [to] weird it up a little bit and bring back some of those quirks.”
When the villainous "Mind-Hopper" targets MJ, Spider-Man convinces his old flame to accompany him to Frank Castle's booby-trapped hideout.
“There was a version where she was, not scared of him, but a little bit more, ‘Oh, this is where you live?’” Zendaya recalls. “I was like, no, MJ would be like, ‘This is how I would live.’ She’d be into him. She’d think he was really cool. So just things like that.”
Without getting into spoilers, MJ is involved in one of the movie's most memorable scenes, as a seemingly heartwarming moment with Peter soon becomes something much more sinister.
Brand New Day is the first MCU Spider-Man movie to be helmed by Destin Daniel Cretton, but going by the reception to this film and the latest box office estimates, it probably won't be the last.
“I remember my first meeting with him,” Zendaya says of Cretton taking over from Jon Watts. “He just let me vent to him about all the things I had been dreaming about for these characters, and he was so receptive. He got, again, such a clear vision and understanding of how to make this such a human story. I think he’s most interested in the Peter Parker part of Spider-Man, and I think that is what makes this movie probably the most intimate look at Peter Parker that we’ve ever seen. It’s so personal.”
Following the record-breaking success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Spider-Man: Brand New Day begins a brand new chapter for Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Four years have passed since the events of No Way Home, and Peter is now an adult and living alone after erasing himself and the memories of him from those he loves. In a New York that no longer knows his name, he has devoted himself wholeheartedly to protecting his city as Spider-Man full-time.
But as the demands on him grow, he is put under increasing pressure. This triggers an unexpected physical change that threatens his existence, while a strange wave of crime emerges - and gives rise to one of the most dangerous threats he has ever faced.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and written by Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers. The film is produced by Kevin Feige, Amy Pascal, Avi Arad and Rachel O'Connor. The cast includes Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Tramell Tillman, Michael Mando and Mark Ruffalo.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is set to hit theaters on July 31, 2026.