The Spider-Man: Homecoming casting has been cause for tons of speculation recently, and a recent report about Zendaya’s role is adding fuel to the fire.
We learned back in March that Zendaya would be joining the Spider-Man reboot, but it was reported that although she’d be starring opposite Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, her character’s name would be Michelle, not Mary Jane or Gwen.
We knew this would be an important role for the 19-year-old actress because it will be her biggest project to date. She’s been on television in shows such as K.C. Undercover, Shake It Up!, and the TV movie Zapped, but nothing as big as the Sony/Marvel collaboration happening for Homecoming.
A new report from The Wrap, however, shows that this film could be even bigger for Zendaya than we first thought.
If you don’t want to know who she’ll be portraying, now is the time to turn away.
Writes the website, “Zendaya will be playing long-time Spider-Man love interest Mary Jane Watson,” stating that “two individuals with knowledge of the project” told them of the news.
“At least one recent draft of the script has Zendaya’s character dropping several clues to her identity as Mary Jane,” The Wrap continues. Sony declined to comment, whereas Marvel and Zendaya’s representatives have not yet responded to the report.
Films, and especially high profile superhero blockbusters, often use fake names for important characters in order to maintain as much secrecy as possible. Mary Jane Watson is an iconic character in the Spider-Man universe, so it’s no wonder they were trying to keep her under wraps for as long as possible.
With the addition of the character’s actual name to the script, either Sony are ready to start spreading the news that Zendaya is playing MJ, or the wrong people were trusted with that version of the script.