Zendaya is rumored to come back as MJ in the upcoming Spider-Man 4, and the actress’ MCU return could bring an unexpected twist to her character.

Zendaya’s MJ could make her return in Spider-Man 4 with a twist, portraying a Spider-Man-like hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. MJ has been a fixture of the MCU’s Spider-Man movies, appearing in all three entries of Tom Holland’s Marvel franchise. Despite the character’s importance, it seemed like Spider-Man: No Way Home had closed the door on Zendaya playing MJ in Spider-Man 4. In the movie’s ending, MJ and the rest of the world forget who Peter Parker was due to Doctor Strange’s spell, and Holland’s character decides not to tell her the truth in order to protect her.

While it would make sense for MJ not to show up as part of Spider-Man 4‘s cast, as it would allow the MCU to introduce other supporting characters from Spider-Man’s rich comic book history, the character might be coming back to the MCU after all. According to a new rumor, Zendaya will be back as MJ in Spider-Man 4. The rumor also points to the next Spider-Man movie being further along than expected, with a possible filming start of September-October 2025. To break new ground, Zendaya’s MJ return could take note of an exciting MCU trend.

Zendaya’s MJ Was Considered To Be A Superhero In The MCU

The Actress Has Said What She Thinks About That

Zendaya’s MJ has seen her role increase with every Spider-Man movie. The character has become the main love interest of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, discovered his double life as Spider-Man, and even helped the wall-crawler deal with a series of risky situations. However, MJ has yet to level the playing field and help Peter Parker as another MCU superhero. While some might think that would not make much sense, as the comics’ Mary Jane Watson — who serves as partial inspiration for the MCU’s MJ — is not known for having powers, that option was already considered for the MCU.

Talking to OK in 2021 to promote Spider-Man: No Way Home, Zendaya and Holland revealed that at one point, MJ was considered to suit up as a superhero in the MCU’s Spider-Man movies. Zendaya was first asked if she had tried to get her character to become a superhero, which the actress denied, saying, “No, no, no.” That is when Holland made the interesting reveal that the filmmakers behind the MCU’s Spider-Man franchise “were trying for a while” to make MJ become a superhero.

Despite the attempts by creatives to make Zendaya’s MJ a hero, the actress herself revealed that she does not see that path as the one for her. Zendaya said that she was happy to “leave the superheroing” to Holland’s Spider-Man as she was fine with MJ having a different kind of role in the franchise. According to the actress, she likes being part of a team — with Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds and Holland’s Peter Parker — and does not need to have MJ venture out into super-heroics on her own. However, that possible path would follow an MCU trend.

Zendaya’s MJ Would Not Be The MCU’s First Love Interest Turned Superhero

The List Includes Fan-Favorite Heroes

Since her 2021 comments, Zendaya could have changed her mind on playing a Spider-Man-like hero in the MCU. If that were to happen, the actress would continue a trend in the franchise as one of the multiple love interests that ended up becoming an MCU superhero in their own right. One of the biggest recent cases of the trend was when Natalie Portman returned to the MCU as Jane Foster after a long nine-year absence. In 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder, Jane reconnects with Mjölnir — Thor’s hammer — to be imbued with its powers and become the Mighty Thor.

Part of the MCU’s first movie — 2008’s Iron Man — Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts has become one of the MCU’s most loved characters due to her being an impressive character on her own and making an even better duo with Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark. After many years, the MCU decided to take that partnership between the two a step beyond. In 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, Pepper donned her own suit of armor to become the MCU’s Rescue — like she did in the comics — and assisted Iron Man and the rest of the Avengers in the movie’s final battle.

Other popular MCU love interests-turned-superheroes include Evangeline Lilly’s Hope van Dyne and Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter. At the end of the first Ant-Man, Hope received her Wasp costume, then suited up in a series of MCU movies and co-headlined the two subsequent entries in Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man trilogy. After a poignant role in Marvel’s Captain America franchise, Peggy Carter has become one of the Multiverse Saga’s most important heroes, appearing as Captain Carter variants in both live-action and animation. Zendaya’s MJ becoming a superhero and helping Spider-Man would continue the trend that led to beloved MCU heroes.

Zendaya’s MJ Could Take Emma Stone’s Requested Role As Spider-Woman

Fans Want Emma Stone To Return As Spider-Gwen

Zendaya’s MJ is the third main love interest in Spider-Man movie franchises. Before her, Kirsten Dunst gave life to Mary Jane Watson opposite Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker in director Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, with Emma Stone having played Gwen Stacy in two The Amazing Spider-Man movies alongside Andrew Garfield’s Peter. With Garfield’s return as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home having been one of the most talked about aspects of the movie, Marvel fans have started to request that The Amazing Spider-Man 3 be made and Stone to return as Spider-Gwen.

In the comics and other popular media, like the animated Spider-Verse movie franchise, a version of Gwen Stacy gets bit by the radioactive spider instead of Peter Parker and develops Spider-Man-like powers, becoming known as Ghost-Spider, Spider-Woman, and popularly to fans as Spider-Gwen. While getting Stone back as Spider-Gwen could be hard, Zendaya’s MJ could potentially take over that role to give fans a taste of what they have been asking for. Keeping up with the actress’ previous comments, a multiverse version of MJ that is Spider-Woman could help Holland’s Spider-Man, allowing the MCU’s MJ to remain a regular human.

MJ Recently Became A Superhero In The Comics

Jackpot’s Powers Would Be Interesting In Live-Action

In August 2023, Mary Jane Watson officially became a superhero in Marvel Comics, and since Zendaya’s MJ is partly inspired by the character — and the MCU has a level of synergy with the comics — that change could be carried over to the Spider-Man movies. In the comics, Mary Jane has started going by the superhero name Jackpot. After MJ and her boyfriend Paul crafted a bracelet that allowed her to have pretty much every superpower at her disposal, but not being able to choose between them as it worked like a slot machine, MJ has been growing her superhero career.

As Jackpot, Zendaya’s MJ could become a superhero in the main MCU continuity. The character would not need to come from the multiverse, and given how smart MJ and Ned are, the duo could conceivably come up with the Power Slots bracelet that Mary Jane and Paul devised in the comics. This way, Zendaya’s MJ could get her own dedicated superhero storyline in Spider-Man 4 that could put her back in the path of Holland’s Peter Parker without necessarily remembering who he is in Spider-Man 4.