Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s script already teased what MJ’s return in Spider-Man 4 could look like for the MCU. The ending of Spider-Man: No Way Home was a major twist for both the Marvel hero himself and for the MCU timeline, resetting the universe so nobody remembers Peter Parker is Spider-Man, and setting the hero off on his own. This included both Peter’s girlfriend MJ and his best friend Ned losing their memories of him, with Spider-Man promising to remind them of who he was afterward – something Parker did not do, choosing to let them live safer lives without him.
However, it’s unlikely that marks the end for this storyline, not least because Zendaya’s MJ looks set to return in Spider-Man 4 based on reports about her and Tom Holland being in touch with executives and producers about the development of the upcoming Marvel movie. With this in mind, the point that No Way Home last left MJ is all the more interesting, since this plotline will be immediately followed up on in the next installment. This is doubly true since Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s script more directly teases how the follow-up movie may approach this unusual dynamic.
Spider-Man: No Way Home’s MJ Ending Script Teases Her Future Dynamic With Peter In Spider-Man 4
Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Script Makes Spider-Man 4 All The More Interesting
In one of the final scenes of Spider-Man: No Way Home – where Peter leaves Ned and MJ without trying to restore their lost memories – the script ends with the line: “HOLD ON MJ, watching Peter go with a lingering sense of… recognition?” This moment is likely exacerbated by the conversation the pair have prior, where Peter is able to finish one of MJ’s sayings about disappointment for her, which sees her with a “flicker of déjà vu on her face“, clearly taken off guard by a seeming stranger’s ability to basically quote her.
With MJ seemingly set to return in the story of Spider-Man 4, this particular script note is especially pertinent, as the “lingering sense of recognition” that MJ experiences suggests that while the memory spell has worked, simply removing MJ’s memories isn’t the same as removing all of her experiences with Spider-Man entirely. With this in mind, any interactions between the two in Spider-Man 4 are likely to lean into the idea that MJ has the sense that something is familiar about Peter, but doesn’t know what exactly, reinforcing the idea of them being the endgame MCU Spider-Man romance.
This approach is far more interesting than simply having MJ forget Peter entirely, as it keeps open the potential that MJ or Ned will be able to remember their time with Spider-Man later down the line, with the intertwined natures of their lives and Peter’s potentially making aspects of the spell easier to undo. Considering Ned showed latent magical abilities in Spider-Man: No Way Home, nothing is strictly off the table in this regard, though obviously any turning back of their memories would need major justifications due to how it would dampen the impact of No Way Home‘s big finale.
Spider-Man 4 Is Right To Bring MJ Back For Its Story
MJ’s Return Can Make Spider-Man 4 Even Better
The ending of Spider-Man: No Way Home built up the idea that Spider-Man 4 would give Peter Parker a fresh slate from which he could operate as the type of friendly neighborhood Spider-Man that is conventionally depicted in comics. However, totally separating Peter from his past in this way does risk undermining the actual impact of his experiences in No Way Home and his sacrifice within the movie, as simply showing that Spider-Man is sad about his prior experiences isn’t quite the same as providing a more tangible connection to these events.
As such, having MJ appear in Spider-Man 4 not only makes sense, but also can ensure that Peter still choosing to be a superhero feels all the more meaningful, since the story can underline what being the web-slinger has already cost him even if it focuses on more traditional Spider-Man adventures. Similarly, keeping MJ around also keeps a certain level of suspense in the movie no matter what capacity the character appears in, since it keeps the possibility that either Peter will share his secrets with her, or that other circumstances will allow her to regain her memories.
Spider-Man 4 Is The Perfect Place To Counter The MCU’s Relationship Trend
Even Teasing MJ & Spider-Man’s Romantic Reunion Would Set A Great Precedent
The MCU has a remarkable trend of creating doomed romances, with most of its main heroes – including Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Thor, and now Spider-Man – experiencing a relationship with a tragic ending. While this makes a kind of sense for a franchise wherein stories cannot remain stagnant, and where characters have a good chance of dying at some point in the timeline, it also does limit the MCU on some levels, since audiences at this stage arguably to some degree expect no relationship in the franchise to last.
Letting Spider-Man take a leaf out of Steve Rogers’ metaphorical MCU book and letting his main Marvel romance go from seemingly doomed to restored thus may be the best way to approach things in terms of both keeping audiences on their toes, and helping to combat the idea that the franchise’s pairings are by and large practically cursed. With the MCU’s Spider-Man and MJ having a particularly endearing chemistry – and the characters being some of the youngest central figures in the franchise – bringing them back together would also add a longevity to their romance that could benefit the overall MCU.
While Spider-Man 4 ideally would be the place the MCU explores Peter Parker as a solitary hero more than ever before, this doesn’t mean it has to cement this as a permanent fixture of his life. Spider-Man’s decision to not bring his secret identity back into MJ and Ned’s lives is born out of the trio’s remarkable bonds, and playing on these bonds by letting at least Peter and MJ cross paths once more – and teasing that the future may well bring them together again – feels like something straight out of the comics in a good way.
