Spider-Man: Homecoming Special Reveals New Details About Zendaya’s Mysterious Role

Though Tom Holland already made his Marvel Studios debut in last year’s Captain America: Civil War, he’ll be swinging into theaters next month as the star of his own movie.


Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios are collaborating on Spider-Man: Homecoming, marking a new start for the character alongside mentor and Avenger Iron Man. Robert Downey Jr.’s presence in the movie isn’t the only major change in the film, as Homecoming is set to use a lot of different aspects from Spider lore that have yet to be seen in the movies.

Previous iterations have included the famous spider bite, the death of Uncle Ben, and love interests like Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson. This film won’t feature any of that, showing the character well after he’s received his powers and been inspired by his uncle’s tragic demise.

It will also feature the love interest Liz Allen, played by Laura Harrier, as well as new character Michelle, played by Zendaya. Fans speculated that Zendaya would be playing a new version of the character Michelle Gonzales or even an updated take on Mary Jane, but until recently we didn’t really know much about her character.

In the Disney Channel’s “A Fan’s Guide To Spider-Man: Homecoming,” Holland and Zendaya speak about the character’s role in the new film and her relationship to Peter Parker.

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“She is a sort of weird, dorky, kind of closed-off character,” Holland said. “But she seems to follow Peter and Ned [Leeds] around quite a lot.”

“She’s weird,” Zendaya added, “but she’s super cool to me because I feel like usually what she says is very real.”

“[Zendaya’s] really brought something very cool to that character, and something very interesting and unique,” Holland said.

Is the name “Michelle” just a red herring? Or are fans getting their hopes of hitting the jackpot up?

We’ll find out more when Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters July 7.

Are you excited for the Wall Crawler to get his first solo film in the MCU? Let us know with your vote in the Anticipation Rankings below!

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Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, young Peter Parker (Tom Holland) returns home to live with his Aunt May. Under the watchful eye of mentor Tony Stark, Parker starts to embrace his newfound identity as Spider-Man. He also tries to return to his normal daily routine — distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just a friendly neighborhood superhero. Peter must soon put his powers to the test when the evil Vulture emerges to threaten everything that he holds dear.

Spider-Man: Homecoming is directed by Jon Watts, from a screenplay by Jonathan M. Goldstein & John Francis Daley and Watts & Christopher Ford and Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers, and stars Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Jacob Batalon, Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori, Tyne Daly, Bokeem Woodbine, Marisa Tomei, and Robert Downey Jr.