Spider-Man: No Way Home Star Zendaya Breaks Down MJ's Role Reversal in New Film

By Adam Barnhardt

Michelle Jones (Zendaya) has been a fixture in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for three Spider-Man films, and it was the latest that gave her a comic-accurate name. It's in Spider-Man: No Way Home fans find out her full name is actually Michelle Jones-Watson, a somewhat accurate comparison to Mary Jane Watson, arguably one of the most famous supporting characters in Marvel's Spider-Man lore. No Way Home also happened to be the one Spider-Man movie that featured the character most, a move Zendaya said was much needed due to the story at hand.

"Peter helps to melt MJ a little bit, and break the shell that she's had to build in order to protect herself from the world," Zendaya told Marvel.com in a recent chat. "She doesn't have many people she feels that she can trust and rely on, and Peter has now become one of those people. And she doesn't want to lose him."

Despite that chiseled exterior the character props up, Zendaya went on to insist her character earnestly doesn't want to lose hold of Tom Holland's Peter Parker.

"She doesn't want to lose this person that really has allowed her to feel more and more like herself, and more and more confident in who she is, and loves her exactly for all the quirks and things that make her who she is," the actor added. "Because he's going through so much, she now takes on his positivity that maybe he's losing a little bit. He takes on a more negative nihilistic outlook."

Zendaya's MCU future has yet to be unseen. The latest reports suggest Marvel Studios and Sony are working on bringing Holland and his supporting characters back, so it stands to reason Zendaya will return in at least one more movie.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is now in theaters.

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