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We obviously can’t know what was done behind the scenes (unless we all get really cool with breaking NDAs really quick), but when Zendaya was first cast, sources originally claimed that she was Mary Jane despite some initial discussion that she would be playing a character named Michelle.

There was swift and immediate racist backlash across every platform imaginable, to the point where Feige himself came out and said “she’s not playing Mary Jane and never was” despite… giving her the nickname MJ as a reveal (which was needlessly stupid and called out as such) and more tellingly, never giving her a last name. MCU MJ DID NOT have a last name until NWH— where she was double barreled Jones (the name FANDOM gave her)-Watson (the name of the legacy character she is clearly meant to be portraying).

In retrospective, people have claimed that it doesn’t really matter that she wasn’t called Mary Jane since with each movie release, she clearly is meant to embody the role of MJ in the MCU but just like now people like to play revisionist history and pretend that MCU Peter’s arc as a “home trilogy serving as an origin,” it’s bullshit! It’s not true!! MCU Peter wasn’t meant to have this three-movie defined arc that went from Avengers-wanna be in Civl War to “comic-aligned” Spider-Man at the end of No Way Home!! They made that shit up as they went along!!! In HOCO, they were very clear that the goal was to skip the origin because everyone knew it… only to eventually backtrack and correct the missteps they made along the way by the end of the trilogy.

In the same way, it is so abundantly obvious that Zendaya was cast to play this “updated” character— who is definitely Mary Jane, jk she’s named Michelle but still has the MJ nickname— and any attempt to make her be like Mary Jane Watson in any way dialed back because 1) of the virulent racist backlash and 2) despite stans not wanting to believe it, Zendaya being a newcomer/nobody to the general public. In 2016, Zendaya was a Disney girl whose years of being on tv meant jackshit to the average movie goer.

In 2026, Zendaya is an internationally known (and fairly beloved) actor that heralds back to a time of celebrity that just doesn’t exist anymore— much LESS the very real social and financial benefit of MCU Spider-Man being a MULTI-BILLION dollar successful franchise (and now being presumably married to Tom Holland, who also plays the titular character). You couldn’t make that kind of social celebrity capital in a lab! Of COURSE they (being Marvel) would and do lean into her being unequivocally MJ now when it financially suits them!

tl;dr they absolutely changed the character— whether in part or in full— because of racist backlash. Marvel has consistently changed their narrative to whatever suits them and fans like yourself, through no fault of your own, generally aren’t aware of this because of their constant shifting messages.

But EYE remember and I will never let them forget!!! Change is good, I am a big proponent of changing minds, attitudes, and action!!!! What I LOATHE is revisionist history and Marvel is excellent at doing just that.

“Maybe that’s my responsibility, to live alone with the truth” MY SHAYLA !!

Against All Odds

A piece inspired by the Spider-Man BND trailer and the song “Against All Odds” by Phil Collins.

ALSO! Available as a print!

https://x.com/peterfemmejay/status/2034360652672700459?s=46

cheating trope is so good but only if it's the couple i'm rooting for <3