Skip to footer

Is Zendaya taking on this legendary role in 'Spider-Man: Homecoming'?

Reports may have revealed the character Zendaya will portray in the upcoming 'Spider-Man' film. The movie will co-star Tom Holland, Marisa Tomei, and Michael Keaton.

|
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
Zendaya arrives at the 2016 Kids' Choice Sports Awards in Los Angeles.

Actress Zendaya will reportedly be portraying a famous “Spider-Man” character in the upcoming film “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” 

According to TheWrap, “Shake It Up!” actress Zendaya is set to take on the role of Mary Jane Watson, a part previously played by actress Kirsten Dunst in the original “Spider-Man” film series with Tobey Maguire. Mary Jane is famously the love interest of Peter Parker, also known as Spider-Man. 

“Homecoming,” which will be released in the summer of 2017, is the newest film take on the web-slinger. In addition to the three movies in which Mr. Maguire and Ms. Dunst starred, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone starred in the 2012 movie “The Amazing Spider-Man” and 2014’s “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” though Ms. Stone played “Spider-Man” character Gwen Stacy rather than Mary Jane Watson. 

The actor portraying Spider-Man in “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” Tom Holland, was introduced to screen audiences in this year’s Marvel film “Captain America: Civil War” and was largely positively received.

The last “Spider-Man” film series featuring Mary Jane Watson became very financially successful, with the first film, 2002’s “Spider-Man,” becoming one of the highest-grossing films of the year, and the others succeeding financially, as well. 

In these movies, MJ is often threatened by the villain of the day; the highly-praised “Spider-Man 2,” for example, ends with the villainous Doc Ock taking her captive. 

Yet some critics praised Ms. Dunst’s portrayal of the character as going beyond a one-dimensional young woman in peril. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that Mary Jane is “a comic book character who’s no cartoon, but a sharp and talented young woman.”

Meanwhile, Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote that, “The action climax, which could have ended the picture in a routine way, is followed by a satisfying emotional exchange between Peter and Mary Jane … Dunst gets more screentime than before and fleshes out the damsel-in-distress aspects of her part with a nice portrait of a young woman trying to figure out where her future lies.” 

Dunst "remains convincingly human all throughout the campy franchise as the sweet yet complex girl next door," Paste Magazine writer David Roark wrote of her performance in the series. 

If Zendaya is indeed playing Mary Jane, we'll see when "Homecoming" arrives in theaters how the new movies portray the famous character.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Is Zendaya taking on this legendary role in 'Spider-Man: Homecoming'?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Movies/2016/0819/Is-Zendaya-taking-on-this-legendary-role-in-Spider-Man-Homecoming
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe