Zendaya is rocking red hair and fans think it has something to do with her ‘Spider-Man’ character
Zendaya debuted red hair during the “Spider-Man: Far From Home” press tour.
She also paid homage to the character Mary Jane Watson in a caption of her new look.
Fans were excited.
But that doesn’t mean she’s the new Mary Jane.
During a stop in London Monday for the “Spider-Man: Far From Home” press tour, Zendaya debuted a new look that has Marvel fans very excited. The actress, who plays a character named Michelle Jones in the upcoming film, colored her hair a familiar shade of red seemingly to pay homage to Peter Parker’s friend and love interest in the comic books and earlier movies, Mary Jane Watson.
Sharing multiple angles of the new look on Twitter and Instagram, Zendaya used the caption to quote the first three words of an iconic line from Mary Jane’s first full appearance in “The Amazing Spider-Man #42” (November 1966): “Face it Tiger … You just hit the jackpot!”
Fans couldn’t get enough of her new look, causing many, of course, to compare her to Mary Jane Watson and identify the iconic quote.
MARY JANE WATSON CAME FOR ALL OF OUR NECKS
— zaheem (@tomsmarvel) June 18, 2019
zendaya doing the ffh press tour with red comic book mary jane hair
— caleb ⍟ (@spideysheroes) June 17, 2019
THATS OUR MARY JANE I CANT BREATHE ZENDAYA REALLY DID THAT
— ✨Maria| READY FOR FFH✨ (@quacksonqueen) June 18, 2019
Back in 2016 when Zendaya was cast in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” there was much speculation as to who she would play. Two popular fan theories were that she was either Mary Jane or Gwen Stacy, another Peter Parker love interest who, in an alternate reality, later became Spider-Gwen (seen recently in “Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse”).
At the end of “Homecoming,” Zendaya’s character revealed that her friends call her “MJ.” For some, that felt like confirmation that Michelle Jones was at least a spiritual successor to the Mary Jane of the comics and previous film adaptations. That seemed to hint at similar character arcs in future films, including a romantic relationship with Peter. But in 2017, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige once again shot down this speculation.
“In setting up this will be a very different thing, she’s not Mary Jane Watson, that’s not who the character is,” Feige told Den of Geek, “but giving her the initials that remind you of that dynamic certainly is intriguing about what could go forward.”
In case that wasn’t enough, Feige said it louder for the people in the back in a separate interview with IGN:
“She’s not Mary Jane Watson. She never was Mary Jane Watson. She was always this new high school character, Michelle, who we know there’s an ‘M’ in Michelle and an ‘M’ in Mary. [laughs] So we’re so clever and we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be neat if her initials were MJ?’ And then I think it leaked that she would be playing MJ and then it became a whole headache for Zendaya to have to navigate. It was never a big, ‘Oh my God, it’s a big reveal!’ There are big reveals in the movie. That’s not one of them.”
So there you have it. While she may not be the original MJ, Zendaya is 100% an MJ who seems to respect the legacy of the initials, judging by her recent post.
