Zendaya Doesn’t Care If People Are Pissed Off That She’s Playing Mary Jane Watson
Zendaya was cast as Mary Jane Watson in the eight-millionth Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and the Mary Jane Watson of the comic books is a redheaded white girl. The Mary Jane Watson of the first set of Spider-Man movies, played by Kirsten Dunst, was a redheaded white girl. They tried to work a redheaded white girl Mary Jane into the second of Spider-Man movie starring Andrew Garfield by putting Shailene Woodley in a red wig (her scenes were later cut). Die-hard superhero fans don’t exactly adapt very well when you try to change their things, so of course they lost their damn minds when Zendaya – not a redheaded white girl – was cast as Mary Jane opposite Tom Holland. Zendaya doesn’t care.
Zendaya said this to The Hollywood Reporter:
“People are going to react over anything. But nothing [about who she is playing] is fact. It’s like, you guys are just making shit up at this point and then reacting to it…But of course there’s going to be outrage over that because for some reason some people just aren’t ready. I’m like, I don’t know what America you live in, but from what I see when I walk outside my streets of New York right now, I see lots of diversity and I see the real world and it’s beautiful, and that’s what should be reflected and that’s what is reflected so you’re just going to have to get over it.”
Of all the things to be continuity-obsessed with, those Spider-Man fans picked what Mary Jane Watson looks like. I’m all for redhead representation, but at some point they’ve just got to sit back, close their eyes, and realize they’re getting upset over the hair color and skin shade of Peter Parker’s girlfriend. You don’t need to reach for realism that hard! If they’re that serious about Spider-Man being ex-act-ly like the comic book, then they’ve also got to accept the possibility of their precious Spider-Man killing his own franchise by rolling up in that truly-dorky Spider-Mobile.
I’d take a whole movie of Zendaya as Spider-Man, Aunt May, AND The Vulture before I’d take that stupid vinyl-wrapped dune buggy. Here’s more of the next Mary Jane Watson and Peter Parker looking like two kids who snuck into the Antique Photo Emporium at Magic Mountain for The Hollywood Reporter.
Pics: David Needleman/The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel