THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON — Episode 2088 — Pictured: Actress Sadie Sink during an … [+] interview on Thursday, January 30, 2025 — (Photo by: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images)
Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images
The cast of Spider-Man 4 is starting to come together, and with that, a new Deadline report seemingly confirming a recent rumor: Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink will join the MCU in a role in that movie.
Unsurprisingly, Marvel and Sony did not comment on the development. The Deadline story says that the “prevailing theory” is that she will be introduced as Jean Grey, a redheaded, massively powerful member of the X-Men, to which I say…come on.
While I know that Marvel is in fact looking to introduce the X-Men in a new phase, you are just not going to convince me that this well-known redheaded actress has been cast in a Spider-Man movie and she’s playing Jean Grey.
This is where things get messy, however. Without the first three films, Sink playing Mary Jane would be all but a guarantee but then there’s…whatever was going on with Zendaya. She played “Michelle Jones-Watson” for three films, which of course, abbreviates to MJ.
This remains a mess. Even after all three movies, there has still not confirmation one way or the other that Zendaya is supposed to be the “official” Mary Jane in the MCU, albeit with those initials and being a love interest to Peter. Different name, different look, and quite literally no one involved with this film, directors, writers or Zendaya herself has come out to say “yes Michelle Jones-Watson is literally the MCU’s MJ and there is no Mary Jane.”
It is possible that when Spider-Man: Homecoming started development in 2015 or so, a fully decade ago, it may have been the plan to morph her into a Mary Jane variant, albeit that was never said explicitly. But it’s now 2026, Michelle has forgotten Peter and he’s heading toward a new storyline. I would say it’s not impossible, if not likely that it’s been decided that Spider-Man 4 now needs the “real” Mary Jane, in addition to whoever else is cast (there has been a long-running rumor that Sydney Sweeney may join the film to play either Gwen Stacy or Felicia Hardy, which could create quite a love triangle either way).
Mary Jane
Marvel
Given that Spider-Man 4 is supposed to come out even before the next two Avengers movies, where the second one, Secret Wars, is supposed to introduce the X-Men in full, I do not buy the Jean Grey idea and Sink really does have to be Mary Jane. I cannot see another answer here.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
