Zendaya's MJ Will Be Just as Weird In 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day'

Marvel Studios teased that Spider-Man: Brand New Day will keep Zendaya's MJ as weird and quirky as she has been over the last decade. Zendaya delivered a fresh take on the MJ character in the original Spider-Man trilogy, embodying Michelle Jones-Watson rather than Peter Parker's classic love interest, Mary-Jane Watson. 

Sony Pictures shared a new clip from Spider-Man: Brand New Day at its CinemaCon 2026 presentation in April 2026, ahead of the film's release on July 31. This clip reunited Tom Holland's Peter Parker with Jacob Batalon's Ned Leeds and Zendaya's MJ in an extended version of the final moment from Brand New Day's first trailer.

After Peter sees Ned's investigative board looking into Spider-Man's true identity and talks about it with him, MJ comes up and comments on how crowded her apartment is, which she shares with Ned. As Ned and Peter discuss who Spider-Man could be, MJ says that out of the people in their apartment, "statistically speaking, at least two of them are sociopaths:"

Ned: "Oh, I see you stumbled across my board. I’m not one of those weirdos, I swear. He actually saved me and my friends’ lives a few times in high school."

Peter: "Oh, cool."

Ned: "Yeah, yeah. Ever since I’ve been trying to figure out who he is. Not to unmask him to the world or anything. Just to know, you know? And to hopefully thank him face-to-face. I actually created this app that logs his sightings."

Peter: "Wait, you created Spidey-Tracker?"

Ned: "You've heard of it! Nice. Ooh, the shadow of him right there, haha. Now, we know he's definitely from Queens. Not the biggest revelation, but I have been able to narrow him down to two prime suspects… (shows Peter the suspects) Yeah, if you knew who they were, we wouldn't really blew your mind."

Peter: "I'm sure…"

Ned: "Ned, by the way."

Peter: "Oh, I'm…"

MJ: "God, there’s like 50 people in our apartment. Statistically speaking, at least two of them are sociopaths, which is kinda cool. Nice flowers." 

The rest of the clip expands on what was seen in Brand New Day's first trailer, as MJ describes the flowers Peter brings as a "housewarming gift" before calling him a "friendly neighbor," inadvertently referencing the "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" phrase often used for the character:

Peter: "Oh, they're a housewarming gift."

MJ: "Really?"

Peter: "Yeah."

MJ: "Oh, okay… Haha, most people just brought beer and chips. Very nice. I'm MJ."

Peter: "I'm uh… Maynard. Maynard…"

Ned: "Oh… You two don't know each other?"

Peter: "I'm just a neighbor from across the hall."

MJ: "Friendly neighbor."

Peter: (coughs)

Ned: "So, how was the interview?"

MJ: "I'm gonna go get some water. It was nice to meet you, Maynard… Nerd. Maynard! Yeah!"

This clip is just one indication that MJ will continue to embrace the weirder personality she often showed off in the original Spider-Man trilogy. This started as early as 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming, in which her first line of the movie was telling Peter and Ned, "You guys are losers." 

She also jokes about wanting to "hoping to get in some light protesting in front of one of the embassies before dinner" before boarding the bus for the Academic Decathlon's trip to Washington, DC. Later, when she crashes detention with Peter, she tells Coach Wilson that she just likes "coming here to sketch people in crisis," then chuckles and shows off her art.

While she is slightly less sarcastic and jokey in 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home, one of MJ's funnier moments comes when she notes that the Italian word "Boh" was "the most perfect word in the world" and that she "discovered it." This trend continues into 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home, as MJ says she "[knows] a couple of magic words" to Doctor Strange, "starting with the word 'Please'" when he tells her, Peter, and Ned to "Scooby-Doo this s***."

This is different from how Mary-Jane Watson typically acts in Marvel Comics, which was more accurately represented by Kirsten Dunst's portrayal in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy. The character is known to be an empathetic and understanding person, handling emotional trauma from an abusive household by being extroverted with others, which was especially useful as she pursued a career in acting.

While Zendaya's MJ gradually opens up more over her MCU trilogy and builds friendships with Ned and Peter, she is naturally more introverted and keeps to herself. Her relationship with Peter helped her become more open to people, a quality that seems to continue in Brand New Day.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day stars Tom Holland, Jacob Batalon, Mark Ruffalo, Jon Bernthal, and Michael Mando and will pick up with Peter Parker after Doctor Strange's spell forced the world to forget about his existence, as he continues operating as Spider-Man and faces a new round of terrifying antagonists. 

What To Expect From Zendaya's MJ in Spider-Man: Brand New Day

While reports have been inconsistent about the size of Zendaya's role in Brand New Day, she will at least play an important part in Peter Parker's continuing journey in New York City. The movie's first trailer teased multiple moments between them, including one in which MJ watches Spider-Man receive the key to the city on TV and another in which they share an intimate moment around scaffolding on the side of a building at night.

It will be interesting to see if the film ends with Peter finally reading the note he wrote for MJ at the end of No Way Home, in which he tells her that he is Spider-Man. This was teased throughout the first part of the Brand New Day trailer, and it is expected to be one of the hero's key subplots as he works to protect the city.

It seems as though Peter and MJ will find their way back into each other's lives at some point, based on her interaction with him in their second introduction at her and Ned's apartment. Whether this means they will get back together is still unknown, but the story may set up that development with the right circumstances as Spider-Man pushes forward into a potential new trilogy.