I enjoyed
Michelle in Spider-Man: Homecoming,
but while she stole every scene she was in, she really wasn’t in it much, and
if it weren’t for the fact that she was played by Zendaya, it probably could’ve
been assumed that she was just a memorable side character. However, her line at
the end of the film – “my friends call me MJ” – confirmed fan speculation and
all but guaranteed a larger role for her in Far
From Home (a few Far from Home
spoilers.)
We’ll
back up quick and talk a little about what makes her so fun in Homecoming. MJ isn’t really on Peter’s
radar at this point, since he only has eyes for Liz, but she regularly pops up
at unexpected moments, invariably delivering a couple of great lines. I like
that she randomly hangs out in detention (despite not having detention herself)
because she “[likes] drawing people in crisis,” and I love that she’s the only
kid who doesn’t tour the Washington Monument when the Academic Decathalon team
goes to D.C. because she doesn’t want to celebrate something that was built by
slaves. Throughout the movie, lots of little moments add up to give her a
glimpse of who she is: someone frank, someone deadpan, someone observant, and
someone a little bit dark.
When Far from Home comes along, though, and
MJ and Peter are both part of a school trip to Europe (even apart from the
whole superpowers thing, Peter Parker’s high school experience is very different than mine,) she gets the
chance to be more of a character. We learn that she takes interest in morbid
things (her favorite flower is the black dahlia “because of the murders,”) she
doesn’t really go in for playing games of the teen-drama variety (Peter and
Brad may be fighting over her, but MJ herself isn’t into that,) and she
projects a self-confidence that’s at least a little bit put on (her trademark
frankness gets self-conscious when it comes to admitting her feelings for
Peter, and she hedges.)
Not to
mention, she doesn’t miss a trick. As Peter works up the courage to tell her
that he likes her, she assumes he’s going to tell her his other secret, the one she’s already (mostly) figured out: the fact
that he’s Spider-Man. Maybe MJ initially started watching Peter because she had
a crush on him, but the things she saw while doing that led her to a correct
supposition, and while she wasn’t convinced, she was sure enough to say it out
loud to him. That takes a gift for observation, some good deduction skills, and
the ballsiness to actually run with what probably seemed at first like a
ludicrous theory.
Later in
the film, MJ and some of Peter’s other classmates are put in danger by
Mysterio, and she holds her own well. No, she’s not a superhero and she doesn’t
have any combat training, but she keeps her head and does what she needs to to
help keep her and her friends alive. I like that, when she’s in danger,
Spider-Man doesn’t have to come at rescue her. Instead, it’s a team effort by
the whole group, in which she takes an active part. “Superhero’s girlfriend”
can be a dangerous occupation, so it’s good to see that MJ is ready for it.
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