Tom Holland has stirred up a storm among Spidey fans with the recent news that Spider-Man 4 is in the works. Even though it's only in the very early stages and nothing is totally confirmed, fans are already speculating about the movie's plot. But, unfortunately, a lot of people think a fan-favorite Spidey girlfriend might be benched for this round.
One of the most beloved parts of Spider-Man is his love life, and having a strong female supporting character behind Peter Parker is nothing new. Since the Marvel Cinematic Universe has an extremely complex web of multiverses, there are different iterations of this relationship. One of the most recent examples is the romantic tension-filled, complicated friendship between Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen in the Spider-Verse films. But perhaps the most relevant relationship is that of Peter Parker and Michelle Jones-Watson (MJ), played by real-life lovebirds Tom Holland and Zendaya, respectively. There's no questioning that fans enjoy their romantic storyline, but some circumstances are getting in the way of a return.
MJ's Fate in Spider-Man 4 Is Uncertain
Spider-Man: No Way Home was chaotic, to say the least, and a great way to explain the chaos is that someone ripped a hole into the time-space continuum and allowed a bunch of figures from Spidey history to fall into Earth-199999 (or Eath-616) with Holland's Peter Parker. This includes a lot of villains like Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin and the awesome surprise appearances of both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's versions of Peter Parker.
Unfortunately, after this multiverse rift, Peter makes a big sacrifice that results in everyone losing any memory of who he is. The spell cast zapped any memory of Peter Parker away, and the people closest to him forgot about him. As a result, many people don't think MJ should be in Spider-Man 4 because she doesn't remember who he is. This would likely involve having Peter Parker stay out of her life and let her move on by herself while she's away at college.
Excluding MJ from Spider-Man 4 Is a Major Disservice
Keeping MJ out of the next Spider-Man would be a great disservice to the character, Peter Parker's story, and most of all, the fans. For starters, it's important to remember that Zendaya is an absolute icon. Not only does she bring in so many more audience members, but her recognizable career helps audience members connect to the story better. Zendaya being in the movie may attract people that aren't really Spider-Man fans but choose to support her and maybe leave a Spidey fan afterward.
While it's understandable to have MJ sit Spider-Man 4 out due to her memories being gone, there have been theories since the release of No Way Home that suggest that MJ is already remembering Peter Parker. Even if that's not the case, her lack of memories doesn't completely destroy the opportunity for Peter to be in her life. This would provide a more compelling story for Peter, as he'll have to either attempt to rekindle their spark or deal with her moving on. It certainly wouldn't hurt to spotlight the teenage angst and heartache that Peter faces beyond the web-slinging Spidey mask.
Peter Parker is almost always a very unlucky character. In just about every iteration of Spider-Man, Peter tragically loses his family and girlfriend. But, Zendaya's MJ is still alive and well. Considering there's plenty of reason to suggest that they still have a good chunk of time left as a happy couple by the end of Holland's MCU run, Spider-Man 4 needs to stick to that path. Not only would excluding Zendaya's MJ stunt Peter Parker's character growth and storyline, but it could also definitely hurt the hearts of fans everywhere and maybe even hurt the movie's success.