Zendaya says her MJ in the MCU represents original Mary Jane character

Zendaya portrays Michelle Jonas, better known as MJ in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The character was earlier played by Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. Many criticised Zendaya’s casting as MJ in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Far From Home. However, she was praised by the audience for bringing her unique style to the character. Now the actor opened up about playing MJ and Spider-Man films. 

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Zendaya on her version of MJ and Spider-Man movies

In a recent interview with a daily, Zendaya talked about the transition of MJ in the MCU and more. She said that Spider-Man was one of the first movies that she did outside of Disney Channel. She recalled that she did not have much to do in Spider-Man: Homecoming, but was just excited to be doing the movie at all. The actor stated that she was lucky because the studio already wanted to re-create the character and turn her into a new version. The Shake It Up star thinks that her portrayal represents the original Mary Jane character. She noted that the makers just wanted to show MJ in their own way in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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Zendaya explained what Marvel Studios had planned for her character. She said that she came into the role and the character on page was already a smart, quick, sharp young girl who comes off a bit quirky or offbeat. The actor mentioned that she had a lot of fun doing the role. She likes being able to do comedy and things that are not so heavy.

Zendaya spoke about filming Spider-Man: Far From Home at various locations. She said that they got to travel so much for the movie. She spent most of her time in London. The actor mentioned that when the team woke up at three in the morning, she was literally running outside the Tower of London before it opens. She got to run from the killer drones that nobody can see, because they were not there yet, hinting at the drones used while shooting.

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Spider-Man: Far From Home takes place after the event of Avengers: Endgame. Zendaya mentioned that she could not read half of the script as it had too many spoilers. The script obviously had Robert Downey Jr.’s death as Tony Star / Iron Man as it played a big part in the film. The actor said that she did not really know what she was doing and figured it out scene by scene. Zendaya recalled they she did a real swinging scene but the makers did not use it. She stated that instead of swinging around, they ended up just being carried maybe two feet off the ground.