MJ and Peter Parker finally got together by the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, but their happiness seemed short-lived when Peter was confronted with his identity being leaked by Mysterio. Luckily for us all, the trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home showed us all that Peter and MJ are still together and trying to figure out the best way to move past what Quentin Beck did as a unit.
It starts with a fun little dynamic between MJ and Peter, with the two on the roof together as MJ is reading to Peter all about his supposed “powers,” including his ability to woo women.
And while this is cute and very Peter/MJ feeling, I love the special dynamic that Zendaya’s MJ and Holland’s Peter have with each other. It’s different from the “Tiger” jabs from the comics, but it’s still that sweet teasing flirting that we’ve come to associate with these two characters—especially when MJ calls Peter her “spider lord.”
More than the little moments we got in the trailer, I love their connection to each other despite what’s going on with Peter legally after his identity was revealed in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Mysterio tried to frame him for murder. There’s a moment when MJ asks him if it’s a relief that his identity is out now, because he doesn’t have to lie anymore, and Peter, in his very sweet way, tells her that he never wanted to lie to her in the first place. (While also wearing the same shirt that MJ had on in that first rooftop scene.)
When Peter is in the midst of chaos, MJ is at his side, and it is a beautiful look at this relationship that has delighted fans for decades. In the trailer, after Peter and MJ had their date ruined by J. Jonah Jameson playing Mysterio’s faked incriminating video, he clearly takes her away, and the two try to swing away from the crowd that formed around them at Madison Square Garden.
But when they get stuck by the cops, they’re up on a building together. And while it seems as if Peter is afraid, his arm is still out and touching MJ, and he’s clearly trying to find some way to get her to safety.
But through it all, with all the slander out there against Peter, MJ is walking with him, hand in hand.
I’m happy to see the film still exploring Peter and MJ’s relationship and not just keeping it in the dark. The problem, for me, with the Tobey Maguire movies was how long MJ was in the dark about who Peter was, and I loved that Zendaya’s MJ figured it out. Having the two of them grow with each other and be there to support one another, especially right now? It’s so important, and I loved that Peter clearly didn’t want MJ to forget about what they’ve been through as the trailer showed Doctor Strange helping him erase everyone’s knowledge of his identity.
It would have been easy for Peter to tell Stephen Strange to do the spell and just erase this knowledge from MJ, but he didn’t want her to forget or not have her there, and I just appreciate it so much more than I did the “keeping Mary Jane Watson in the dark” aspect of the older Spider-Man films.
Spider-Man: No Way Home could force their relationship into danger because of this spell or everything else going on, but I hope that there is a throughline of Peter and MJ standing by each other in the movie and that it doesn’t change.
(image: Marvel Entertainment)
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