Spider-Man: No Way Home Concept Art Reveals MJ Almost Had A Bigger Role In The Final Battle

Zendaya and Tom Holland as Spider-Man in No Way Home
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is always growing, and there are a few franchises that stand out as fan favorites. Jon WattsSpider-Man trilogy is in that category, starring none other than Tom Holland. The trilogy wrapped with Spider-Man: No Way Home, and fans are wondering when Holland might suit up again. And some No Way Home concept art reveals that Zendaya’s MJ almost had a bigger role in the final battle.

For the last three Spider-Man movies Zendaya has starred as her version of MJ, opposite real-life boyfriend Tom Holland. While her character gave Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker an emotionally satisfying redemption, an alternate version of the script saw MJ battle Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin herself. You can check it out below courtesy of Instagram, specifically the second image.

I mean, how cool is that? The final Spider-Man: No Way Home battle at the Statue of Liberty was an epic crossover event featuring three Spideys and a gaggle of villains from various timelines. MJ and Ned ended up getting in on the action, but we missed a scrapped moment where Zendaya’s character personally injects Green Goblin with his serum.

While this moment was cut, the ending of Spider-Man: No Way Home was super successful. Rather than MJ injecting The Green Goblin and curing him, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker nearly murders Willem Dafoe’s villain in cold blood, before being stopped by the Tobey Maguire Spidey. And as previously mentioned, MJ was involved in perhaps the most heartwarming sequence from the final battle, with Andrew Garfield’s Peter redeeming himself after Gwen Stacey’s death in Amazing Spider-Man 2. So it really all worked out for the best.

Still, you can’t deny it would have been awesome to see MJ be the one to save the day. This is actually a theme in the MCU; Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts ended up killing the bad guy in two out of the the three Iron Man movies. We’ll just have to see what type of action MJ gets involved in if/when she returns to the big screen.

The cliffhanger ending of No Way Home saw Doctor Strange’s spell succeed in making the world forget about Peter Parker, even Ned and MJ. The franchise’s future on the big screen is currently a mystery, but fans definitely want to see Tom Holland’s hero reunite with his friends. Hopefully the studio offers a hint at what’s coming soon.

The next MCU movie hitting theaters is The Marvels on November 10th. In the meantime, check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.