With Zendaya rumored to be in Spider-Man 4 alongside Tom Holland, her return as MJ can fix a tragic MCU trend. The two characters started as classmates and friends in Spider-Man: Homecoming as they were the MCU’s iteration of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. After finding out about his Spider-Man persona, Peter and MJ entered a relationship at the end of Far From Home. However, the couple had a tragic ending in Spider-Man: No Way Home, with Peter allowing Doctor Strange to wipe the world’s memory of him, which included MJ.
Though it’s unknown exactly when in the MCU timeline Spider-Man 4 will take place, the project will likely follow Peter navigating his new life being virtually unknown. Now that Zendaya is rumored to be returning, it can be assumed that Peter will cross paths with MJ once again. Peter and MJ’s chemistry is well-liked thanks to Holland and Zendaya’s real-life relationship, so it would be a smart choice for the MCU to give the two a happy ending in Spider-Man 4.
In recent years, most MCU couples have gotten a tragic ending. Original MCU couples like Tony and Pepper or Thor and Jane have ended because of a character death, while couples like Peter and Gamora simply had to go their separate ways. No matter how these couples ended, it was not the happy ending that some were hoping to see. The trajectory of Peter and MJ’s relationship sets them up for a potentially tragic end, but the MCU doesn’t have to seal them with this fate just yet.
The two characters getting back together would actually make their relationship less predictable as a whole. Zendaya’s rumored Spider-Man 4 return comes with plenty of speculation about what role MJ will play, from becoming Peter’s end goal to perhaps taking up a hero mantle herself. Two of the easiest endings the MCU could give MJ’s character are her dying at the hands of a villain or Peter simply deciding she is better off without him. Both of these endings make for a good plot but wouldn’t nearly be as satisfying as the two reconciling for a peaceful future.
The obvious best outcome for Peter and MJ in Spider-Man 4 would be for MJ to regain her memory of Peter after what happened in No Way Home. Even if MJ doesn’t completely remember Peter, there are ways for him to gain her trust through hints like the Black Dahlia necklace. Neither Holland’s Peter nor Zendaya’s MJ will stay in the MCU forever so the setup for a potential happy ending for them will have to start in Spider-Man 4, whether that would be the two settling down in a non-hero life or MJ supporting Peter’s future as Spider-Man.
With how Spider-Man: No Way Home ended, it seems as if Peter Parker and MJ are destined for a sad fate like so many previous MCU couples. However, the rumored return of Zendaya for Spider-Man 4 gives hope that the franchise will fix the MCU’s tragic relationship trend. Not only would a happy ending be what the two characters deserve, but it’d actually avert the expectations of MJ potentially dying or forgetting Peter for good. No matter what Spider-Man 4 is about, the return of Tom Holland and Zendaya would mean a reconciliation of some sort.