Zendaya Was Supposed To Have Superpowers In Spider-Man: No Way Home
Throughout the Spider-Man franchise, MJ has always been a damsel in distress who needs to be rescued over and over by her spidey boyfriend, but that was flipped on its head in Spider-Man: No Way Home. In the 2021 film, Zendaya almost had superpowers, though they were not from a radioactive spider. Instead, she almost donned the Cloak of Levitation from Doctor Strange during the final battle scene of the movie.
Zendaya’s character, MJ, is shown wearing Doctor Strange’s Cloak of Levitation in the official artbook for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
During Spider-Man: No Way Home, the three Spider-Men (Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield) battled it out against their villains at the top of the Statue of Liberty while Zendaya’s character, MJ (Michelle Jones), and Peter Parker’s best friend Ned watched on helplessly. In the end, Ned gets to wear Doctor Strange’s Cloak of Levitation which allows him to fly.
However, if Spider-Man: No Way Home had followed the artwork of the movie, then Zendaya would have worn the Cloak instead of Ned. If she had worn the cloak, then she would have been able to use all of its powers which include the ability to levitate (helpful when falling for example), enwrap and distract her foes. Perhaps if she wore the Cloak, she could have used its powers to directly help the Spider-Men in their final fight, instead of the indirect assistance she provided.
In the theaterical cut of Spider-Man: No Way Home, it’s Ned that gets to wear the Cloak of Levitation instead of Zendaya’s MJ.
It’s unclear why Zendaya was not given the Cloak of Levitation in the final cut of the film, but the choice left her with a smaller part in the epic battle scene. After all, there’s not much an ordinary human can do to fight against villains with superpowers.
Now that a fourth Spider-Man film has been confirmed by producer Amy Pascal, there is still a chance that we could see Zendaya gain some superpowers. She and her on-screen and real-life boyfriend Tom Holland will be reprising their roles in the new film, though the rest of the details are currently under wraps. The production of the new movie will certainly be slow as the writers and actors strike in Hollywood is still ongoing.
In the meantime, Zendaya has several other projects on her plate. She is returning to her most iconic role in the hit HBO series Euphoria where she will once again play the struggling drug addict Rue Bennett in season 3. She is also starring in the upcoming film Challengers where she plays a tennis star caught in a love affair between two best friends.
Now that a fourth Spider-Man film has been confirmed by producer Amy Pascal, there is still a chance that we could see Zendaya gain some superpowers.
Lastly, she will also star in the highly anticipated sequel to Dune, Dune: Part Two, which will hit theaters on November 3. Zendaya will star alongside Timothée Chalamet, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, and Christopher Walken in the sci-fi adventure film.
In her personal life, Zendaya is still in a long and beautiful relationship with the lovely Tom Holland. The two seem happier than ever, and many people speculate that the two are engaged after the actress showed off a sparking diamond ring in an Instagram post. Though nothing is confirmed yet, we can all hope that they will tie the knot soon.
