Michelle "MJ" Jones-Watson
"If you expect disappointment, then you can never really get disappointed."
Species: Human
Citizenship: American
Affiliation(s): Midtown School of Science & Technology, Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop, MIT
Portrayed By: ZendayaForeign voice actors
Appearances: Spider-Man: Homecoming | Spider-Man: Far From Home | Spider-Man: No Way Home
"I don't really have much luck when it comes to getting close to people. Um... so I lied. I wasn't just watching you because I thought you were Spider-Man."
A classmate of Peter Parker who has a tendency to keep an eye on him from a distance and his main love interest. She becomes his girlfriend later on after they realize they are in love with each other.
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A-L
- Abusive Parents: It's implied that one of her parents is this by how she doesn't go by her full name and instead simply goes by Jones. She only mentions her father in No Way Home, with it being confirmed that she lives with him and that she believes that despite previously having a good opinion of Peter, he wouldn't be accepting of her dating him after Peter's identity is exposed, though it's possible she was exaggerating due to the stressful situation she was in at the time. In the comics, Mary Jane Watson's father was abusive to the point that her mother left him before eventually passing away, while Ultimate Mary Jane's mother eventually threw her father out.
- Action Survivor: Near the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, when she is trapped in the Tower of London with Happy and her classmates and the drones are closing in on them, she picks up a mace and clubs a drone with it.
- Adaptational Intelligence: She's much more academically intelligent than Mary Jane Watson.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: In the comics, Mary Jane has red hair and green eyes. As a result of a Race Lift, Michelle Jones has brown hair and hazel eyes.
- Adaptation Name Change: Sorta. While she has the nickname of "MJ", borrowed from Mary Jane Watson from the pages of the comics, her actual name is Michelle Jones and she's an original character. Partially subverted in No Way Home, where it's revealed that her full name is Michelle Jones-Watson, and both Peter-2 and Norman Osborn explicitly recognize her as a version of Mary Jane Watson.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- In the comics, Mary Jane briefly served as Tony Stark's personal assistant and is close friends with him. In the MCU, the two never met before Tony's Heroic Sacrifice in Endgame.
- She was also acquainted with Steve Rogers in the comics and he even trained her in hand-to-hand combat. However, the two never personally met in the MCU.
- MJ briefly dated Brad Davis in the comics while she and Peter were on a break. In Far From Home, Brad tries to romantically pursue her before she and Peter officially get together but MJ doesn't reciprocate and even humiliates him to protect Peter's secret identity.
- Advertised Extra: She is featured in Homecoming's main poster and marketing, but she only has a few minutes of screentime and isn't really an important character. Subverted in Far From Home and No Way Home, where she does have a major role in the story as she becomes Peter's love interest.
- All There in the Manual: Her last name, Jones, is not revealed in Spider-Man: Homecoming, but only through supplementary material. And for good reason – it logically spoils the "MJ" reveal.
- Almost Kiss: In No Way Home, she and Peter were about to make out while they were alone in the school's rooftop until Ned enters the rooftop and interrupts it without even knowing.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She's dark-haired, tall, and very distant, though she hides feelings for Peter.
- Alternate Self: Has an equivalent named Mary Jane Watson on Earth-96283.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's heavily implied that she has an Abusive Parent or at least one she's had a major falling out with, which is why she doesn't go by Watson. However, it's unclear whether it's her mother or father. Given that her comic inspiration had an emotionally abusive father and the Nom de Mom nature of surnames, it would likely mean that Watson is her father. However, she notes that she's living with her dad during No Way Home and Peter mentioned that her father seemed to like him, which would suggest they have at least a decent relationship and her mom is the bad parent in this version.
- Amnesiac Resonance: After having her memory of Peter Parker erased by Doctor Strange's spell, MJ meets him again at the donut and pastry shop where she works, but just considers him another customer. However, after a brief conversation with Peter about her future, MJ stares after him as he leaves and seems to have a feeling that she knows him.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: When she is about to lose her memories of Peter, MJ tells him she loves him, the first of the two to say it to each other.
- Armor-Piercing Question: When Brad gets suspicious of Peter's constant tendency to disappear and tries to prove it by telling the class that he had a picture of Peter in his underwear with another woman, she throws suspicion off the latter by asking Brad why he thinks it's cool to take pictures of people in the bathroom. Brad, who took that picture of Peter to humiliate him in front of MJ so he can win her affections, can't answer the question.
- Ascended Extra: She gets a lot more to do in Far From Home than she did in Homecoming, where she served primarily as a side character.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Like Vulture, she's able to figure out that Peter Parker is Spider-Man with a few context clues... although when Peter fesses up, she notes that she was only "67% sure" and didn't completely know – and is giddy realizing that she was right. She's also the one who pieces together that Mysterio's been lying to Peter when she finds one of his projectors.
- Back from the Dead: Since she is still Peter's age and in his class despite Peter being a victim of Thanos' Badass Fingersnap in Avengers: Infinity War, she is implied to have been killed and resurrected as well following Avengers: Endgame.
- Big "NO!": Throws two of these when Peter suggests they flee to her father's house after his secret identity is exposed to the public.
- Black and Nerdy: She's a black girl who has her nose buried in a book in almost every scene of hers in Homecoming.
- Blatant Lies: She states that she's not obsessed with Peter, only highly observant, and later claims to Peter that she has only been watching him because of his secret identity.
- Bookworm: Has a stack of paperbacks with her in the lunch room and is later seen reading Of Human Bondage during gym class.
- Brainy Brunette: Has curly dark hair, is an avid reader, was the captain of Midtown's academic decathlon team following Liz's departure, and got accepted into MIT.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Gender-Inverted with her as the Brooding Girl to Peter's Gentle Boy.
- Brutal Honesty: MJ straight-up says that the truth matters more to her than building connections with others, though she admits that she regrets isolating herself because of it."I'm sorry, okay? It's just I'm obsessed with telling the truth even if it hurts other people's feelings."
- Bully Hunter: Twice in Far From Home, MJ stands up to someone being a jerk to Peter. First, she gets an airline stewardess to confiscate Flash's martini after he made a snide comment about Peter's lower middle-class background. Then after landing in London, Brad bursts about seeing Peter half-naked with a mystery woman and complains that no one's interested in "the truth"; MJ responds with a George Orwell quote and then asks Brad why he was taking pictures of people in the bathroom.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Despite being a aloof loner who's quite strange, she's also very intelligent which is why the academic decathlon team doesn't mind having her around and actually loves having her as a member.
- Cannot Spit It Out: She admits that she doesn't have the easiest time connecting with other people, and has trouble navigating her feelings for Peter Parker. Throughout Homecoming, MJ mostly just snarks at him, and later misleads him into believing that she only pays attention to him because she's figured out his secret identity. She's gotten better by the end of Far From Home, and admits to Peter that she actually does care about him, culminating in their First Kiss. In No Way Home, she is the first to say "I love you" between them.
- Canon Character All Along: A Zig-Zagging Trope. Her nickname is "MJ", the same one that Mary Jane Watson has, and that's treated as a tongue-in-cheek reveal in Homecoming. However, Kevin Feige has stated that she is not Mary Jane and that the "MJ" nickname is meant to be more of a nod to the comics, suggesting her role as a Love Interest in subsequent movies. In any case, in the second film she is exclusively referred to as "MJ" and never once called Michelle, while also taking on more characteristics associated with Mary Jane, and the third movie downright spells who is she supposed to be once her full name turns out to be "Michelle Jones-Watson".
- Canon Foreigner: Michelle was specifically created for the films. Until she says she prefers to be called "MJ", making it clear she's the MCU stand-in for Mary Jane, compounded by becoming Peter Parker's love interest and her surname being revealed to be Watson in No Way Home, along with Norman Osborn and Peter-2 recognizing her as a variant of the Mary Jane Watson they know.
- Carry a Big Stick: She grabs a mace in the climax of Far From Home and whacks an attack drone with it.
- Character Development: Eventually becomes a more openly affectionate, caring person who is willing to have friendships and eventually a romance with Peter.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Has a fairly minor role in Homecoming, but becomes more prominent in Far From Home onward as Peter starts to reciprocate her crush on him.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Downplayed, but it's implied she's been pining over Peter for at least a few years. She finally gets the guy at the end of Far From Home and is clearly happy about it.
- Cloudcuckoolander: She's a Nightmare Fetishist, believes in crazy conspiracy theories like the government tracking her and her classmates while they're abroad and that the Eiffel Tower controls the mental insane, and is quite strange in general. Lucky for her, Peter actually likes that about her.
- Composite Character: She seems to be a combination of various characters from Peter Parker's supporting cast:
- Her nickname is an explicit Shout-Out to Mary Jane and she shares some of MJ's background (Mary Jane who didn't go to high school with Peter in the comics admitted later that she was a class clown in high school and a loner in that period, much like Michelle is shown for much of Homecoming). The fact that she seems to be Peter's main love interest in Far From Home and addressed in the movie as just MJ makes this more apparent, as does her taking on more parts of Mary Jane's personality.
- She also incorporates elements of the comic book version of Jessica Jones, who went to Midtown High with Peter and also had significant social problems. There's also the obvious fact that she shares Jessica's last name. Though Jessica otherwise wasn't friends with Peter during high school or ever had any romantic connection to him beyond her crush.
- While Betty Brant has the classic look of Gwen Stacy, Michelle possesses more of Gwen's intelligence, as she's a member of the academic decathlon team and clinches a win for them in Homecoming, eventually becoming their leader, similar to how Gwen was shown in The Amazing Spider-Man Series as opposed to her classic 616 (where she met Peter in college and her high school life was summarized by Harry as "the beauty queen of Standard High") or Ultimate version (where she was a goth).
- She possibly takes her first name from Michelle Gonzalez in the comics, who was a minor character appearing in various Spider-Man titles during Brand New Day.
- Conspiracy Theorist: A deleted scene shows that she thinks the story that Captain America destroyed the helicarriers in Washington D.C. to save the world from HYDRA is a lie. In Far From Home, she also cites the Eiffel Tower as her favorite monument after she read that it had been invented as a mind-control device to use on France's mentally ill population.
- Covert Pervert: At the end of Homecoming when Peter goes to meet with Happy, she is not-so-subtly looking at Peter's butt. She tries to be more respectful in Far From Home when she's alone with Peter as he's undressing, but she's clearly tempted to sneak a peek.
- Cuckoosnarker: She's as much a Deadpan Snarker as she is a strange girl.
- Curtains Match the Window: She has brown hair and brown eyes.
- Cute Bookworm: A pretty girl who loves reading books and spends most of her time doing so.
- The Cynic: Best shown with her page quote about expecting disappointment.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: In No Way Home, it's implied that her dad would never approve of her dating Peter after he's publicly revealed to be Spider-Man despite having previously liked him. Despite this, the two stay together until Doctor Strange's spell erases everyone's memories of Peter, including hers.
- Deadpan Snarker: Her defining character trait is making snide remarks at other characters in a tone that implies she couldn't care less.
- Disappeared Dad: Her text from the bus that E.D.I.T.H. picks up suggests that neither she nor her mother have had any contact with her father for some time, which Broad Strokes-wise lines up with Mary Jane's background in the comics as the child of a broken home. However, No Way Home has her mention her dad already being on good terms with Peter, leaving things ambiguous.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": No Way Home reveals that her full name is Michelle Jones-Watson but she refuses to go by Watson.
- Dude Magnet: By the time of the sequel, she's begun attracting multiple suitors. Peter has started reciprocating her crush on him, and Brad Davis also wants her.
- Eating Lunch Alone: Does this because she doesn't have any friends, though she sits with Peter and Ned at times.
- Eating the Eye Candy: When Peter changes into his Spider-suit, he asks Michelle to turn around. Flushed, Michelle can't help but sneak a few appreciative peaks.
- Elite School Means Elite Brain: She's a very intelligent and well-read girl who got accepted into MIT.
- Establishing Character Moment: The first we see of Michelle is her bluntly calling Ned and Peter losers after catching them staring at Liz, and when they ask her why she sits with them despite her opinion, she tells them that she doesn't have any friends. The next scene she's in, Michelle casually lists off the previous clubs Peter had quit beforehand after he reveals that he might not be available for the academic decathlon team's Nationals, and when everyone stares at her for it, she then gets defensive and claims that she's just being observant, indicating she has a crush on Peter but refuses to admit it.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: She is introduced with her hair tousled and in strands obscuring her face, representing how she closes herself off from people. By Far From Home, her hairstyles are more put together and she eventually starts having less and less cover her face as she becomes a warmer, more open person. In No Way Home, just about all of her screentime has her face completely unobscured, as she’s at her friendliest and happiest now that she’s finally in a relationship with Peter.
- Expy:
- Of Allison Reynolds’s from The Breakfast Club, in keeping with
Word of God's claims of Homecoming taking inspiration from John Hughes' films. Physically, both characters dress and style themselves in dowdy clothing that make them appear to not care about how they look. Personality-wise, both come across as Deadpan Snarker Cloudcuckoolanders whose actions often contradict their claims. In what is also a Shout-Out, Michelle is in detention not because of anything she did, but because she felt like going to it, during which she would draw to pass the time, much like Allison did. - Zendaya (and Tony Revolori) has also mentioned that Jon Watts asked her to channel Daria.
- Of Allison Reynolds’s from The Breakfast Club, in keeping with
- First Kiss: Michelle shares her first kiss with Peter on the Tower Bridge, after Mysterio's defeat.
- First-Name Basis: She's only referred to as Michelle in the marketing for Homecoming and in the movie itself (except in her last scene, where she requests that her friends call her "MJ"). Her surname, Jones, is only mentioned All There in the Manual, and not even listed in the credits. In Far From Home, she's almost exclusively called MJ.
- Flipping the Bird: She gives one to Peter when she sees him at the homecoming dance.
- Friendless Background: When Ned asks her why she frequently sits with him and Peter at lunch despite considering them losers, she bluntly tells him that she doesn't have any friends. However, when she finds out that the academic decathlon team which she, Peter, and Ned are a part of is in danger, she calls them her friends and starts treating them as such afterwards. By Far From Home, she's real friends with most of them, especially Peter and Ned.
- Funny Background Event: During the gym scene in Homecoming, she can be seen lying on her back by herself and repeatedly raising and lowering the book she's reading while her classmates are doing sit-ups in pairs of two.
- The Gadfly: She spends most of Homecoming doing some low-key trolling of Peter and Ned. She even goes to detention, despite not being in trouble, simply to observe and document other students' pain and suffering. Or because she has a crush on Peter. Or both.
- Give Geeks a Chance: The Lizard in particular is in disbelief that someone as beautiful, confident and ruthless as MJ would be dating an awkward nerd like Peter, though it's Played With as Connors is unaware that she is just as much an awkward nerd as Peter is in her own way. Given how he's pretty much a maniacal psychopath for most of the movie, he's probably just impressed she's willing to kill when Peter isn't.The Lizard: [After MJ threatened to effectively kill the villains] No way that's his girlfriend, no way!
- Happy Ending Override: By the end of Far From Home, she has gained acceptance as a beloved friend among her peers and finally entered a relationship with the boy she's been crushing on for years. Mysterio's outing of Peter ruins this and leads to a chain of events that result in her losing her memories of Peter.
- Heroic Bystander: She saves her friends in Homecoming by telling Spider-Man they're in the Washington Monument, which is exploding. In the sequel, she reveals to Peter that she has evidence Quentin Beck is a fraud.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: She does care for Peter and the other members of the academic decathlon, but buries it underneath a mountain of snark. This briefly shows when she outright tells Spider-Man that her friends are in danger, since up until that point she'd only been snarking at them. Peter is briefly taken aback at this statement before climbing up the Washington Monument to rescue them.
- Holding Hands: She and Peter do this near the end of Far From Home, signifying that the two have officially started dating.
- Holier Than Thou: She frequently acts superior to everyone else, since they tend to enjoy things and pursue a social life whereas she sits in the back of class and makes snide comments.
- Huge Schoolgirl: At 5'10" (178 cm), she is the tallest named character in the school with the exception of Brad. And unless Scully Box is used in future installments, she is one of the tallest female MCU main cast members, second only to Karen Gillan (who plays Nebula, an alien).
- Hypocritical Humor:
- Smugly criticizes Peter and Ned for things she does herself.
Michelle: I can't believe you guys are at this lame party.
Ned: But, you're here too.
Michelle: [Beat] Am I?- She sarcastically makes fun of Flash for naïvely believing a BuzzFeed article about Hydro-Man's possible origin, only to later tell Peter a conspiracy theory she believes about the Eiffel Tower being a mind control device.
- I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: Her reactions in Far From Home to Peter reciprocating her feelings have a few shades of this. She's pleasantly surprised when Peter shows he likes her because of how weird she is, not in spite of, and gets nervous and self-destructive when faced with Peter's questioning how she feels about him. It's due to a combination of her I Just Want to Have Friends demeanor having a history of usually pushing everyone away, and likely disbelief that her feelings are being reciprocated after having pined for Peter for what's implied to have been years.
- Ice Queen: She's very frosty towards everyone, including her classmates. She later tones it down after they almost got killed in an elevator in Washington.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Underneath her aloof, loner exterior. Despite calling Peter and Ned losers, she seems to follow them around wherever they go, even to the point of accompanying Peter to detention, despite not having detention herself. She seems to grow a bit as she eventually openly refers to her classmates as friends.
- I Knew There Was Something About You: After Peter confirms to her that he is Spider-Man upon finding out that she (unknowingly) had evidence that Quentin Beck is a fraud, she is ecstatic and admits that she can't believe she managed to figure that out.Michelle: Okay, okay. I can't believe I figured it out!
- Insistent Terminology: She's not obsessed with Peter, she's just very observant.
- In Spite of a Nail: Like with the Raimi-verse MJ, she studied at Midtown with Peter Parker, Flash Thompson, and Liz Allan and became romantically involved with Peter Parker after finding out that he's Spider-Man.
- Insufferable Genius: She's very smart and endlessly sarcastic to just about everyone. One of her hobbies involves sitting in detention periods so she can sketch all the people stuck there.
- I Will Find You: At the end of No Way Home, she urges Peter to find her again after she loses her memories, lest she figure it out and do it instead.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She is unapologetically snarky and a bit of a troll, but underneath it all, she does care about Peter and her classmates. In Far From Home, MJ started showing more of her kinder side, especially towards Peter.
- Karmic Jackpot: She gets a happy ending after revealing to Peter that she knows he's Spider-Man, and learns that he returns her romantic feelings. She also reveals that Quentin is a fraud, and fights back when the man traps her and her friends. Cue her ending up with Peter, which is all she wanted. Sadly, it doesn't last long.
- Killed Offscreen: Far From Home reveals that she was among the billions snapped away by Thanos' Badass Fingersnap but was brought back five years later thanks to the Avengers' efforts. Hence, she's still the same age as Peter who was also snapped.
- Large and in Charge: At 5'10"/1.78 m, she's the tallest of the decathlon team and eventually becomes its leader after Liz leaves for Oregon.
- Lean and Mean: She has a slender build and frequently makes snide remarks in Homecoming. She tones down the mean part in Far From Home and is much nicer to other people from then on.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: She briefly manages to make use of a mace to damage one of Mysterio's drones. When she runs out to see if Peter's okay after the climactic battle is over, she brings the mace with her "just in case".
- Longing Look: Gives these to Peter when she's out of his eyeshot, hinting at her secret attraction to him. It's quite a contrast to her eyes usually half-lidded due to her frequently being bored or unamused.
- Loves My Alter Ego: Discussed and subverted. In Far From Home, she accidentally tells Peter that she was only watching him because she suspected that he was Spider-Man, which obviously saddens Peter as he really thought that MJ was romantically interested in him. Later on, she confesses that this isn't the case and she genuinely did like Peter all along.
- Loving Bully: Her constant snarking and teasing of Peter is a manifestation of her secret crush on him and eventually Peter did start liking her too, but they have trouble admitting it to each other. Fortunately, she grows out of it and eventually confesses how she actually feels about him, which leads to them ending up together.
M-Y
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: She is the aloof and cynical Masculine Girl to Peter's optimistic and sensitive Feminine Boy.
- Mythology Gag:
- Per Kevin Feige
, the "MJ" nickname was more to hint at the character dynamic that she and Peter would have after Homecoming rather than a sign that she's the MCU's iteration of Mary Jane Watson. - Likewise, Far From Home likens her to Gwen Stacy when Mysterio shows Peter an illusion of himself throwing her off the Eiffel Tower, which technically doubles as a reference to Sam Raimi's first Spider-Man film. In No Way Home, Peter-Three specifically refers to Gwen as "his MJ", and learning of her death causes a notable reaction from this MJ. In the climax, she nearly suffers the same fate as that Gwen when she is knocked off the Statue of Liberty by Goblin's attack, and when Goblin stops Peter-One from saving her. Thankfully, Peter-Three is able to save her life.
- She's also the one to give Peter the nickname "Tiger" like Mary Jane, though less romantically.
- Per Kevin Feige
- Nerds Are Sexy: Both Peter Parker and Brad Davis find her bookishness attractive and spend most of Far From Home trying to win her over.
- Nerdy Bully: Crossed over with Loving Bully towards Peter in Homecoming, where she mostly sits in the background rudely snarking at everybody while reading a book. She loses the bully part in Far From Home, and in fact, puts two of Peter's main bullies in their place in the film.
- Nightmare Fetishist: MJ has a passion for the macabre and a dark sense of humor. She recommends ghost tours and sites of historical tragedies during the Europe trip, and her favorite flower is the black dahlia, after the infamous murder of the same name.
- No Body Left Behind: Her offscreen fate in Infinity War as revealed by her still being Peter's age in Far From Home.
- Nom de Mom: It's revealed that Jones is not her actual surname; it's Watson. It's just that she hates going by the surname of Watson and prefers to be called either Michelle Jones or just MJ.
- No Social Skills: Throughout Homecoming, Michelle mostly just reads her books and snarks at anyone in earshot. She even admits that Peter and Ned, two of her favorite targets, are the closest she has to any real friends. After nearly losing them in the Washington Monument crisis, she begins to warm up to her teammates, telling them she prefers to be called "MJ" and taking pride in being the decathlon captain. In Far From Home, Peter and Ned regard her as a genuine friend, but still, she brings up odd conversation topics like murders and conspiracy theories, teases anyone once the opportunity presents itself, and Cannot Spit It Out to Peter, to the point of blurting out her knowledge of him being Spider-Man during an inopportune moment while they're on a romantic stroll together.
- The Not-Love Interest: In Homecoming, she's just a strange girl that happens to be a "friend" of Peter's and nothing more, though it's subverted as she becomes one in Far From Home.
- Not So Stoic: Her normally cold and aloof persona starts crumbling in Far from Home in the confession night scene, and that's before she goes web-slinging with Spidey in the end.
- Official Couple: By the end of Far From Home, she becomes Peter's girlfriend and has her first official date with him.
- Older Than They Look: MJ is physically five years younger than her actual age due to being dead for the same amount of years as a result of being a victim of Thanos' Badass Fingersnap.
- Only Known by Initials: By Far From Home, all of her classmates now call her "MJ" like in the comics.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- When Spider-Man arrives on the scene of the Washington Monument incident, Michelle is terrified and tells him that her friends are in danger, showing both how serious the situation is as well as her Hidden Heart of Gold.
- Likewise, in both movies she happily teases Peter about his random disappearances. When she sees that he's safe from the Fire Elemental, and later reveals that she figured out he is Spider-Man, Michelle tones down her teasing in both cases to reassure Peter that she's glad to see him alive, and that his secret is safe with her.
- In No Way Home, she is quickly brought to tears by the prospect of losing her memories of Peter and begs for another way to be found.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Becomes this with Ned Leeds in Far From Home, to the point where in the new reality where Peter is forgotten, they still remain close friends.
- Race Lift: Mary Jane is generally portrayed in most media as a white redhead. Assuming she's the same ethnicity as her actress, Michelle here is a half-black, half-white brunette.
- Reduced to Dust: Far From Home reveals that she was one of the offscreen casualties of the Badass Fingersnap Thanos did that turned half the universe's population to ashes and was brought back to life by Bruce Banner five years later.
- Reimagining the Artifact: While she takes some cues from other characters like Jessica Jones, she's a modern re-imagining of Mary Jane, even though she's not the MCU's official adaptation of that character. She's essentially what Mary Jane would be like if she was a teenager today rather than in the 60s. Mary Jane was created as a free-spirited hippy which made her an outsider among her peers. Michelle stands out from her peers because she's an off-kilter social activist feminist which is in line with Generation Z.
- Relationship Upgrade: By the end of Far From Home, she and Peter become an Official Couple after they admit their feelings toward one another. Tragically, it doesn't last as their relationship is erased from existence after Peter makes Doctor Strange cast a spell that makes everyone forget who Peter Parker is to prevent a multiversal incursion.
- Rule of Symbolism: Of Human Bondage, the book she reads, is about an orphaned boy living with his Aunt as he adjusts to his life in a new school. The story more or less applies to Peter Parker's situation on multiple levels. Likewise, her initials MJ are symbolic of the Story Arc that she takes in the MCU version.
- Sassy Black Woman: She's a mixed race African-American girl who frequently snarks and gives brutally honest remarks at everyone.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Gender-Inverted. Peter serves as the Badass Adorable All-Loving Hero Energetic Guy to her Deadpan Snarker Bookworm Savvy Girl.
- Second Love: She's Peter's second love interest after Liz moves to Oregon in light of Liz's father Adrian Toomes's criminal activities being exposed and him getting arrested in the process.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: She figures out that Peter Parker is Spider-Man (well, she is "67% sure") and keeps that information to herself. At least until Far From Home when she tells Peter she's aware of his secret and that his secret hero life is safe with her.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: In Far From Home, Peter tells her she looks really pretty when she puts on a nice dress for an opera. MJ teases him for this compliment and she then tells him he looks pretty too.
- Shed the Family Name: No Way Home reveals that her full surname is actually "Jones-Watson" but she doesn't go by Watson and it's implied that it's out of disdain over whichever parent has the Watson part of the surname.
- Ship Tease: In Homecoming, the audience is left with several clues that she is into Peter such as her constant peering into his life and meaningful looks at him. It becomes more explicit in Far From Home. At the end of No Way Home, this is interestingly brought back as even after losing her memory of Peter, she still seems intrigued by him.
- "Shut Up" Kiss: Gives one to Peter after Mysterio is defeated, finally making it clear to him that she has feelings for him.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She fell for Peter, a kind, smart sweetheart, long before she realized he was Spider-Man, if the fact she's already been paying attention to him for a while by her first scene in Homecoming is any indication.
- Sleep Cute: A Deleted Scene in Far From Home has her and Peter sleeping next to each other on a plane with Peter's head resting on her shoulder.
- Smitten Teenage Girl: Displayed in the most sarcastic, dry way possible, but it's painfully obvious Michelle has a thing for Peter, even if she's a good sport about him liking another girl. At least in Homecoming. In Far From Home, we see more of a conventionally awkward affection from her as she contends with Peter finally reciprocating her feelings, and she's positively beaming when they kiss. No Way Home also offers a peek into her private life before Peter returned her feelings, as it's shown she kept the sketches she did of him over her bed's head frame for years.Michelle: I'm not obsessed with him, I'm just very observant.
- Soapbox Sadie: As the Midtown School of Science and Technology academic decathlon team welcomes Peter back, she impatiently asks if they can leave for Washington D.C. so she can have time to protest at the foreign embassies (and it's implied she just wants to protest for the sake of protesting). She also refuses to go up the Washington Monument, saying she'd "rather not celebrate something that was built by slaves."note , which seems less like something she's doing for attention as much as an excuse to keep reading her book. She also teases Peter about a perceived gendered double standard when he compliments her. Her feminism is played up in supplementary material; she makes lists of admirable historical women like Mary Seacole and Sophia Duleep Singh and owns T-shirts of Toni Morrison, Joan of Arc, and Marsha P. Johnson.
- Spanner in the Works: In Far From Home, Quentin Beck and his team's plan to make Mysterio the greatest superhero of all time would have went without a hitch had MJ not picked up an illusion projector Spider-Man accidentally and unknowingly pulled off with his web-shooters during the "fight" against the Fire Elemental that they set up, which he disregarded and completely forgot about afterwards.
- Stalker with a Crush: Downplayed example. She's constantly hanging around Peter, despite supposedly not being his friend. She also appears to keep a close eye on his activities, aware that he's quit numerous school clubs and extracurriculars. When this draws attention, she claims to simply be observant. It's not that she likes him or anything.
- Stalker Shrine: No Way Home shows that she keeps the sketches she's done of Peter above her bed's head frame in her room, even after they've finally gotten together.
- Stalking is Love: Despite being a rude Stalker with a Crush to Peter in her debut film, he eventually reciprocates and they get together until the memory wipe.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: She spent years pining for Peter without reciprocation, and when he finally did reciprocate and enter a relationship with her, they're forcibly separated by Strange's spell making everyone forget about Peter. For the next foreseeable future, Peter also refuses to reconnect with her due to thinking he is keeping her safe by not having her in his life, despite still loving her dearly. MJ's subtle reactions to Peter also imply her heart still very much remembers him despite the gap in her memory.
- Statuesque Stunner: A beautiful young woman who towers over most of her classmates and is romantically pursued by Peter Parker and Brad Davis in Far From Home.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: When the others notice how much attention she's paying to Peter and his life, Michelle quickly insists she's not obsessed with him (and visibly loses her icy calm when saying so)... even though no one said she was.Michelle: "I'm not obsessed with him, I'm just very observant."
- Teen Genius: A teenage girl who's part of the academic decathlon team in which she eventually becomes its captain, incredibly knowledgeable about literature, history, and crime as a result of reading a lot in her free time, figured out Spider-Man's secret identity, and got accepted into Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Tempting Fate: After Peter takes her web-swinging through New York, the activity scares her so much that she tells Peter that she's not doing that again. Cue Peter's alter-ego being exposed to the public by Mysterio, forcing Peter to take her with him swinging again to escape the public.
- Took a Level in Idealism: In the new world without her memories of him, Peter is still happy to find out she seems to be a much more optimistic person, and is genuinely excited for getting into MIT.
- Took a Level in Kindness: After spending most of Homecoming snarking at Peter and his friends, she starts treating them more like real friends after they nearly die in the Washington Monument mishap. She's more open and friendly (if still unapologetically snarky) in Far From Home. In No Way Home, she spends just about the entire movie much warmer and friendlier despite the much more stressful situation she's in.
- Translator Buddy: She's apparently the only student on the class trip who understands Italian, and corrects Mr. Harrington and her classmates a few times.
- Troll: She loves getting under other people's skin like her classmates by constantly teasing or snarking at them.
- Truer to the Text: While her physical appearance, first name, and some of her background are different, a lot of MJ's personality is closer to Mary Jane Watson of the early Earth-616 comics than Kirsten Dunst's portrayal, which drew on other aspects of the character. She shares Mary Jane's unapologetic snarkiness and being more of a social outcast at her school than a popular girl. MJ figuring out Peter is Spider-Man instead of him telling her is straight from Tom DeFalco's Amazing Spider-Man #257-259.
- Tsundere: Peter is considered a loser in high school and Michelle really doesn't care at all about where he's going or what he's doing... Cue Longing Look as Peter leaves to be Spider-Man.
- Twice Shy: In Far From Home, her crush on Peter is clearly reciprocated but neither of them have the nerve to admit how they really feel towards the other and devolve into awkward, nervous dorks when they do try. They eventually work up the courage to admit how they feel after the final battle and officially get together.
- Two Guys and a Girl: She forms this trio with Ned and Peter.
- Understanding Boyfriend: Gender-Inverted. MJ proves to be very understanding and flexible about Peter's double life as Spider-Man, remaining at her boyfriend's side even as Mysterio's outing and framing of him puts her own reputation and future at risk. When Peter's guilt leads him to accidentally trigger a multiversal crisis in an attempt to set things right for his loved ones, MJ doesn't hold it against him and only asks that he consult them in the future before making such decisions, and helps him deal with the multiversal visitors without any hesitation. She remains a constant pillar of support for Peter throughout his ordeal, right up until their relationship is erased from her memory.
- Undying Loyalty: One of her best traits is her firm devotion to the people she cares about, which is best shown in her relationship with Peter. Even before they start dating, she stands up for him against his two bullies Flash and Brad, putting them in their place when they attempt to embarrass him. In No Way Home, she continues to stick by Peter's side after his secret identity is exposed to the public by Mysterio. She refuses to give up any info about him when she gets interrogated by the Department of Damage Control, holds his hand while they enter Midtown with protesters, Mysterio believers, and fans outside, is completely supportive of his plan to cure the Multiversal trespassers so they don't die when they return to their universes, and provides him emotional support when Aunt May gets killed. This woman is loyal.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Michelle is shown to be checking Peter out in both Homecoming and Far From Home, already establishing attraction. But one notable scene is in Far From Home when Peter starts to change into his suit while in the hotel room as she stands nearby. She doesn't turn around as he takes his shirt off, only doing so when he gestures for her to, and is still trying to subtly peek over her shoulder as he changes. As Peter jumps out the window, she's in a clear dream-struck gaze staring after him.
- Averted in No Way Home when May and Happy catch her and Peter in the latter's room with him half-naked. Peter was freaking out and panicking from being outed and was genuinely just trying to change, but like in the previous film, he stripped without thinking, causing the awkward walk-in. He and MJ had no other intentions in the moment, but May and Happy are unconvinced.
- Wham Line: "My friends call me MJ."
- You Are in Command Now: Harrington appoints her as the new team captain of the academic decathlon team after Liz leaves Midtown in light of her father's arrest.
Variants
Mary Jane Watson
On Earth-96283, MJ is instead a woman named Mary Jane Watson who like Michelle attended Midtown High and became romantically involved with her classmate Peter Parker. However, that's where the similarities end as they are essentially different people.
For more info on this variant, see this page.
"Look at me. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. We're gonna get through this, and we're gonna get through it together."
