‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Cast, Updates: James Gunn Addresses Controversy Surrounding Zendaya’s Casting as Peter Parker’s Love Interest Mary Jane Watson

‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ received an online backlash from fans after it was revealed that Zendaya may be playing Tom Holland’s Peter Parker’s on-screen love interest Mary Jane Watson. James Gunn addressed the controversy saying that the color of the character’s skin did not matter.

According to the Independent, Zendaya is reportedly playing an iconic redhead from the original Marvel ‘Spider-Man’ comic book series. Although the studio is yet to comment on her actual identity in director Jon Watts’ upcoming live-action adaptation of ‘Spider-Man’, it was speculated that she may be playing Mary Jane Watson.

Mary Jane, MJ for short, is a supporting character in the original series. She first appeared the comic book ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ published in June 1965. She was created by Stan Lee and artist John Romita, Sr.

In the comic books, she was Peter’s best friend, love interest and eventual wife after the death of his first love Gwen Stacy. She had a friendly rivalry with Gwen for Peter’s affections during her introduction in the series.

The character was played by Kirsten Dunst in the Sam Raimi’s live-action trilogy for Sony Pictures Entertainment, starring opposite Tobey Maguire. Dunst was first introduced as MJ in the 2002 film ‘Spider-Man’ and went on to reprise her role in the 2004 and 2007 sequels. The trilogy met critical and financial success earning $2.5 billion worldwide collectively, according to The Numbers.

Zendaya’s character in Watts’ new film has yet to be confirmed and is simply named Michelle in IMDB. However, her alleged casting as MJ has triggered a backlash among fans of the original franchise. While many waiting audiences welcomed the news, others aired their displeasure on social media.

According to Screen Crush, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ director James Gunn posted his own opinion on Facebook to address the casting controversy. An excerpt of his post read, “I do not believe a character is the color of his or her skin… Yesterday, a rumor broke out that the character of Mary Jane was being played by a young black woman, Zendaya, and all hell broke out on the Internet (again).”

Gunn continued, “For me, if a character's primary attribute - the thing that makes them iconic - is the color of their skin, or their hair color, frankly, that character is shallow and sucks. For me, what makes MJ MJ is her alpha female playfulness, and if the actress captures that, then she'll work. And, for the record, I think Zendaya even matches what I think of as MJ's primary physical characteristics - she's a tall, thin model - much more so than actresses have in the past.”

He added, “Whatever the case, if we're going to continue to make movies based on the almost all white heroes and supporting characters from the comics of the last century, we're going to have to get used to them being more reflective of our diverse present world.”

Zendaya is an actress and musician best known for her role in the Disney Channel sitcom ‘Shake It Up’. She received multiple accolades for her work in the entertainment industry including a nomination for Young Artist Awards as well a Teen Choice Award win for Style Icon.

‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ is an upcoming action-adventure and fantasy film scheduled to premiere in theaters on July 7, 2017. It is directed by Jon Watts and written by Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Christopher Ford, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, and Watts.

It stars Zendaya, Tom Holland, Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, and Logan Marshall-Green. It is produced by Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Entertprises, Marvel Studios, Pascal Pictures, and Columbia Pictures and distributed by Columbia Pictures in the United States and Sony Pictures Entertainment worldwide.