For months, one of the biggest mysteries about Spider-Man: Homecoming was the identity of Zendaya‘s character, Michelle. One of the most popular theories was that Zendaya is playing Mary Jane Watson in the film. While Zendaya and the filmmakers have repeatedly shot down that rumor, even Zendaya didn’t know which part she would play until she officially signed on.
“I play a character named Michelle, but nobody believes me,” said Zendaya while appearing on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. “I didn’t even know what kind of character I was going to play until I got there and signed the non-disclosure [agreement] and then read the script.”
Zendaya added that Michelle is “very interesting. She’s kind of like a loner. Super intellectual, very dry humor, one liners, pops in, pops out.”
According to Zendaya, most of her scenes are dealing with Tom Holland‘s Peter Parker instead of his heroic alter ego. Because of that, she didn’t get to see many of the film’s action sequences until recently. “I’m in the Peter Parker side of Spider-Man’s life,” explained Zendaya. “So everything that I shot…it just felt like I was shooting this awkward teen coming of age comedy…and then you realize ‘wow,’ when the trailer comes out, “this is a Spider-Man movie!’ This is like action, it’s going down!”
As we recently learned, Michelle’s first name isn’t a spoiler, but her last name is. A Spider-Man: Homecoming tie-in junior novel revealed Michelle’s secret, and you can check out that info here.
What do you think about Zendaya’s role in Spider-Man: Homecoming? Let us know in the comment section below!
Image: Sony/Marvel
