Spider-Man Concept Art Hinting at Mary Jane?

Some new Spider-Man: Homecoming concept images have emerged online but one in particular has roused the attention of fans since it looks like it may be a nod to the official introduction of Mary Jane Watson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The third and current version of the wall crawling superhero played by Tom Holland made his standalone debut last month and while the Jon Watts-directed film made a conscious effort to not retread old Spidey story tropes, it is expected that along the way, Marvel will eventually have to incorporate familiar narrative beats and characters.

The last two iterations of Spider-Man introduced its respective love interests for Peter Parker with the Sam Raimi trilogy's Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and the Amazing Spider-Man's Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). Homecoming followed its predecessors' lead, albeit a different route with the lesser-known Liz Allan (Laura Harrier) partnered up with the Queens' native. However, one big mystery during production was the unknown role of Zendaya, who only had the name, Michelle. Fans were quick to speculate that the Disney alum was playing Mary Jane but the star was pretty adamant about the character being a new one. Apparently, however, by the end of the film, it was nonchalantly revealed that Michelle also had the nickname "MJ" - similar to the monicker of Peter's central love interest from the comics. That said, it appears folks involved in the project still won't allude to the assumption of many that Michelle/MJ is actually Mary Jane.

Now, a piece of concept art as part from a batch uploaded on the official website of artist Henrik Tamm is causing speculations among fans that Marvel may have scrapped the idea of fully introducing Mary Jane in Homecoming. The art features a girl with her back mostly turned and while it is hard to say who the girl supposedly is, her build and long seemingly red hair could be a direct nod to Mary Jane's physical appearance. Nevertheless, it could also be Liz as she tries to prepare for the titular Homecoming dance.

It is difficult to gauge which route Marvel is going with with Michelle/MJ's character. While her supposed introduction in Homecoming is different from her comic book origins, it could certainly be steered back to that direction in the future. That said, it could also be a long slow burn process if the creative entities in the company decide to eventually have Michelle take on the full Mary Jane role.

All these talks about Peter's love life will have to take a backseat in the meantime as the young superhero is dealing with more important issues like galaxy-saving. The web-slinging character is set to join the rest of the MCU heroes as they try to fight off Thanos and his Black Order's universe-altering plans in next year's Avengers: Infinity War and its direct sequel, the still untitled Avengers 4.

It's easy to assume that Peter will survive the dangerous mission he has in front of him, since he will be back in school to fully embark on his junior year for the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming. The second installment in the superhero's budding franchise will also be the initial project out of the Marvel gates to kick off their still very mysterious Phase 4.