Is Zendaya’s MCU Era Ending? Why Spider-Man Fans Don’t Want a Reunion with Tom Holland
The world forgot Peter Parker — even Zendaya’s MJ — and now, with whispers of a Brand New Day reset, fans are split: reunite the couple or commit to a clean-slate Spidey. Either way, the next Spider-Man chapter hangs in the balance.
Spider-Man 4 rumors are doing laps again, and this one is a crossover swing if it actually happens. It pulls in Sadie Sink, Jean Grey, and a possible fix for that brutal 'everyone forgot Peter Parker' ending in No Way Home. Let’s unpack what’s floating around, what fans are yelling about, and whether bringing MJ back makes sense or just breaks the great ending they earned.
The setup: where No Way Home left Peter and MJ
After Doctor Strange’s memory-wipe spell, the whole world forgot who Peter Parker is — including MJ. Peter planned to reintroduce himself, then decided to keep her (and Ned) safe by staying away. He lost Aunt May, his best friend, and the girl he loves, and he’s now alone in a tiny apartment with a brand-new suit and no safety net. That ending hit hard for a reason.
The new theory: Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Peter’s rebound, and a memory reset
Sadie Sink is reportedly in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, though no one knows who she’s playing yet. One theory that caught fire on X suggests she’s Jean Grey and that she’ll briefly date Peter — only for Peter to end it because he still loves MJ. Then, in a swing worthy of a post-credit stinger, Jean allegedly restores MJ’s memories of Peter.
"Sadie Sink is Jean Grey and she will be a brief love interest for Peter Parker. Peter will end the relationship with Jean because he still loves MJ, and Jean will find a way to restore MJ’s memories of Peter by the end of the film."
— @Austin_Medzz on X, December 9, 2025
Why this is eyebrow-raising
Jean Grey and Peter Parker don’t have much of a romantic history in the comics — more of a blink-and-you-missed-it moment than a real arc. So giving them a movie romance would be a leap. There’s also the bigger puzzle: dropping an X-Men heavy-hitter like Jean straight into Peter’s corner implies mutants showing up without much setup, and that’s a big swing unless Marvel is ready to fully fold the X-Men into this corner of the MCU.
What fans are saying
Reactions are split, but the loudest camp doesn’t want to undo No Way Home’s ending by reuniting Peter and MJ too fast — or through a workaround that breaks the logic of the sacrifice. Others think if Sink’s in the movie, she’d be a better fit as someone like Gwen Stacy or Kitty Pryde (Peter and Kitty actually dated in Ultimate Spider-Man). Here’s a snapshot of the replies:
- @silver4061: Don’t do this. It messes with No Way Home’s perfect ending. If anything, wrap MJ’s story and bring in someone new — maybe Gwen, or another classic love interest for Peter.
- @BudderBallin: Ending a fling with Jean just to turn back to MJ would be wild.
- @PhilipLigon: MJ shouldn’t come back. Feels like they’re overvaluing Zendaya’s popularity to force it.
- @TheTrueShifty: No way she’s Jean Grey. New X-Men won’t show up until after a Secret Wars-style soft reboot. Plus, Jean has no real comics connection to Peter.
- @hardrive377: Mutants randomly popping into the main universe? Doesn’t track.
- @CatDaddyVGC: Jean barely interacts with Peter in the books. Kitty Pryde makes way more sense — they actually dated in Ultimate Spider-Man.
The Kitty Pryde angle
If Sink is playing an X character, Kitty is the cleaner fit. She has history with Peter in the Ultimate line, and if Marvel wants a fresh love interest who still nods to the comics, that works without stapling Jean Grey to a story she’s never really been part of. Still, none of this is confirmed — all we know is Sink’s role is being kept quiet.
Where Brand New Day stands right now
For the moment, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is lined up with Destin Daniel Cretton in the director’s chair and a July 31, 2026 date on the calendar. The current lineup circulating includes Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Sadie Sink, Liza Colon-Zayas, Jon Bernthal, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Mando, Tramell Tillman, and Marvin Jones III, with Columbia Pictures, Marvel Studios, and Pascal Pictures producing. As always with this franchise, assume some of that is fluid until Marvel and Sony put it on a stage.
My take: should MJ come back?
I get why people want to keep the No Way Home ending intact. It’s clean, it’s devastating, and it resets Peter into classic Spider-Man territory. But I also think Zendaya coming back can work — as long as the movie earns it. Peter’s choice to keep MJ safe was the right call in that moment. If they want to revisit the relationship, it should cost him something and say something about where he is now, not just undo the spell because the audience misses the couple.
Bringing in a rebound like Jean Grey just to boomerang back to MJ feels contrived. If Sink’s playing someone like Kitty or Gwen, that’s a stronger way to move Peter forward without wrecking what No Way Home did. If the endgame is MJ remembering, cool — but make it hurt first, and make it mean something.