The Spider-verse wish machine never really shuts off, and now it has fresh fuel: Kirsten Dunst says she is down to return as OG MJ alongside Tobey Maguire — and she has a specific angle in mind.
The spark: a quick chat with Supes
While promoting her new movie, Roofman, Dunst sat down with Supes and kicked around what a comeback could look like if she and Maguire suited up for one more go. It is not a formal pitch so much as a vibe check — and it hinges on whether people actually want it.
Dunst put it like this:
"That would be cool, right? I mean, I don't know if the fans are into it. I feel like that is an interesting movie, right? Me and Tobey doing that again, but with kids."
Translation: if the appetite is there, she is game — and the story she wants is Peter and MJ as parents.
Parenthood has comic-book precedent (and a big-screen preview)
Comics have gone to the Peter-and-MJ-as-parents well more than once, juggling diapers with late-night web-slinging. On film, the closest we have gotten is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse introducing Mayday, the daughter of Peter Parker (voiced by Jake Johnson) and Mary Jane Watson (voiced by Zoe Kravitz). Different universe, same general idea: Spidey as a dad is fertile ground.
But will Marvel actually make room for it?
Here is the inside-baseball part: Marvel is already knee-deep in multiverse business. The X-Men are slated to get their full MCU rollout in Avengers: Doomsday, and Avengers: Secret Wars is looming after that. So even if everyone is enthusiastic, the timing is messy. Maybe when the dust settles, there is pizza time for the Spider-Man who kicked off the modern craze — and the woman he loves.
- No Way Home proved audiences will show up for multiverse Spidey team-ups, pulling three Spider-Men from different eras into one movie.
- Kirsten Dunst says she is interested in returning as MJ if fans are, too.
- Her preferred angle: reunite with Tobey Maguire for a story where Peter and MJ are parents.
- We have already seen a version of Spidey parenthood on screen with Mayday in Across the Spider-Verse (Jake Johnson as Peter, Zoe Kravitz as MJ).
- Marvel is busy: X-Men are set to enter the MCU in Avengers: Doomsday, with Avengers: Secret Wars on deck — so any Tobey-and-Kirsten reunion would have to wait its turn.
If the internet can manifest three Spider-Men in one movie, it can manifest one more Maguire-Dunst chapter. Your move, multiverse.