Marvel Confirms Spider-Man Star Zendaya Exists in Comic Universe
Warning: contains spoilers for Silk #1!
Art imitates life as Silk #1 confirms that Zendaya - who plays Michelle "MJ" Jones in the MCU's Spider-Man movies - exists within the Marvel Comics Universe. Penned by writer Maurene Goo with art by Takeshi Miyazawa and colors by Ian Herring, the issue chronicles a day in the life of the Web-Spinner as she stops thieves and investigates what appears to be a larger conspiracy. But perhaps the biggest revelation is what Zendaya's inclusion means for the entire Marvel Multiverse going forward.
First appearing in Spider-Man: Homecoming, MJ is a dryly acerbic friend of Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, with the two later forming a romantic relationship. Fans have made obvious connections between Zendaya's MJ and traditional Spider-Man love interest Mary Jane "MJ" Watson, especially since neither character has an equivalent in the opposite medium. Silk #1 doesn't change that understanding, but it does complicate things by revealing that Zendaya herself is still a movie star in the comics.
At issue's open, Cindy Moon heroically hampers a heist at a high-end fashion outlet. The grateful store owner insists that Silk take any item she wants, and under duress, she leaves with a whole outfit (along with the display mannequin.) Leaving her room, she's met by her brother Albert, who lives with her in a shared apartment. Albert questions where she got her new clothing, ending with, "pretty sure Zendaya wore those pants to a premiere."
This seems to confirm that in the Marvel Comics Universe (which has the numerical designation Earth-616), Zendaya is a film actor whose fame is on par with that of the real Zendaya in our own universe. This is not the first time an actor in the MCU has been referenced in the mainline Marvel Universe, and Tom Holland's Peter Parker seemingly appeared (albeit masked) in the Spider-Geddon crossover event. What makes this instance special is that the Spider-Man franchise as a whole has enjoyed a slew of multiverse-spanning stories in recent years, and more are likely to come thanks to the success of Sony's Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse animated film in 2018.
That means there's the very real possibility that the MCU version of Spider-Man could end up visiting a reality where he realizes someone who looks and sounds exactly like MJ is a movie star, potentially even figuring out his own life is cinematic entertainment in other realities. This type of realization isn't unheard of in Marvel Comics, and past characters have been able to accept that being fictional in one reality doesn't mean their own is invalid, but this would be a particularly huge realization for the young, relatively grounded Peter Parker of the MCU. Still, the Web of Life connects Spider-Heroes across all of Marvel's multiverse, so from now on it will always be possible that the MCU Spider-Man could have a very confusing visit to Earth-616, all thanks to Zendaya being a star in multiple realities.
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