Although Zendaya’s Michelle Jones has appeared in more Marvel movies than Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy, the MCU’s MJ can learn a couple things from her.

Zendaya’s MJ may need to draw some inspiration from Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy in order for her to shine in the MCU’s Spider-Man 4 as much as Gwen shined in the Amazing Spider-Man movies. Spider-Man: No Way Home concluded the MCU’s Spider-Man trilogy on a bittersweet note with Tom Holland’s Peter Parker down back on square one. But fortunately for the MCU’s Spider-Man, MJ and Need Leeds are still safe and sound. Whether they’ll eventually reunite with Peter and rebuild their relationships with him is uncertain, but the fact that they’re still alive is a blessing considering Peter Parker’s signature bad luck.

Spider-Man’s romantic partners have played a big role in his story since the character’s inception and have formed their own unique relationship with him. For instance, Black Cat encourages Peter Parker to prioritize his Spider-Man persona over his real identity and Silk possesses an instinctive attraction to him due to their shared origin. But so far, all theatrical Spider-Man movies have only focused on a limited number of Spider-Man love interests: Gwen Stacy, MJ, and Liz Allen. While MJ is Peter Parker’s most famous partner (both in her Mary Jane and Michelle Jones versions), Gwen Stacy stood out as one of the biggest strengths of The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Amazing Spider-Man’s Gwen Stacy Is More Than A Side Character

Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy plays an active role in the Amazing Spider-Man movies. It doesn’t take long for Gwen to go from standing up against Flash Thompson to outsmarting the Lizard and helping Peter Parker develop the antidote that ultimately cures Curt Connors and prevents New York from getting infected. Gwen has her own goals besides a romantic relationship with Peter, as she wins a scholarship for Oxford University and decides to leave to pursue her dreams. And even when Spider-Man’s own struggles force her to stay, she does everything she can to help him. Smart and fearless as ever, Gwen helps Peter defeat Electro before Harry Osborn kills her.

MCU MJ Has Been Underutilized Across Three Spider-Man Movies

Zendaya’s MJ isn’t nearly as helpless as Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane, but she still falls short of Gwen Stacy’s influence on the Amazing Spider-Man movies. MJ barely gets anything to do in Spider-Man: Homecoming and the first half of Spider-Man: Far From Home. It’s only until she reveals that she already knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man halfway through Spider-Man: Far From Home that Zendaya’s MJ begins to play an important role and the chemistry between Peter and MJ becomes tangible. Even then, MJ only helps defeat Mysterio accidentally when she collects a drone. After that, she only escapes from Mysterio’s drones before making her relationship with Peter Parker official.

How Spider-Man 4 Can Do MJ Justice

Sony producer Amy Pascal confirmed Zendaya will appear in the MCU’s Spider-Man 4 (via Variety). Even though MJ has no recollection of Peter Parker and therefore has little to do with Spider-Man’s new adventures, it still makes sense for MJ and Ned to appear in the sequel. Now that Spider-Man: No Way Home took the time to turn MJ into an active character, it would be a mistake for Spider-Man 4 to walk back on her character development. While she isn’t a genius scientist like Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy, Zendaya’s MJ could still help Spider-Man defeat his enemies with her impressive intellect and deduction skills.

Like The Amazing Spider-Man‘s Gwen Stacy, MJ could avoid becoming a damsel in distress and instead use her presence in the battlefield as a weapon against the MCU’s Spider-Man 4 supervillains. With her talent for investigation and her knowledge about crime and history, Michelle Jones can get the upper hand on Spider-Man’s enemies intellectually while he takes charge of the brute force. And given that she’s also back at square one regarding her relationship with Peter Parker, it’s highly likely that MJ will remember Spider-Man’s secret identity with the help of her deduction skills, after which she will likely keep being the brains to Spider-Man’s brawn.