- We're getting super spoilery here,
revealing the true identity of Zendaya's
Spider-Man: Homecoming character on today's Nerdist News.
(techno music)
The identity of Zendaya's character in Spidey's
upcoming solo flick has been so tightly guarded
and speculated upon, we weren't sure we'd really find out
who she was until we were already sitting in the theater,
and even then, we could've been duped.
But amazingly, the time has come,
and the mystery character Michelle has been revealed
in the most unepic way of all,
through the junior novelization of the film.
Well, none of us saw this coming,
especially since Michelle's potential secret connection
to Peter was such a major source of fan speculation.
But since we don't wanna be the ones to spoil your fun,
or spoil the real roots of Zendaya's Michelle for you,
we're gonna break down this news by first revealing
who Michelle isn't, then giving you a big honking
spoiler warning before we drop the true knowledge on you.
Now, die hard Spidey comics fans have speculated
that Michelle could be a younger version
of Michelle, a police officer character
who Peter dates in the comics.
Now, this could've been a very cool way to bring
the cop character into Spidey's on screen world,
and with Michelle's probing interrogation of Peter in the trailer
and her no-nonsense manner,
we thought this theory was very plausible.
But we now know that Michelle is not.
Get that theory out of here.
Another early theory was that Zendaya's character
is a tried and true love interest for Spidey.
We know that we love a good When Harry Met Sally
first they hate each other, then they love each other
story to a classic couple,
but we also know that Liz Allen is gonna be
Peter's main lady love in Homecoming,
so we can definitely rule out the theory
that Michelle is a reimagined Mary Jane Watson.
Now, similar to the thought that Michelle could be
an earlier version of Mary Jane,
some might speculate she could be another prominent
Spidey romantic lead, Gwen Stacy.
This was not one of the big theories that took hold
of the interwebs, but we can for sure rule out
the possibility that Michelle
is a young reincarnated Gwen Stacy.
And as for Spidey's super girlfriends,
don't expect to see Michelle as a high school version
of Black Cat, Ms. Marvel, or Cindy Moon anytime soon.
I mean, of course she's not Gwen Stacy,
look at her neck, it's fine.
(groans)
Now that we've revisited some of the possibilities,
it's time for the reveal.
This is your major super power,
super soaker spoiler warning,
so click away now if you do not want to know
who Zendaya's character Michelle truly is
in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
For reals, spoiler alert.
I'm gonna say it now, here it comes.
We now know that Michelle's last name is Toomes.
(yells)
As in related to Adrian Toomes, the Vulture.
So, it looks as though Michelle is the daughter
of the Vulture, being played by a man who's made his career
playing characters named after flying animals,
and isn't about to stop now, Michael Keaton.
We found out a few months ago that the Vulture
is sort of like an every man's Tony Stark
running a salvaging company and building a suit
in other tech from recovered alien goods
and super advanced artifacts
that he finds on the battle field.
Remember the Chitauri invasion?
Yeah, that's in his suit.
Keaton's Vulture will likely go head to head with big Stark
when Tony moves in on his clean up business,
creating the sort of perfect parallel for big business
versus locally owned.
This is an artisanal Vulture suit,
not like the kind you'd get at the Apple Store, Tony.
Now, in the comics, Adrian Toomes doesn't have a daughter
named Michelle, his daughter's name is Valeria,
and she has quite the story arc herself.
Valeria becomes estranged from her dad
when her parents split up,
and though papa Toomes goes down the path of darkness
and becomes The Vulture, Valeria diverges from
her dad's villainous path and eventually ends up
becoming an agent of Shield.
Now, if Michelle, who appears to be a new character
created for this film does, in any way,
follow Valeria's arc,
we could see her being a positive presence
and ultimately someone who fights on Spidey's side.
On the other hand, the last time we saw a dynamic
villainous parent and child duo on the Spideyverse
was Norman Osborn and Harry Osborn as the Green Goblin
and the Green Gobson respectively.
And though director Jon Watts would likely not want
to retread that territory in the same way,
having Adrian and Michelle as prominently featured
as they've been so far in the Spidey marketing
makes us wonder if Michelle could, even briefly,
wind up joining her dad's team and directly opposing
both Spider-Man and Stark.
Now, this makes sense and Spidey does have a tendency
to get tangled up in his web
of personal allies and villains.
I mean, take a look at Spider-Man Two, for example,
where his personal mentor ends up being the big bad,
Doctor Octopus, AKA, Doctopus.
It's cannon.
I invented Spider-Man, his name is Doctopus.
But rather than a straight up retread,
a Vulture and child team up against Spidey
might just be the way to show the side of old web head
that doesn't always have a good, wait for it,
Spidey sense for who's secretly fighting against him.
Get it, 'cause that's his thing?
Anyway, but whether she's on her dad's side
and works against the interest of Tony Stark
and Spider-Man, or ends up finding out her dad
has turned bad and joins Spider-Man's side,
Michelle seems to be very much redeemable,
and we think she could be a great addition
to Spidey's crew as someone who keeps him on his toes.
Also, Zendaya is awesome, and we already wanna see
more of her in the Spideyverse
for whatever comes after Homecoming.
Prom?
I don't know, but what do you folks think?
Will Michelle become one of the good guys?
And is Peter Parker a good judge of character?
No, he's not.
Let's discuss.