Does Mary Jane Need To Be A Redhead?

It was recently reported by The Wrap that 19 year old Zendaya would be playing Mary Jane Watson in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming. Lots of people have been both for and against this in the hours since it was reported. Now before delving into this, everyone really needs to actually read reports before talking about them because as of right now, this is just a rumour. The report says two unnamed sources have confirmed this, meaning no one at Marvel, Sony or Zendaya has actually said she will be Mary Jane. So those unnamed sources could be anything from assistant director to extras who were on set for a day, so do not take this as 100% fact.

With that being said, lots of people are for this decision mostly for diversity reasons, having a woman of colour be playing a love interest would be a new step for Marvel, especially an interracial couple which isn't done that often in general media, let alone superhero stories. And heck, Spider-Man: Homecoming so far is the most diverse cast in a Marvel movie so it wouldn't be surprising if this is true. Now as for my opinion, I haven't seen Zendaya act before so I have no idea how she'll do, but everything we've seen from the production of this movie so far tells me they're taking it in the right direction, so I trust she'd do a good job.

Then of course you have the thinly arguments against her being cast as Mary Jane. Of course you have the racists who just don't like the idea of a woman of colour in the role, but then you have the thinly veiled excuses trying to pretend they're not being racist when they kinda are. "I just don't like the idea of changing a character's identity, why can't they just make a new character?" Yes, because the fact that MJ is white is a very defining part of her, lord knows how many stories have been told due to her being Caucasian and will now never come to pass...Then you have even dumber arguments like "MJ is supposed to be a redhead" apparently these people have never heard of hair dye.

But that's something that I actually found fascinating to think about, does MJ need red hair? Yes it is definitely one of her defining features and iconography can be important for a franchise. It'd be like if they changed Spider-Man's costume from red to green, technically nothing about the character has changed, but that doesn't mean people won't be upset about it. But a big difference there is the costume is nothing but iconography. Mary Jane isn't a costume, it's a person, she does still have a defined personality even without the red hair. She's sassy, she's an extrovert, she's supportive, she's brave, she's a quick thinker, there is much more to her than just being a red head so is it important for her to have red hair? No. Not really.

-Danny