Exclusive: Kirsten Dunst In Talks To Return As Mary Jane In Secret Wars
Kirsten Dunst is in negotiations to return as MJ Watson for Secret Wars.
This article is more than 2 years old
Kirsten Dunst is currently in negotiations to return to the role of Mary Jane Watson for the upcoming Secret Wars event film. According to our trusted and proven sources, Kirsten Dunst is just one of many actors who has appeared in various Marvel films over the years being wooed to reprise the role in Secret Wars, which is shaping up to be one of the most star-studded comic book movies ever. If Marvel Studios manages to lock down even a few of the actors they are looking to return for the event, it is sure to be spectacular.
There have only been a few movies announced in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Six, including the mysterious Fantastic Four reboot (of which we know little except that Matt Shakman will direct and it will not be an origin story) and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Kirsten Dunst is potentially returning for the third announced movie so far, Secret Wars, which will conclude what is being referred to as The Multiverse Saga. Given that pretty much everything Marvel is doing right now is laying down tracks for the Multiverse concept, the studio is no doubt trying to pull out all the stops for the climax.
In addition to Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson, Marvel is trying to get actors who starred in pre-MCU films like Nicolas Cage as Ghost Rider, Ian McKellen as Magneto, and Wesley Snipes as Blade to return for Secret Wars. Of those characters, only Blade has so far been confirmed to have been recast for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Mahershala Ali taking over for Wesley Snipes as the Daywalker. The most recent trilogy of Spider-Man films had an analog of Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane Watson in Zendaya’s Michelle Jones-Watson, but so there is a great likelihood of seeing two MJs encounter each other in Secret Wars.
We know little of the plot that might bring Kirsten Dunst to Secret Wars; the name is derived from both the original 1984 Marvel Comics miniseries and the 2015 event that utilized many of the same conceits and imagery. The MCU film will likely recall the 2015 version more, as it dealt with the kind of multiversal concepts that the studio is bringing to the forefront, but that remains to be seen. Since the blockbuster 2021 Spider-Man: No Way Home gave audiences a taste of seeing three different versions of Peter Parker interacting, it is clear that the game plan is at least in part bringing all of Marvel’s film history together.
If Kirsten Dunst does return for Marvel’s Secret Wars, it will be her first appearance as Mary-Jane Watson since Spider-Man 3 in 2007. Since then, she has appeared in highly acclaimed films like Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia and Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, as well as television roles in Fargo and On Becoming a God in Central Florida. Fans would be overjoyed to see her return as Mary-Jane, so let’s just hope talks go well.
