While "Spider-Man: Homecoming" is set for release this July, there is still a lot of mystery surrounding one of the main characters, set to be played by Zendaya. It was revealed some time ago that her character name was supposedly Michelle, but with no further information on the character, many suspected that this was a ruse by Marvel to try and keep fans from realizing that Zendaya was playing Mary Jane Watson, Spider-Man's traditional love interest.
Who is Michelle?
Zendaya, known for her roles in the TV shows "K.C Undercover" and "Shake it Up", is set to play a character previously only known as Michelle.
We knew from previous trailers that she appeared to be Peter Parker's love interest in the film, but we knew no more about her character. We have fortunately been able to uncover more about her role in the film due to a junior novelization of the film which was recently released.
Michelle Toomes?
The junior novelization revealed that Zendaya will actually be playing Michelle Toomes, the daughter of Adrian Toomes/The Vulture, set to be played by Michael Keaton in "Spider-Man: Homecoming". The Vulture will be the primary villain in the film, so Peter is essentially sleeping with the enemy if this is all true.
How does this impact her role?
Adrian Toomes looks set to turn to crime during the film as a way to support his family, which is a lot more impacting for the viewers if we've gotten to know his daughter through Zendaya's character.
It will also be a difficult situation for Peter if he is trying to stop the father of his girlfriend. This is a very different situation to the "Amazing Spider-Man" films, where Peter's girlfriend Gwen Stacy was the daughter of a cop, a fellow good guy.
Is this a way to end this romance?
Many fans were surprised at the decision to leave Gwen Stacy and Mary-Jane Watson, Parker's traditional love interests, out of this film in favor of Michelle.
If Peter is forced to send her father to jail though, it would be an easy way to stop her from wanting a romance with Peter, opening the door for a more traditional love interest to be introduced in a sequel to "Spider-Man: Homecoming".
It is an interesting decision by Sony and Marvel to hide the relationship between Zendaya's character and Adrian Toomes this far towards the film's release, but it is always good to see that studios are still capable of leaving fans in the dark on details like this.
"Spider-Man: Homecoming" is set for release in the US on July 7th, 2017, and according to people surrounding the project it will be a very different type of film from what we have seen in recent years from Spider-Man on-screen.
