Do Peter And MJ Get Back Together In ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day?’
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) is one of the most devastating superhero movies we have because no character ends up wiped from existence the way Tom Holland's Peter Parker is. No character, and a kid at that, ends up all alone in a world where no one should be alone. Effectively, though, the idea of loneliness serves as a breathtakingly realistic theme throughout the story, and it delivers an even more gratifying ending than the one I'd initially imagined.
My one and biggest want for Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) was to see MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) remember who Peter Parker is, and for MJ and Peter to get back together as a result. But, ultimately, how this all happens is a lot more complicated in the movie, and in some ways, it's even more compelling as a result of its more complex nature.
Brand New Day is now playing in theaters, and this article contains spoilers for all four films.
Peter and MJ's Relationship in the MCU Timeline, Explained
In this universe, Peter and MJ know each other throughout high school, but their feelings don't exactly come to fruition until Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). Peter spends a bit too much time in Spider-Man: Homecoming pining after Laura Harrier's Liz Allan, but without fail, the slow burn is a large part of the appeal in how he and MJ get together. In addition, while this version isn't Mary Jane Watson but rather Michelle Jones, shortened to MJ, their slow burn romance feels a lot more poignant compared to any of the other relationships we've had in past movies.
For starters, Peter and MJ have never needed to have been best friends since childhood, nor did they need to be pushed together by other people; rather, how their story pans out is actually lovely and more distinct in high school. It plays with the "It was always you" trope in a compelling way by having both Peter and Ned recognize that MJ is just like them with her mannerisms, giving their three-way friendship more gravitas and depth. (And why it's so fitting that Ned and MJ end up being roommates.)
That said, by the time we get to the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home, it's clear when you rewatch that their feelings have been there all along, bubbling below the surface, allowing their kiss in the street to feel even more impactful. That's why, by the time we get to No Way Home, and they're already an established couple, Tom Holland and Zendaya's natural chemistry leaps off the screen, giving us the type of bond that we know is unbreakable. It makes their goodbye even more haunting, and their reunion in Brand New Day that much more gutting.
Is There Hope for Peter and MJ After ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day?’
There were theories when No Way Home first released that MJ might've felt a familiar spark or recognition when Peter steps into the donut shop, but Brand New Day essentially confirms that she doesn't remember him or any of the feelings she had for him. As it's revealed, she finds the letter Peter initially wrote for her, and she reads it while he's out, then wastes no second to confront him about it. It's also fitting considering right before their memories are erased that she explicitly tells him to find her because otherwise she'll find out on her own, and well...that she does.
The heartbreaking conversation the two of them have confirms that while MJ can tell that Peter is a genuinely good person, she can't seem to remember any of the feelings she's shared with him. Yet, interestingly, when she proposes that he goes over to their apartment to meet Ned, she comes to the conclusion that they "look like best friends." (Plus, she physically draws it with a sketch!) And from the way she's seated with them, the chemistry she has with Peter is also palpable. There's a familiarity there that maybe goes beyond their memories and poses an even bigger revelation about what soulmates look like, both romantic and platonic.
In addition, by the end of the movie, it's clear that something is happening with both MJ and Ned, along with their memories or feelings they can't place. The fact that MJ still has her broken dahlia necklace and is playing with it at the rooftop could potentially signal that she has inklings of who Peter was back then, even if it's not the full picture. Maybe she feels a connection tethered to this thing that was theirs and theirs alone, in the same way that the handshake undoubtedly triggers something in Ned, even if he can't quite figure out what it is. It could also be muscle memory, but still, that has to mean that every fragment of Peter hasn't been wiped fully, right?
Ultimately, while MJ and Peter don't get back together in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, nothing is more obvious than the detail that they will. Someday, they'll fall in love again in the same way that it happened once before, and it'll be a newer form of their relationship. It's also refreshing that the "true love's kiss" doesn't exactly work because while magic exists in this universe, it's not the fairytale kind, nor does it feel right for either of them as characters.
What does feel right, however, is that this outcome makes a clear point that in every lifetime, these three characters will find each other, even through multiverses and whatnot. There's something bigger between them, and it makes the relationships feel a lot more profound and romantic when we can be sure of this fact: with or without concrete, fully formed memories, they can still form the same connections because it's a reflection of who they are at their core.
