Spider-Man narratives have their way of inflicting trauma on their viewers every time they put the web-slinger in a situation where he has to save the love of his life from death. When Zendaya's MJ falls from some scaffolding in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Tom Holland's hero rushes to her aid but ends up too late, leaving Andrew Garfield's Spidey to save the day. The sequence precisely parallels a scene in 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2, in which Garfield tries similarly to save his love Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), but fails, culminating in Gwen's death.
In an interview conducted for Spider-Man: The Official Movie Special (via backtosnack_TTV on Twitter), Zendaya reflected on the moment in Spider-Man: No Way Home where her character is saved by Garfield’s Spider-Man. She weighed in on the significance of that scene for Peter Parker 3 to make amends for his saddening past when he fails to save the woman he loves.
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“Andrew’s Peter Parker gets to help save someone else’s love, which is huge for him because it’s something he must deal with every single day. When you lose someone that you love and you feel like it was your fault, it is a huge burden to bear.” Zendaya explained. “It’s a really sweet moment because MJ doesn’t know what happened. She just knows that he just saved her, so she’s like, “Thank you!” He’s crying, and she’s like, “Are you OK?” Even though she’s the one that just fell from the building.”
The Euphoria star also praised the way Spider-Man actors Garfield, Holland, and Tobey Maguire exhibited their different takes on their characters. “They were so lovely and so thoughtful about their respective Spider-Men because they care about their characters too. They care about their Peters and their different stories. Each of them has a connection to Peter Parker and has this strong relationship.” she reasoned.
Fans are currently waiting on more details about Spider-Man 4 and if real-life couples Holland and Zendaya will be seen once more.