Michelle Jones

"My friends call me MJ." "I thought you didn't have any friends." "...I didn't."

- Michelle Jones and Ned Leeds

Michelle Jones is a student at Midtown School of Science and Technology who greatly enjoyed mocking all of her fellow students there, which included Peter Parker. Despite keeping her distance socially, Jones eventually had still been given the opportunity to take over from the departing Liz Toomes as the head of the Decathlon Team, and began to open up more with her fellow teammates, which included Ned Leeds and Parker.

Jones was a victim of the Snap, but along with all other victims, was brought back to life by the Hulk in 2023.

Midtown School Student
"We should probably stop staring before it gets creepy, though." "Too late. You guys are losers." "Then why do you sit with us?" "Because I don't have any friends."

- Peter Parker, Ned Leeds and Michelle Jones

Michelle Jones is a student at Midtown School of Science and Technology. She is a classmate of Peter Parker, and is a member of the school's Academic Decathlon team. Jones called Parker and Ned Leeds losers for staring at Liz Toomes for too long. When Leeds asked why she sat at their table, she replied that she didn't have any friends, and returned to reading her book. Jones also read the On Human Bondage throughout the entirety of gym class, even while she was supposed to be doing curl-ups.

Liz Toomes' Party


"I can't believe that you guys are at this lame party." "But you're here too." "Am I?"

- Michelle and Ned Leeds

A member of the Academic Decathlon team, Liz Toomes, threw a party at her house. Jones attended, but when Peter Parker and Ned Leeds arrived, she called them losers for attending. When Leeds pointed out that she was attending the party as well, she just gave them a quirky look and said, "Am I?".

Field trip to Washington D.C.


"Whoa, what is going on?" "Damage Control. They're still cleaning up from when Captain America took down those skycraft carriers for no reason." "I'm pretty sure Cap was just trying to save us from tyranny." "Yeah. That's what they want you think."

- Ned Leeds and Michelle

Jones joined the Academic Decathlon team for the field trip to Washington, D.C. to participate in the finals. She questioned Mr. Harrington on the timetable for the trip because she wanted to get in some light protesting while in the nation's capitol. She correctly answered the last question of the Decathlon, winning the competition for the team.

On the way to Washington, Parker and Leeds noticed increased activity around the damaged Triskelion structure, with Jones explaining that the Department of Damage Control was still cleaning up the mess after Captain America caused the Helicarriers to crash for seemingly no reason. While Leeds states that he did it to save them, Jones rebuffs him and declares that that is what they want the public to think. Much to team's annoyance, Parker did not attend the Decathlon and Jones had to replace him. However, she managed to answer the last question and Midtown team won the Decathlon. After the Decathlon, Harrington took them to the. Jones refused to go up to the top, not wanting to visit a building that had been built by slaves. While she waited at the bottom, an explosion at the top trapped her teammates in the monument's elevator. When Spider-Man arrived, Jones informed him that her friends were in the elevator. Spider-Man successfully saved the trapped Decathlon team.

Unnecessary Detention


"Why are you here? You don't even have detention." "Oh, I know. I just like to sketch people in crisis."

- Wilson and Michelle Jones

Jones sat next to Peter Parker when he was issued a detention for attempting to skip class. After Parker left, Wilson asked Jones why she was there, as she did not have detention. Jones answered that she enjoyed sketching people in crisis, and showed him a drawing she'd made of him.

Back to school


"I don't know who he is. But I have my suspicions."

- Michelle Jones

Following the revelation that Liz Toomes' father was Vulture, she was forced to move to Oregon with her mother. In the wake of her leaving, Jones was made captain of the Decathlon team. She told her teammates that her friends called her "MJ." When Peter Parker received a message and had to leave, Jones looked at him with suspicion and asked what he was up to. She then laughed and told him she was just kidding and that she did not care. Shortly after that, she was interviewed by Betty Brant, an anchor on the school's news team, as to who she thought Spider-Man might truly be. Jones replied that she was not sure but that she had her suspicions.

Death and Resurrection
In 2018, when Thanos collected all of the Infinity Stones and snapped his fingers, Jones was wiped out of existence. When Hulk snapped his fingers in 2023 to bring all the Snap victims back to life, Jones was restored.

Personality
"You look really pretty." "And therefore I have value?" "No, no, no, that's not what I–" "I'm messing with you. You look pretty, too."

- Peter Parker and Michelle Jones

Michelle Jones considers herself to a very observant person in general, noticing things others may not, and usually keeps a close eye on Peter Parker. She was aware of his academic situation, keeping tabs on which classes he'd neglected or which clubs he quit. During the Rescue at the Washington Monument, she observed Spider-Man as the hero climbed up the after notifying him that her friends were up there. Although she publicly deems Parker to be a loser, she chooses to sit with him and Ned Leeds at lunch, chided them for coming to Liz Toomes' party, gave herself detention just to sketch Parker, and gave Parker the middle finger during the homecoming dance. However, despite the other students occupied by the dance, she immediately noticed Parker leaving the dance after apologizing to Toomes, and later questioned Parker where he was going and what he was hiding, before brushing her earlier statements off and declaring that she did not care. As Parker left the library, however, she gave him a glance, watching him leave.

Jones is generally a serious person, though she does possess a dry sense of humor, and is nearly always seen reading a book. She is a loner and claims not to have friends, though she soon comes to consider her Academic Decathlon team as friends.

Abilities

 * Gifted Intelligence: Jones is a smart, curious and observant individual, using her great intellect to help the Academic Decathlon Team in the Decathlon finals and win the competition. She was later even chosen to replace Liz Toomes as team captain when Toomes moved to Oregon. Jones was also smart enough to notice Peter Parker repeatedly wandering off on more than one occasion, and eventually figured out that he was Spider-Man.

Allies

 * Midtown School of Science and Technology
 * Peter Parker/Spider-Man - Classmate and Boyfriend
 * Ned Leeds - Classmate and Friend
 * Liz Toomes - Former Classmate
 * Sally Avril - Classmate
 * Cindy Moon - Classmate
 * Abe Brown - Classmate
 * Flash Thompson - Classmate
 * Betty Brant - Classmate
 * Charles Murphy - Classmate
 * Tiny McKeever - Classmate
 * Seymour O'Reilly - Classmate
 * Jason Ionello - Classmate
 * Morita - Principal
 * Roger Harrington - Teacher
 * Wilson - Teacher
 * Brad Davis - Classmate
 * Bruce Banner/Hulk - Resurrector
 * Happy Hogan

Enemies

 * Thanos † - Killer
 * Quentin Beck/Mysterio - Attempted Killer

Trivia

 * In the comics, the nickname "MJ" is used by Mary Jane Watson. However, both Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal had stated that Michelle Jones is not Mary Jane Watson and the MJ initials were just a fun homage to Spider-Man's s past adventures and his past love in the MCU.
 * During the Spider-Man: Far From Home press tour, Zendaya dyed her hair red as a homage to the classic look of Mary Jane Watson, and shared a picture of herself with the caption "Face it, Tiger...", a reference to MJ's most famous line.
 * In one scene, Jones reads , which follows an orphaned boy who is sent to live with his aunt and has trouble fitting in at his new school. The plot of the story is somewhat similar to Peter Parker's life.

Behind the Scenes

 * Jon Watts revealed in an interview with that the primary inspirations for Michelle were Allison Reynolds  from ' and Lindsay Weir (Linda Cardellini) from '.
 * Imogen Leaver and Aja Frary were stunt doubles for Zendaya in the role of Michelle Jones.