Excuse me?: Is Sadie Sink really set to be MCU’s Gwen Stacy? Is Zendaya’s MJ out?

We could be seeing Sadie Sink take the place of Zendaya in Spider-Man: Brand New Day as the Stranger Things star is rumored to be joining the MCU as a multiverse variant of none other than Gwen Stacy.

It’s been a tough few years for MCU Spider-Man fans. Can you believe it’s been nearly four whole years since we last saw Tom Holland’s web-slinging hero on the big screen? How the time flies. But at long last we’re seeing signs of life with Marvel gearing up for a fourth movie in 2026, and with the hype of a new Spidey instalment comes all the rumors and speculation we’re used to seeing.

The Sadie Sink rumor explored

The rumor has been attributed to Jeff Sneider, the same guy who claimed Robert Downey Jr. would be playing Doctor Doom two months before the announcement was made. If his source is right then that means we could be seeing Sink swing onto our screens as the new live-action Gwen Stacy.

While Sneider has proven himself to be reliable with leaks in the past he isn’t always spot on. Three months ago he was saying that Sink’s role in the MCU might be as an MJ variant. Prior to that he was claiming she was set to play Jean Grey. So let’s take what this guy says with a grain of salt. It certainly sounds like Sadie Sink will be appearing in the MCU in some capacity, but the exact details of her role are somewhat vague right now.

Fan reactions to the news ranged from excitement, with some saying she’s perfect for the role, to confusion, with one person noting that she has “been rumored so far to be playing 10 different characters.”

What does this mean for Zendaya?

We have plenty of questions about this casting of course. First of all, will Sink be playing regular Gwen Stacy or Spider-Gwen? If it’s the former then that would make her a potential love interest to Peter Parker. So what would that mean for Zendaya’s MJ? 

The truth is we just don’t know right now. It’s not even confirmed that this is 100% the role Sadie Sink will be playing in the upcoming Spider-Man film. In all honesty even if Sink does join the cast as Gwen there will probably always be room for Zendaya/MJ. Her character is pretty much integral to every Spider-Man story and it’s hard to imagine Marvel giving us a Spider-Man story without Tom Holland and Zendaya. 

Let’s not forget the fact that the two are also engaged in real life making it even more unlikely that Marvel would keep them separate on-screen. Either way, it will be interesting to see how the dynamics of this iteration of Peter Parker and MJ shift with the potential addition of Gwen Stacy.