Spider-Man and Dune Star Zendaya Wants to Play a Big Screen Villain

Spider-Man and Dune star Zendaya wants to try her hand at a more villainous role.

During an interview with Elle, the Marvel actress, who starred as MJ in Spider-Man: Homecoming and its recent sequels, admitted it’s good to be bad.

“I would love to play a villain of sorts,” she said. “Tap into that evil, supervillain vibe. Whatever that manifests in, I don’t think necessarily in a superhero sense but in an emotional sense. I feel like I usually play the good guy, so I’d like to play the bad guy.”

Zendaya starred opposite Tom Holland in his most recent Spider-Man outing, No Way Home, which saw the Marvel webslinger blow open the multiverse. If you ask me, that could be a great jumping-off point for a villainous version of MJ.

In fact, the Comic books introduced Earth-18119’s MJ to the Venom symbiote following the recent Secret Wars event, and with Avengers: Secret Wars still on Marvel’s upcoming slate, it sure would be a hell of a crossover.

Meanwhile, Zendaya admitted that she also wants to get behind the camera. “[I want to] direct one day,” she added. “To direct a film, hopefully more than just one, but just doing it. The first step to actually doing something yourself is not an easy step to take, so hopefully I can get over the fear.”

However, despite her previous appearance in the recent Spider-Man trilogy, it’s unclear how much she’ll be involved in the future of the MCU.

IGN’s Spider-Man: No Way Home review gave it 8/10 and said: “Its impact on the universe as a whole, as well as the overall emotional beats, all feel earned. Stellar performances meet what feels like a Saturday morning cartoon rife with all the devastating punches we’ve come to expect from this sneaky universe. Though it struggles with some tired superhero tropes, everything else about it will leave fans grinning ear-to-ear.”

Want to read more about Zendaya? Check out how Zendaya paid homage to Mary Jane Watson as well as the official trailer for her upcoming drama, Challengers.

Image credit: Adrienne Surprenant/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.