MJ’s Boyfriend in Brand New Day Responds to Theory He’s Playing One of Spider-Man’s Most-Hated Characters, “Paul”
Spider-Man: Brand New Day had more than a few revelations to share about Peter’s world since the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, and one such reveal was MJ’s new boyfriend. The character is played by actor Eman Esfandi in the film, and though unnamed in the film and only labeled as the boyfriend in the credits, subtitles revealed the character’s name as Paul. That caused a host of reactions thanks to the character’s divisive nature in the comics, but now Esfandi has addressed that theory directly.
Esfandi took to X and shot down any notion that he would play Paul, and he also shouted out those who defended him in the comments, writing, “I am not, never have been, and never will be “Paul” To those of you I saw in the comments defending my honor and saying I’d never accept that role… thank you and MTFBWY 🙏🏽🙌🏽”.
It Looks Like Paul Didn’t Make His MCU Debut After All
Given that the credits name him as the boyfriend and his name isn’t said in the film, this seems like an instance of either an error on the subtitles’ part or a leftover element of a previous version of the film. Perhaps at one point the character was actually called Paul, but clearly that wasn’t the case in the final version of the film.
It’s also a bit of a testament to how divisive the character of Paul actually is, and it’s not really even the character’s fault. Regardless of who would have been put into that sort of role, they would have received a wave of backlash due to the series of events that led to Mary Jane and Peter Parker being split in the first place.
That traces back to One More Day, the infamous event that had Peter and MJ agreeing to a deal with Mephisto to save Aunt May, and the cost was their relationship and their entire marriage. Later, Mary Jane met Paul, and after an adventure in another universe left them stranded for years, Mary Jane and Paul ended up starting a family, though that twist wasn’t received all that well either.
The character was ultimately killed by Torment in a later storyline, and though he had won over some fans in his later appearances, the chapter seems to have been closed on Paul for the time being in the comics. Granted, death isn’t truly the end for many characters in comics, and Spider-Man’s world is full of characters who have previously died and come back.
For now though, it seems as if Paul’s not going to be a factor for a while in the comics, and that’s now also the case for Paul’s journey in the MCU, ending before it actually had the chance to get started.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is in theaters now.
