Mary Jane Watson
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Mary Jane Watson is a supporting character in the Marvel Comics' Spider-Man series. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Romita, Sr., she first fully appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #47 (April 1967).
A gorgeous, green-eyed redhead, she has been the primary romantic interest of Spider-Man’s alter ego Peter Parker for the last twenty years, although she initially competed against others for his affection, most prominently Gwen Stacy.
Today, Mary Jane is considered an important part of the Spider-Man mythos and has been featured in most other media adaptations of the character. She has even been the main character of some comics and novels aimed at young, female readers. Kirsten Dunst portrayed her in the recent film series.
- 1 Mary Jane in mainstream Marvel continuity
- 2 Alternate versions
- 2.1 House of M
- 2.2 Mary Jane in ''Spider-Girl''
- 2.3 Mary Jane in Ultimate Marvel
- 2.4 Mary Jane in ''Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane''
- 2.5 Mary Jane as Spider-Woman in Exiles
- 2.6 Mary Jane as Spider-Woman in Marvel Mangaverse
- 2.7 Insect Queen in Amalgam
- 3 Mary Jane in film
- 4 Mary Jane in TV shows and cartoons
- 5 Mary Jane in literature
- 6 Action Figures and Dolls
- 7 Quotation
- 8 External links
Mary Jane in mainstream Marvel continuity
Biography
In the primary Earth 616 continuity, Mary Jane Watson was Peter's fourth love interest, after Liz Allan, Betty Brant, and Gwen Stacy.Mary Jane's early life was for many years unknown. It was first explored in Amazing Spider-Man' #259 and finally established by Gerry Conway's graphic novel The Amazing Spider-Man: Parallel Lives (January 1990). MJ came from a severely troubled family. Her father, a professor and frustrated writer, took it out on his family in the form of spousal and child abuse. To cope with her hellish family life, Mary Jane kept up a facade as a superficial party girl to avoid the embarrassment, which may have cast her as a forerunner to the archetype of a wily, feisty red head. The parents eventually divorced. Mary Jane and her sister lived with her mother but often stayed with relatives. Her favorite was her Aunt Anna, who lived next door to the Parkers. At first, she was unimpressed by Peter, a bookish nerd. That opinion changed dramatically on the night of Ben Parker's murder, and Mary Jane saw Peter become Spider-Man for the first time. For years, MJ kept that knowledge to herself that the boy had an intriguing and exciting secret pastime.
Peter began to date her, much to the annoyance of Gwen Stacy. However, her apparent superficiality proved to be an irritation to Peter that her rival did not share. When the Green Goblin murdered Gwen, MJ stayed with Peter during his mourning, and he became more interested in her as he recovered. At one point, Peter proposed to her but she turned him down, not wishing to be tied down. She left New York for several years and Peter saw other women as his adventures continued.
MJ eventually returned and her behavior showed a marked change with her abandonment of her false front. She admitted her knowledge of Peter's secret identity in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #258, and Peter found a new respect for her with her newly discovered maturity, making her his confidante. In actuality, she knew of Peter's double life almost from the start as she had seen him as Spider-Man exiting from Peter's bedroom window on the night his Uncle Ben was murdered. (as told in the Parallel Lives Graphic Novel).
In spite of Peter and Mary Jane's mutual worry that they were marrying too early, Peter's concern for MJ's safety, and Mary Jane's unwillingness to give up her "party girl" lifestyle, they married in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) Annual #21 (1987). She attached Peter's surname to her own, making her Mary Jane Watson-Parker. Spider-Man wore his black costume around this time, but after Mary Jane was attacked and frightened by Venom, she convinced him to change back to his old costume in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #300 (May 1988).
Mary Jane continued to model after her marriage, but was stalked by her wealthy landlord, Jonathan Caesar. When she rejected his advances, he had her blacklisted as a model. She got a role on the soap opera "Secret Hospital," but was unhappy with her character's air-headed and mean personality. Although she successfully petitioned her boss to adjust her character's personality, a deranged fan tried to kill Mary Jane out of hatred for the actions of her soap opera character. Mary Jane quit her job out of fear for her own safety.
Due to this stress, the recent death of Harry Osborn, and the seeming return of her husband's parents, Mary Jane began smoking (a habit she had quit in high school), only increasing the tension between her and Peter. When his parents were discovered to be fakes, Peter was unable to cope with the knowledge and disappeared for a time. Mary Jane visited her sister Gayle and her father for the first time in years, and finally reconciled with them. Meanwhile, Peter overcame his problems on his own. When she and Peter reunited, both were happier than they had been in a long time.
Shortly afterward, Peter's clone Ben Reilly returned, marking the beginning of the Clone Saga. Mary Jane discovered that she was pregnant. While she experienced some complications in her pregnancy, Reilly's scientist friend Seward Trainer helped her. Peter and Ben were told by Trainer that Ben was the real Peter Parker, and Peter was the clone (which later proved to be a lie). Peter, acting on hypnotic suggestion by the Jackal, attempted to kill Mary Jane, but was prevented by Ben Reilly (as the Scarlet Spider), his teammates the New Warriors, and Kaine. Later, while arguing with Ben, Peter accidentally struck Mary Jane. After this, he decided to quit as Spider-Man, because the stress of his double life was endangering his wife and unborn child.
Peter and Mary Jane left New York and moved to Portland, Oregon. While there, he lost his powers in a lab accident. They lived there peacefully for several months, adapting happily to normal life. However, they missed New York City and their friends, and moved back. Peter became unexpectedly ill and nearly died, but instead regained his powers. During the Onslaught crisis, Mary Jane was scanned by a Sentinel robot, who detected genetic abnormalities in her fetus.
Soon afterward, when Mary Jane's baby was already past due, she was poisoned by Alison Mongraine, an agent of the Green Goblin. Mary Jane's baby was stillborn (or seemed to be, as Mongraine apparently took the sedated infant away with her. The baby has not been seen since in the normal continuity, but see below). Ben Reilly died at the Green Goblin's hands the same night.
After this tragic turn of events, Mary Jane begged Peter to quit being Spider-Man. He was happy to do so for several months, but soon felt the tug of his great power and great responsibility to be a hero. She returned to university and majored in psychology, but eventually became bored and decided to return to modelling, where she reached new heights of success. Peter became Spider-Man again behind Mary Jane's back, which put strain on their marriage yet again. At the same time, she began receiving lewd and threatening phone calls from an anonymous stalker.
Mary Jane was flying across America when her airplane exploded in midair. Peter was shocked and went into deep denial over her death. Although he was set up with several other women, and his friends encouraged him to move on, he was unable to believe she was dead.
He was proven right when her mysterious stalker, an unnamed, telepathic mutant, made himself known. This stalker had telepathically connected to Peter in some way, and wanted to take over his life. He kidnapped Mary Jane as part of his plan and held her hostage for several months. The stalker, however, killed himself after finally gleaning enough of Peter's personality and morality to discover that he had done terrible things. Peter and Mary Jane were reunited.
However, the stress of her captivity drove Mary Jane away. She moved to Los Angeles and immersed herself in acting -- starring as the doomed love interest in the film "Lobster-Man." Although she missed Peter terribly, after he failed to meet her flight, she refused to talk to him. However, when the villainess Shathra claimed to have had an affair with Spider-Man, Peter's first act was to call Mary Jane and assure her it was a lie. After he defeated Shathra, Mary Jane and Peter ended their separation.
When Peter and Mary Jane's apartment and Aunt May's house were burned down by Charlie Weiderman, and Spider-Man joined the New Avengers, Mary Jane and Aunt May accompanied him to live in Stark Tower. Mary Jane immediately felt at home with the New Avengers and was happy to finally be part of Spider-Man's "world."
Controversies
According to Stan Lee, Mary Jane was originally intended to be simply a rival for Gwen Stacy for the affections of Peter Parker. Lee had always intended for Gwen Stacy to be Spider-Man's one true love, but fans vocally supported the feisty Mary Jane over the non-offensive Gwen Stacy. The pairing of Mary Jane and Peter Parker has become one of the true classic romances of the comic medium and the couple are considered to be one of the comic genre's most beloved "super-couples".However, many professional writers, artists, and editors (including artist Alex Ross, and former Editor-In-Chief Bob Harras) at Marvel dislike the pairing and the Mary Jane character. Some feel that Mary Jane, as a highly attractive model, should never be attracted to an everyman character like Peter Parker. Current Marvel Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada has said that he feels the marriage ages the characters, making them less appealing to young readers, and lessens the dramatic, "soap opera" possibilities. However, Quesada did admit that "divorcing or widowing, or annulling the marriage [...] would only be worse." [link]
Fans of the pairing point out that their relationship evolved naturally and realistically, the characters seemed older after decades of stories anyway, and that Mary Jane was aware of Peter's heroic identity (explaining the attraction). Mary Jane remains a popular character, even spinning off into her own comic series, and some feel that she is used unfairly as a scapegoat for other problems.
Skills and equipment
Mary Jane has no special powers, but due to her relationship with Spider-Man and her job as an actress and model, she has found herself in danger many times. Having learned of the risk at the expense of her friend Gwen Stacy's life, she is unwilling to be completely dependent on others for her safety.Mary Jane has some training in self-defense. Her teachers have included Captain America. She has been able to fend off attackers of normal strength and skill, including the Chameleon using a baseball bat, and an obsessive stalker using a cue stick. Other examples are knocking out her kidnapper with a lamp, electrifying his bodyguards with said lamp, and fending off an obsessed fan with a can of hair spray and a weighted purse.
Furthermore, there were several occasions in which she had saved Spider-Man's life from his super-powered enemies. Some examples are distracting Alistair Smythe and his Spider-Slayer with a baseball bat, and setting fire to the cape of a demonic Hobgoblin. It is very plain to see that Mary Jane does not play the helpless damsel in distress.
Mary Jane also carries a gun (although Peter dislikes the idea) which she used against the Green Goblin. When Peter developed organic webshooters, he modified his original webshooters into bracelets that she could wear discreetly, giving her an additional defensive weapon. She also carries a modified spider-tracer with an amplified signal that can be traced over long distances.
Mary Jane has used her fashion design and sewing skills on many occasions to make and repair Spider-Man's costumes. She also designed the Hornet, Prodigy, and Ricochet costumes. She is usually the person who provides first aid when he is injured.
On one occasion, she was possessed by Red Sonja and battled Kulan Gath, but she has no memory of those events (Marvel Team-Up vol. 1 #79). On another occasion, she borrowed Iron Man's old armor temporarily.
Alternate versions
House of M
In the House of M storyline and universe (in which Avenger Scarlet Witch finally snapped and began changing reality), Mary Jane is a world-famous actress, and she is one of the few humans that the mutant population likes. She co-starred in movies with Spider-Man (who has led the mutant population to believe that he is a mutant, when in fact he isn't). In her latest movie, she plays Spider-Man's real-life wife, Gwen Stacy.Mary Jane in Spider-Girl
In the MC2 continuity, Mary Jane was reunited with her baby daughter by Kaine, who found the child living with Alison Mongraine, the con artist who had kidnapped the baby on instruction from the Green Goblin. Baby May grew to become May "Mayday" Parker, aka Spider-Girl. Alison Mongraine became quite attached to the baby while she was in her care. Though she was thought to have been killed by Kaine, she returns years later to make contact with May. May and Mary Jane forgive Alison, who sincerely regrets her crime and loves the girl like her own child.
After a complicated pregnancy, Mary Jane also gives birth to a baby son, Benjamin. She is a respected fashion designer and businesswoman, and secretly started a store based on Spider-Girl related merchandise to pay for May and Ben's educations.
Mary Jane in Ultimate Marvel
In the Ultimate Marvel continuity, Mary Jane Watson is a beautiful redhead who attends Midtown High School with Peter Parker and Liz Allen. Though originally known as "Mary" to her friends, she later picks up the "MJ" nickname. Unlike the original MJ, Ultimate Mary Jane is smart and sensitive and expresses her true feelings instead of masquerading as a party girl. She and Peter begin dating, and, in Ultimate Spider-Man #13, she was the second person to learn of Peter's secret identity - the first who Peter revealed it to - and is currently his sole confidante. She sews Peter's spare Spider-Man costumes, once calling herself the Betsy Ross of superheroes. Although Peter and MJ love each other very much, Peter's Spider-Man identity proves a heavy burden on their relationship. The relationship is complicated when Gwen Stacy enters their lives.
Later, Peter began to fear for Mary Jane's safety more than ever when the Green Goblin kidnapped her in a twisted attempt to gain Peter's allegiance and flung her off the Queensboro bridge. MJ survived, but was left traumatized. In "Hobgoblin" (#72-78), it was said Harry and Mary Jane had engaged in a brief romance around the same day Peter was bitten. Then, long after his father is gunned down as the Green Goblin, Harry tells her that Peter "killed his father". Recently, Peter ended the relationship after realizing his life as a superhero will always endanger her. Shortly thereafter, Mary Jane went out with a character named Mark Raxton. After one date, however, she planned to prove herself to Peter and to get him back. When Raxton asked what was so special about Parker, she simply replied "everything." Presently, she has shown difficulty in moving on from Peter and in dealing with the state of their friendship, especially now that Peter is dating Kitty Pryde.
At one time, MJ had expressed her wish to become an actress, but now dreams of being a teacher.
Mary Jane in Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane
In Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, a comic book series set outside the regular Marvel continuity, Mary Jane is still a teenager and the book is primarily a teen drama rather than a superhero comic book, although it takes place in a superhero universe with Spider-Man playing a prominent role. In this continuity, Mary Jane is dating Harry Osborn and her best friend, Liz Allan, is dating Flash Thompson. The ongoing series was preceded by two four-issue limited series, Mary Jane and .
Mary Jane as Spider-Woman in Exiles
In the Exiles arcs "Legacy", "A Second Farewell" and a cameo in "Destroy All Monsters", an alternate reality counterpart to Mary Jane Watson was shown. This Mary Jane is Spider-Woman, a member of the Avengers. Mary Jane is a lesbian who fell in love with the reality-hopping Mariko Yashida, the ill-fated Exiles member Sunfire. For more information, read the article for Sunfire.
Mary Jane as Spider-Woman in Marvel Mangaverse
In the Marvel Mangaverse reality, Mary Jane Watson is Spider-Woman. She is a new initiate into the Spider-clan (of ninjas), with her boyfriend (Peter Parker) showing her the ropes.Insect Queen in Amalgam
In the Amalgam Comics' reality, Mary Jane Watson is the Insect Queen, and the fiance of Spider-Boy. She has the power to mimic the physical abilities of any insect or arachnid.Mary Jane in film
In both films to date, the character of Mary Jane Watson was played by Kirsten Dunst.Mary Jane in Spider-Man
In 2002's Spider-Man, Mary Jane is Peter Parker's high school crush and only sweetheart. At the time, she was dating the high school bully, Flash Thompson. Flash figures into the comic storyline in more detail, but his initial purpose is the same - to cause Peter to begin to stand up for himself and gain some measure of self confidence. Flash and MJ break up at their high school grad ceremony. Parker's friend, Harry Osborn, is her first boyfriend after leaving high school, but she manages to fall in love with Parker and his alter-ego, Spider-Man. Mary Jane begins to grow more distant from Harry, denying his advances. After Harry sees Peter and MJ holding hands, he gets angry and breaks up with her.The Green Goblin, who is Harry's father Norman Osborn's alter ego, kidnaps her and holds her over the Queensboro Bridge. He tells Spider-Man that he must choose between her and a group of children caught in the Roosevelt Island tram car. Spider-Man manages to save both Mary Jane and the children. (In the comic book, it was Gwen Stacy who was held over a bridge, and Spider-Man's attempt to save her failed.)
The Green Goblin announces plans to torture and kill Mary Jane to Spider-Man during the climax, but he dies before having the chance to act upon his threat.
Peter shies away from Mary Jane at the end of the film as he is afraid for her safety, and thus does not want to get involved with her.
Mary Jane in Spider-Man 2
In 2004's Spider-Man 2, Mary Jane's hair is now a more realistic shade of red (not the bright red from the comics.) She wants to start a relationship with Peter Parker. Peter backs away from a relationship with her even though he wants one because he fears for her safety. In her frustration Mary Jane goes on to have a relationship with John Jameson, the astronaut son of Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson.The movie hints that she is doing this in the hope of making Peter jealous. Peter decides that being Spider-Man is not what he wants and comes back to Mary Jane so that he could start a relationship with her. Mary Jane pushes him away this time because she is getting married to John Jameson, but secretly does want a relationship with Peter. After kissing the astronaut, in a manner that is reminiscent of the upside-down kiss between Mary Jane and Spider-Man from the first Spider-Man movie, she finds that she may really want a relationship with Peter Parker.
She meets Peter in a coffee shop where she asks for a kiss to confirm her beliefs. Just before Peter can kiss her Doctor Octopus snatches her and runs away. Doctor Octopus takes her to an abandoned pier where Spider-Man confronts him. Spider-Man pulls his mask off in hopes of getting Doctor Octopus to come back to his senses, and Mary Jane realizes that Spider-Man and Peter Parker are one and the same.
Mary Jane runs away from her wedding with John Jameson and comes to Peter's door where she tells him that she is grown up enough to make her own decisions and she loves him and will take him as Spider-Man knowing the danger it poses to her life.
Mary Jane in Spider-Man 3
Mary Jane returns in Spider-Man 3. She and Harry Osborn both now know Peter's true identity. It is shown in the trailer, that she tries to help Peter confront the Venom suit as it begins to take control of him. She begins a rivalry with Gwen Stacy over Peter. In the teaser trailer for the movie, Peter is seen trying to catch a diamond ring as he's falling, meaning he is most likely intending to ask Mary Jane or Gwen to marry him. It also shows in the film, Mary Jane and Harry looking at each other in a romantic way.
Mary Jane in TV shows and cartoons
In the , Mary Jane Watson first meets a 19-year-old Peter Parker in "The Return of the Spider-Slayers" (Season #1 Ep #4). Mary Jane supplants Debra Whitman and Felicia Hardy as his primary love interest. She was played by Sara Ballantine. She is last seen in Season #3 Episode 41, "Turning Point," in which the Green Goblin discovers Spider-Man's true identity. In a nod to The Night Gwen Stacy Died, he takes her to the George Washington Bridge where she falls into a dimensional portal created by his stolen time dilation accelerator. In season 4, a clone of Mary Jane created by Miles Warren appears, and she and Peter marry in the first episode of Season 5. Later, her true nature is revealed and she (and a clone of Hydro-Man) dissolve due to their unstable cellular structure.The true Mary Jane is never seen again in this series, but is shown to have been reunited with and married to Peter in the sequel, Spider-Man Unlimited. Jennifer Hale provided her voice. It was never revealed how she returned (supposedly, the writers left this for the next season, which was never made).
Mary Jane also appeared in MTV's (where she was voiced by Lisa Loeb), taking place shortly after the events of the first live-action movie.
In the Tokusatsu version of Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson was called Hitomi Sakuma (played by Rika Miura).
Although she did not appear in Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends the character Firestar, a female version of the Human Torch, resembles Mary Jane in appearance. Also, like Mary Jane, Firestar, with the alternate identity of Angelica Jones, is a college student and classmate of Peter Parker.
Mary Jane in literature
Romance novelist Judith O'Brien wrote two novels featuring a teenage Mary-Jane. It featured illustrations by Mike Mayhew. It doesn't fit into any of the comics' continuity, although it claims to be 'inspired' by Ultimate Spider-Man.The first novel is a basic retelling of the origin story from Mary-Jane's point of view. She is depicted as a shy, insecure girl who knew Peter Parker from elementary school. She deals with such teen topics like anorexia and peer pressure.
At a field trip to Osborn Industries, Peter is bitten by a spider, which grants him powers. It is later revealed that Norman Osborn had injected a super drug known as OZ into the spider, which he later uses as a sports drink which he sells to Mary Jane's classmates. (The use of OZ is the only real connection to Ultimate, but even that is drastically different from the way its portrayed in the original comics.)
As Peter suits up to become Spider-Man (his origin with Uncle Ben is made apparent but off screen), Mary Jane sets out to expose Norman with the help of Peter.
The novel was successful with teenage girls who weren't familar with the comics, but was met with criticism from the core fans due to what they considered mischaracterization of some of the characters (most notably Harry Osborn, who is portrayed as somewhat of a punk who manipulates Peter into doing his homework while treating him horribly) and its fooling around with continuity.
A sequel, Mary Jane 2 was later published. This one dealt with the continuing relationship of Peter and Mary Jane, and the emergence of new girl Gwen Stacy. In this continuity, Gwen is an 'ugly duckling' who Mary-Jane gives a 'makeover'. However, Gwen soon has feelings for Pete.
Harry Osborn reappears and is made more sympathetic than he was in the previous novel; with his father in jail, he is now poor and has to live without a life of luxury.
Action Figures and Dolls
- An action figure of Mary Jane was released based on her appearance in .
- A 6-inch scale action figure and a 12-inch scale doll of Mary Jane were released to coincide with the 2002 Spider-Man film. Both were based on the likeness of Kirsten Dunst and wore the Asian-inspired red dress she wore in the film. These figures were released by Toy Biz.
- A Barbie version of Mary Jane was released by Mattel in 2005. The doll's clothing was based on the wedding gown she wore in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, 1987.
- Mary Jane was included in a two-pack with Peter Parker in Art Asylum's Minimates small-scale figure series. This set was a convention exclusive.
- Art Asylum produced a full-body statuette of Mary Jane based on her appearance in the early 1970's, identical except for its paint application to a simultaneously-released statue of Gwen Stacy.
- Moore Collectibles produced an 8-inch bust (actually from the knees up, nearly a full statue) of Mary Jane based on her first full appearance.
Quotation
"Face it, Tiger... you just hit the jackpot!"—her first words to Peter Parker, initially appearing in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #42 (November 1966), are by far her most famous words, and indeed, one of the most famous quotations in the Marvel Universe, duplicated in nearly every continuity in which Mary Jane appears. A non-exhaustive list of comic books the quotation appears in:- Amazing Spider-Man: Parallel Lives (January 1990)
- Deadpool #6 (June 1997) — Typhoid Mary parodies the quotation
- Spider-Man: Blue #2 (August 2002)
- Ultimate Spider-Man #13 (November 2001)
- Spider-Girl #1: delivered by MJ's and Peter's daughter May (aka Spider-Girl) in the alternate MC2 universe
External links
- [MDP:Mary Jane Watson]
- [Profile of Mary Jane]
- [A detailed analysis of the growth of the relationship between Spider-Man and Mary Jane]
- [The Women of Marvel Comics MJ Page]
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