Origin
Mary Jane Watson lived in an abusive household. She was born to Philip and Madeline Watson, and was the younger sister of Gayle Watson. Mary Jane’s mother had initially wanted to move to New York so she can pursue an acting career, but she gave up her dream to let her husband pursue his. Mary Jane’s father was a frustrated professor and writer, he would take out his frustration on the family as spouse and child abuse due to him becoming an alcoholic. Her father constantly changed his jobs by moving from one college to another, having to uproot his family and move whenever he changes a job. This added with the troubles at home, MJ developed the party girl personality to hide the embarrassment at home and to be loved by her peers quicker.
One day MJ’s father struck his daughter Gayle because he became enraged with the cost of Gayle’s dancing lessons; Madeline had accepted her husbands abuse on her, but did not want to see it happening to her daughters. Madeline took her two daughters and left Philip while he was about to receive honors during a college awards ceremony, MJ and her sister lived with her mother moving from relatives to relatives. Her favorite relative is Anna May, who is also the neighbor of Aunt May and Peter Parker in Forest Hills. During this time Mary Jane was 13 years old and Peter was 14 years old. When she first saw Peter it was when he was sweeping leaves outside his home, she was not interested in him at all because of his “nerdy” look. Mary Jane moved with her mother and sister to Pittsburgh where they finally settled with her mother’s uncle Frank Brown, whose wife and three children had passed away.
Character Evolution
Mary Jane went to high school there with her sister and she became the typical popular girl. Mary Jane began working on her dream of becoming a famous actress by performing in many school plays including ”Romeo and Juliet”. Her sister on the other hand, married her high school sweet heart Timothy Byrnes and she became pregnant at the age of 19. Mary Jane saw the eyes of desperation in Timmy just like her father’s and became distant from her sister. Mary Jane began going to parties more often and worked on her acting to distant herself from her sister.
During Thanksgiving Break, Mary Jane went to stay with her Aunt Anna. While there, her previous opinions about Peter Parker would change on the night of Uncle Ben‘s death. MJ saw Peter sneaking out of his window in his Spider-Man costume, but she decided to keep it to herself and not tell anyone. Mary Jane’s sister became pregnant again and Timmy left her soon after. What made it worst was Madeline became seriously ill and eventually passed away, leaving her two daughters on their own. Gayle had expected Mary Jane to stay with her and help her take care of the two kids, but Mary Jane ran away from Gayle and moved to New York with her Aunt Anna. While temporarily staying with her Aunt Anna, MJ found a job waiting tables and dancing at a local restaurant. MJ eventually earned enough money to rent her own studio apartment downtown. Aunt Anna and her friend Aunt May constantly tried to set up Mary Jane and Peter, but MJ would constantly make excuses to get out of the blind date.
Face it Tiger
Aunt May had been trying to set him up with her neighbor’s niece for quite some time, hoping that Peter would marry Mary Jane one day. Initially, Peter had been reluctant to meet her, assuming she would not be his type. Peter also was in love with the secretary at the Daily Bugle, Betty Brant, and Liz Allen was constantly flirting with him. Mary Jane was first mentioned in Amazing Spider-Man #15. She then made her first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #25 when MJ went over to the Parker’s to meet Peter, however Peter was out fighting Spider-Slayers as Spider-Man. Mary Jane’s face was covered by a plant during this appearance. During this time, Liz Allen and Betty Brant were going over to the Parker’s to visit Peter. However, Peter was not there but Mary Jane was, and the two girls were left astonished at their new competitor for Peter’s affections. Mary Jane Watson finally made her first full appearance at the end of The Amazing Spider-Man #42 printed in November 1966. She greeted Peter with the now famous line, “Face it Tiger, you just hit the jackpot.”
Peter would change all thoughts about MJ when he actually met her, discovering that she was stunningly beautiful and charming, the two began dating. During their first date, they saw Rhino going on a rampage on the news. MJ knowing that Peter would want to go fight Rhino decided to hop on Peter’s motorcycle so the two of them can “check it out.” Once there, Peter disappeared telling her he had to “take pictures” for the Daily Bugle, and MJ stayed to watch Spider-Man arrive. Peter eventually introduced Mary Jane to his circle of friends, consisting of: Harry Osborn, Gwen Stacy, and Flash Thompson. However, he is bothered by her apparent superficiality and decides to date fellow science major Gwen Stacy instead and the two fell deeply in love. Mary Jane began dating Harry Osborn while still constantly flirting with Peter. MJ and Gwen continued their competition for Peter’s love but Gwen was the one Peter grew closer to. MJ later found work as a dancer at a New York night club called the Gloom Room. It was owned by the Kingpin which eventually led to a gunfight.
One of the criminals tried to shield himself by using Mary Jane but Spider-Man would be able to rescue her. Mary Jane finally met Spider-Man face to mask for the first time. Eventually Peter and Gwen would break up temporarily and MJ tries to date Peter again. However, Peter was too attached to Gwen and the two would resume their relationship again. MJ went back to Harry and still continued to flirt with Peter.
Major Story Arcs
The Death of Gwen Stacy
When Green Goblin murders Gwen deliberately to hurt Spider-Man in the story arc The Death of Gwen Stacy, it is Mary Jane who comforts him. Peter arrived back to his apartment to find Mary Jane waiting for him there. She tried to help him mourn but Peter would tell her to leave him alone and get out. He was enraged because a girl with her personality wouldn’t be upset if her own mother died. Of course, Peter knew nothing about MJ’s past. MJ stood at the door hesitating, eventually closing the door and staying with Peter to comfort him. MJ broke up with Harry soon after, whose sanity had become unstable after the death of his father. She told Harry that she was tired of Peter’s depression and did not want to be associated with him or anyone he knew. Eventually as time goes by and Peter slowly recovers.
He starts to fall in love with Mary Jane again. During a party, Mary Jane confessed her feelings to Peter, telling him that she loved him but she did not want a serious relationship. She did not want to be hurt by someone she loved like her family has hurt her. Harry had become the second Green Goblin and set off a bomb which hospitalized MJ. Peter stayed by her side until she was able to fully recover. Peter later had to go on a trip to Europe, in which MJ would see Peter off at the airport.
At the airport a serious relationship would work if Peter kept going to take pictures for the Bugle every time. The two would eventually reconcile, and when Mary Jane was helping Liz Allen pick out a wedding gown for her upcoming marriage with Harry Osborn, MJ began wondering what Peter would think of her in a wedding gown. Peter would soon propose to Mary Jane by giving her a cracker jacks box with a real diamond ring inside. However, she tells him that she does not want to be tied down. Peter and MJ remained as close friends, but after all the disappointment he gave her by leaving their dates early to go out as Spider-Man, she began avoiding him. She also became angered that Peter cared more about being Spider-Man than her, and when she graduated from college she leaves New York for a long time. MJ moved to Florida to help her Aunt Anna settle in there; however she secretly wanted to get away from Peter.
The Marriage
When Mary Jane returns she began her modeling career and began dating many other actors and famous people. When MJ was at Peter’s apartment, the Puma had tracked down Spider-Man. Peter notices danger with his spider-sense and pushes MJ out of the apartment and locks the door. MJ could hear the entire battle inside his apartment, eventually Spider-Man would defeat Puma. Afterwords, MJ confesses to Peter that she cannot handle the danger he puts himself into and tells him that she has always known his secret alter-ego Spider-Man. She had in fact known from almost the very beginning as she had seen him leave to confront Uncle Ben’s killer. The Black Cat would arrive at Peter’s apartment shortly after, which led to MJ running out of the apartment crying (Black Cat and Spider-Man have become very close during MJ’s absence . MJ was about to leave New York again but decided to confront Peter. She told him her life story, in which Peter would gain the confidence to tell MJ everything about himself. Peter and MJ stayed as friends hoping to be able to re-light the fire they once had for each other. They continued their close relationship as friends, being able to tell secrets to each other. However, they realize that they were hiding from their real feelings. Peter decided to propose to Mary Jane again. However, she declined again and left for Pittsburgh. MJ had to visit her sister who was sent to prison for stealing a rare manuscript. Eventually MJ would turn in the real culprit who was her father Philip. MJ was able to reconcile with her sister and she returned to New York to accept Peter’s proposal. Even with the concerns that couple were too young and because of Peter’s double life, Peter and Mary Jane decided to get married ( Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21). The reason MJ became Mary Jane Watson-Parker was because she thought that getting rid of her maiden name “Watson” meant she had to stop partying, so instead she just attached his surname on. Peter was wearing the black costume at this time too but Mary Jane convinces him to stop using it because she’s fearful of Venom.
Modeling Career
Mary Jane continued her career as a model and was also being stalked by their Landlord. When she rejected
his offer he outed her from the entire modeling industry. However, Mary Jane found a job on a Soap Opera called “Secret Hospital.” MJ was unhappy with her role on that show because her character’s personality was a mean and air-headed character. She petitioned to get the character’s personality change and was successful, but quit when a deranged fan attacked her because of what she did on the show. When Harry Osborn died, this added on to the massive amount of stress that Mary Jane had which caused her to start smoking. When Peter left for a period amount of time to sort out the recent problems with his parents coming back and actually being fake, MJ visited her sister Gayle and her father, and she reconciled with them. Peter returns and the two reunite.
Clone Saga and the Baby
During the Clone Saga, Mary Jane discovers that she is pregnant. To make a happy news horrible, Peter and she received news from Seward Trainer that Peter was in fact, the real clone and Scarlet Spider was the real Peter Parker. When he heard the news, the Jackal used hypnotic suggestions to get Peter to kill Mary Jane, but Ben was able to prevent this. Later during an argument with Ben, Peter accidentally hits Mary Jane. He decides to quit being Spider-Man due to the stress of having a double life and with a baby due to arrive. They decided to move to Portland to try and raise their baby in peace. Eventually they returned to New York. During the Onslaught crisis, a Sentinel scanned Mary Jane and detected an abnormality in her fetus. Mary Jane’s baby was long past due and she was poisoned by an agent of the Green Goblin. Mary Jane was told that her baby ended up being stillborn. Stillborn or not her baby was stolen by Alison Mongrain, under orders of Norman Osborn. Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider, died that exact same night.
Aftermath
After all the traumatic experiences the two have gone through. Mary Jane begged Peter to quit being Spider-Man, and he agreed. Mary Jane soon returned to college and majored in Psychology, but eventually became bored and returned to modeling. Peter started going out at night as Spider-Man again behind her back. Mary Jane started getting threatening phone calls from an anonymous stalker. When MJ was flying across America for her modeling job, her plane exploded in the air. Mary Jane was not dead however, but was kidnapped by an unknown mutant telepath and was held for several months. His motive was to try and take over Peter’s life, but committed suicide when he gained enough of Peter’s personality and morality to see that he was doing too much wrong. Peter and MJ would reunite right after.
After the traumatic experience with being held in captivity, she moved to Los Angeles by herself to pursue a career in acting. She would later return to Peter. Mary Jane would continue to pursue a career in acting by auditioning for plays. Mary Jane goes through some rough times trying to get parts for movies, often breaking her heart when she is not offered a role. Eventually she does land a role around the same time Gwen Stacy’s children arrived. Mary Jane would later find out about the children from Peter and tells him that she already know the children do not belong to him, but in fact she knew who the real father was, Norman Osborn.
New Avengers and the Civil War
When their apartment burned down and Aunt May’s apartment burned down, the family moved to Stark Tower where they lived while Peter worked as a New Avengers. Mary Jane continued her acting career in plays. She would also be constantly harassed by the tabloids. One night, one of the tabloid photographers followed her home to the Stark Tower. That very next morning, Mary Jane was on the front page of the tabloids saying that she is cheating on Peter with Tony Stark. Eventually Tony would stop this rumor from the tabloids himself and their lives went back to normal. The Super-Human Registration Act was going to be a law soon and Mary Jane and Aunt May told Peter that they will support him whatever he decides to do. Mary Jane even supported Peter when he told her the idea of revealing his identity to the world. Later Peter would decide that being on the side of the registration is bad so he decided to go rouge on Iron Man and the registration act, both MJ and Aunt May decided that they want to go underground with Peter. They stayed at a cheap motel for a while. When Mary Jane was arrested by a SHIELD agent, she did not give in and tell him where Peter was. Eventually Peter would show up and save her. Later Aunt May was shot by a sniper and had to be taken to a hospital.
Back in Black
Mary Jane was staying with Aunt May at a hospital under fake names.
Eventually Mary Jane told Peter that Aunt May needed a blood transfusion and that they could not continue paying the hospital with money up front. Peter decided to give Aunt May his own blood and asked MJ to get the items required. After that, and right afterwards Peter went after the Kingpin and soon beat the holy hell out of Fisk and warned him that if Aunt May died, he would come back and kill him.
One More Day
When the blood transfusion failed to heal his Aunt May, Peter was confronted by Mephisto and gave him a deal, that he will bring back Aunt May’s health back, in return, Mephisto will eliminate all events pertaining to Peter and MJ’s marriage, and they were given one day to decide. The couple agreed to save Aunt May’s life, but before Mephisto could do anything, MJ whispered something to him, and told Peter that they will be together again someday.
The next morning, Mary Jane is seen and is somehow mad at Peter at something and soon left the place. It was explained that Peter and MJ once dated in the past but their relationship is now considered frosty, at best, and she is currently living in Los Angeles but occasionally come back in New York to visit her aunt.
Brand New Day
Mary Jane was rumored to be an Initiative heroine, Jackpot. They had similar traits, Jackpot is one of MJ’s trademarked words. Also while working with Spider-Man, Jackpot called him Tiger. – However in the Amazing Spider-man Annual it’s revealed that Jackpot isn’t in fact Mary Jane. MJ made her first Brand New Day appearance as actor, Bobby Carr’s mysterious girlfriend. When the two-dimensional villain, Paperdoll attacked Mary Jane in Bobby Carr’s house, MJ hid in Bobby Carr’s panic room. Spider-Man then came and defeated Paperdoll with help from MJ in the panic room, Mary Jane still remembers Peter and claimed that they knew each other in another life. However, Spider-Man did not have the chance to meet Mary Jane because Mary Jane was in the panic room. The last time Mary Jane is seen is when she is in the airport and about to call Peter but then was interrupted by Sara Ehret (that’s the name of the person that Jackpot gave to Spider-Man when Spider-Man asked for Jackpot’s real identity claiming that she was a fan of MJ’s “Secret Hospital” TV show. Sara then asked if MJ will be back and MJ just simply answers with “Hell if I know. See Ya.”
Last Legs
On the set of a Hollywood pirate movie, Mary Jane goes through her mail to find an invitation to May Parker’s wedding, via her Aunt Anna, who says that she knows there’s bad blood between MJ and May because of “the way things ended” but she wants to take MJ as a ‘plus-one’. Aunt May’s wedding starts and finally J. Jonah Jameson Sr. and May Reilly Parker get married. At the bouquet toss an unexpected guest catches the bouquet. Anna Watson’s “plus one” arrives, Mary Jane.
Red-Headed Stranger
After his aunt’s wedding, Peter wakes up next to a naked Michelle Gonzales, his date for the wedding. Peter barely being able to wake up from his hangover tells Michelle he can’t remember anything, so she storms out of his room with nothing but a sheet over her. Peter remembers talking to MJ and making a date with her to meet somewhere, sometime. He was so drunk he forgets those details. Thinking that Michelle is most likely going to kick him out of the apartment, he tries to meet up with Harry and see if he can stay with him for a couple of days. The Parker luck gets to him when he figures out Harry Osborn is MIA and has moved out of his apartment. He tries with Betty Brant but Betty has taken a roommate already, Glory Grant. Then he tries Aunt May’s house, since she is on her honeymoon he figures he could stay there a few nights. Again no luck since the Reilly’s are staying over. He swings across the city while he tries to remember the place he was supposed to meet MJ at. A fire starts close by and Spider-Man goes over to help once done there his memory comes back and remembers the place where he was going to meet MJ. Peter arrives and waits for her to arrive but to his surprise, she dosen’t. In Mary Jane’s apartment she is barely waking up at 9’o clock PM. She realizes she missed her date with Peter and then watches the news. On the news the fire where Spider-Man helped out is announced. and Mary Jane realizes at least Peter found something to keep him busy, hinting that she might know about Spider-man’s real identity.
Later on, MJ arrives at the Coffee Bean to catch up with the one friend she has yet to see since her return: Harry Osborn, who is now working as a janitor and sleeping there. The events of the time he spent with his father are still taking their toll and MJ is concerned. Somewhere else, the newly returned Chameleon has kidnapped Peter and using his new methods of disguise on him by copying Peter’s face, perfecting his voice from recordings he took from City Hall and finally lowering his body into an acid bath, seemingly killing him. During this time, MJ calls Peter’s phone, She apologizes for standing Peter up, and explains what a bad way Harry is in. She says that he’s been sleeping at the Coffee Bean, and that they need to help him. “Sure MJ”, replies the Chameleon, sounding just like Peter. “Name the time and the place.”
MJ and Peter/Chameleon meet up in a diner. During the conversation, Chameleon starts toying with MJ who is urging him to try and help Harry. Then suddenly, one of MJ’s many stalkers appear insisting that MJ read a script he had prepared for her. Chameleon gets up and takes the stalker to an alley and smacks him with a gun, and he returns to MJ as if nothing has happened. He then promises MJ that he will ‘take care” of Harry. He then head for the Coffee Bean with a gun in his hand. In Chameleon’s lair, Peter was able to survive the acid tank and escape.
OMIT:
MJ pays Peter a visit in order to sort things out with him and be part of his life again. She first presents him a bottle of wine although she knows he doesn’t drink except in weddings. She wants to know why Peter never showed up on their wedding day. It is revealed that Peter was knocked out while trying to stop a burglar named Eddie. During the ceremony, MJ waited for him but he never showed up and she overheard Harry and Flash talking about Peter’s second thoughts about the wedding. After Peter woke up he started swinging around like a madman trying to find where MJ is until finds her crying in her wedding in his apartment. After showing her his battered face, MJ tells Peter that she can no longer handle this, she wants to be with Peter not Spider-Man. She asks him to give up super-heroics but he refuses causing MJ to yell at Peter and storm off. The next day, while she was having launch with her Aunt Anna, MJ is reminded why she ever loved Peter and decides to go talk to him. When she arrives at Peter’s apartment, they talk about never wanting to have kids and they decide to rekindle their romance with the condition that Peter would never ask her to marry him again. After Aunt May was shot by Kingpin’s sniper and Peter failed to find a way to save her, MJ tells him to be ready and stay by May’s side during her last moment. Suddenly, May’s condition became critical and the doctors announced her dead but the valiant Peter administered CPR and saved her life to the shock of the doctors, MJ and even himself. Later on, MJ receives a call from her Aunt Anna, who tells her that there’s something wrong but couldn’t finish her sentence so MJ went to her house to check on her, leaving Peter sleeping in the hospital. When MJ arrived, she saw a thug standing over her Aunt’s unconscious body and in an attempt to save her Aunt, MJ broke a vase on the thug’s head. However, this only angered him and he started chasing her around the house until he caught up to her and told her that he will hunt down and kill everyone she loved.
Before he could finish her off, Spider-Man appeared and defeated the criminal who turned out to be Eddie, the criminal Spidey fought on his wedding day, who mocks Peter with the fact that he can never escape as long as everyone knows who he is. Peter decides to seek Doctor’s Strange’s help in undoing his unmasking during the Civil War. He goes to the Sanctum Sanctorum with a sleeping MJ where Strange conjures a dangerous spell and have the rest of the world forget who Peter is. He forms a magical shell that allows Peter to be the only one who retains these memories. As the spell was about to begin, Peter jumps out and pulls MJ with him because he wanted her to remember with him. They then wake up in a hotel room where and Peter explains to MJ what has happened. She argues why couldn’t he just let her forget, because one day someone will unmask him, and will go after their family. She says that the threats against her family is her fault because she knows of Peter’s identity. She can’t have a life like that, and must leave Peter.
In present time, Peter tells MJ that he feels better after talking about this and MJ kisses him and tells him that the deserves someone stronger than her to be with him. They then hug and Peter thinks to himself how MJ, the best person he has ever known, has freed him, and that it feels like a brand new day.
Origin of the Species
MJ and Harry share lunch with Peter and Carly Cooper at the Coffee Bean where MJ and Harry start telling embarrassing stories about their friend. When Peter and MJ get alone, she tells him that she likes Carly and that she’s happy he found someone good for him. Suddenly, Lily Hollister aka Menace crashes through the window and she seems to be in labor. As the gang tend to help her, MJ distracts the others, giving Peter the chance he needs to change into Spider-Man. Doctor Octopus then appears, subdues everyone and delivers Lily’s baby, on which he plans experimenting because he thinks it contains pure Goblin DNA. Spidey manages to take the baby and flee and the rest of the villains go after him. During this time, MJ takes Lily and Harry to her producers’ house to keep them safe. At the end of the story, after Spidey successfully saves the baby, it is revealed that Lily’s baby is actually Harry’s son.
Harry throws a go-away party and MJ, Peter and the rest of the gang are invited. During the party, MJ dresses up as Jackpot, and Peter tells her that he’s having trouble with Carly. She tells him that he doesn’t have to hold responsibility for everything and that he deserves to be happy. This encourages Peter to go ask Carly to be his girlfriend and they finally get together.
Personal Data
- Height: 5’10”
- Weight: 145 lbs.
- Eyes: Green
- Hair: Red
- Place of Birth: Montoursville, PA
- Education: College Educated
- Occupation: Actress, Former Model
- Known Relatives: Anna May Watson (Aunt), Philip Watson (Father), Madeline Watson (Mother, Deceased), Gayle Watson-Byrnes (Sister), Timothy Byrnes (Ex-Brother-In-Law), Kevin Brynes (Nephew), Tommy Brynes (Nephew), Judge Spenser Watson (Uncle), Frank Brown (Mother’s Cousin), Kristy Watson (Cousin), Lou Watson (Uncle), Lorraine Watson (Aunt).
Powers and Abilities
She is trained in self defense by Captain America.
Weapons and Equipment
Mary Jane carries a gun in her purse but Peter disagrees with this. Peter made her web shooters for more protection, which is hidden as a charm bracelet, although this hasn’t actually been seen in action often.
Recently Mary Jane has been using the Iron Spider armor.
Alternate Realities
Earth-8545 Mary Jane – Spider-Woman
In the alternate universe called the Legacy Planet most of earths heroes were consumed by the legacy virus. The reality hopping super team, the Exiles, went there on a mission to repair the unstable reality and eventually join up with Earths Resistance.
They find Mary Jane Watson aiding the Resistance as Spider-Woman and apparently she is the counterpart of Spider-Man in this reality and has the powers that Peter Parker received in universe 616. This incarnation of Mary Jane is a lesbian and during their stay, Sunfire and Mary Jane fall in love, even knowing that Sunfire (and the other Exiles) could be recalled at any time.
On a later mission, two of the Exiles, Sunfire and Nocturne return to this reality due to a mysterious glitch that separates the team. Mary Jane and Sunfire get two happy weeks together, then Sunfire and Nocturne disappear just as suddenly as they appeared and resulting in both women becoming heart-broken once again.
After Sunfire’s death, Morph buried her in the Legacy Planet reality to allow Mary Jane the chance to visit her grave.
She was later killed by Morlun.
Earth-1610
On Earth-1610, Mary Jane attends Midtown High School with Peter Parker and Liz Allan. Mary Jane is a bright student that pretends to be a “party girl” to fit in. When MJ and Peter start going out, she finds out that Peter is actually Spider-Man. She is the second person to find out his secret identity. MJ sews Peter’s costumes for him when he damages them, and also makes spares for him. The Green Goblin took advantage of Peter’s love for Mary Jane by kidnapping her and throwing her off the Queensboro Bridge. Spider-Man successfully catches her but it appeared she had been injured.
A much relieved Peter then found out she had just fainted. When Harry returns to New York it was revealed that Mary Jane and Harry were romantically involved for a brief amount of time. Harry tells MJ that he blames Peter for “killing his father”. When Harry turned into the Hobgoblin and battled Spider-Man, MJ was caught in the middle and was almost killed. After the fight, Peter broke up with MJ in fear for her life. He decided that being a superhero was too dangerous of a life for her to be a part of. Mary Jane tries to bounce back with another guy she met but realized that she loved Peter. MJ soon found out that Peter started dating X-Men’s Kitty Pryde.
During the Clone Saga story arc, MJ was kidnapped by a deformed clone of Peter Parker who wanted to give MJ the power to be able to take care of herself, so they can get back together. He injects her with the same OZ formula that created the Green Goblin and Spider-Man. When she found out that he injected her with something she got scared and panicked which caused her to transform into another type of Goblin (It could possibly be Bendis’ version of the Demogoblin . She was cured at the Baxter Building by Mr. Fantastic and Dr. Franklyn Storm.
MJ and Peter seem to have rekindled things between each other after that incident. Later when Shocker kidnaps Spider-man, MJ and Kitty team up to locate and save Peter, which they do. One day when Peter and MJ were talking MJ asked Peter if they should have sex, later after she asked him this she started to avoid him, but when Jessica Jones thinks shes figured out who Spider-man was, MJ give Peter the heads up, Peter then tells about Mysterio, who she thinks has someone working for him on the inside, later MJ is proven right, Peter later talks to MJ about them having sex, which she says that her saying she wanted to then saying she didn’t, but wanted to really, it would make Peter brake up with her, like Flash did with Liz, but Peter told her he wanted to have sex with her, but wanted to wait until they were older and that he wanted to marry her, which made MJ happy and making her start to cry and then starts to kiss Peter.
Mary Jane later broke up with Peter during the six untold months of Ultimatum. She has told him it was her biggest mistake and is trying to remain friends with him while he is dating Gwen. She was saved by Shroud who is Kitty Pryde’s new hero identity and tried to make Peter jealous and feel bad because she knew he wouldn’t be there.
Peter’s identity was stolen by what is essentially the ultimate version of the Chameleon while Mary Jane and Peter were trying to sell a story to the Daily Bugle. The Chameleon exploited MJ’s obvious feelings for Peter and kissed her.
After the real Peter’s return and the Chameleon’s subsequent capture, Peter and Gwen broke up and the two got back together prior to Peter’s death at the hands of the Punisher. Sometime later, after receiving a call from a freaked-out Gwen, Mary Jane went to Peter’s house and arrived just in time to see Earth-616’s version of Peter Parker leaving the house with Miles Morales and Nick Fury. After being spotted by the older Peter, she ran off with tears in her eyes and hid in an alley until he was gone.
Earth-2301
In the Marvel Mangaverse, Mary Jane is Spider-Woman and she fights crime with Spider-Man. She also a part of the ninja group called the Spider-Clan.
Earth-982
Mary Jane of the MC2 reality is the mother of Spider-Girl. She is also financing her daughter’s college fund by selling Spider-Girl merchandise. She also bore another child but had complications in the pregnancy, but nevertheless gave birth to a health boy named Benjamin Richard Parker, after Peter’s uncle and father.
Earth-58163
In the House of M reality, Mary Jane is a famous actress, and one of few humans that are liked by the mutant population. She is starring of a film base on Spider-Man where she plays his wife in this reality, Gwen Stacy.
Age of X
In this Universe, Spider-Man and Mary Jane were still married and were expecting a baby girl. Fearing that their unborn child would be killed by the U.S. Government in the event that she turned out to be a Mutant, Spider-Man sent Mary Jane off to Paris and allowed himself to get captured.
Earth-2149
In the Marvel Zombiverse, Mary Jane and Aunt May were both eaten by a zombified Spider-Man. Later, Peter was so guilt-ridden by his actions that he wouldn’t take off his mask and see what he has done to the two people that he loved.
Earth-8311
In the Larval Universe, Mary Jane is anthropomorphic buffalo named Mary Jane Water-buffalo, the lover of Peter Porker aka Spider-Ham.
Earth-91110
In this reality, Spider-Man was chosen to be Captain Universe forever. While everything started off somewhat smoothly The Uni-Power began changing Peter from the man she fell in love with into a cold, logical God-like being who constantly neglected her as he became obsessed with saving the Earth.
She finally reached her breaking point when Peter transformed into Captain Universe right in front of Aunt May causing her to go into shock and have a mental breakdown while he went to The Middle East and halted the war between Iraq and Iran.
When he returned she realized that Peter was so far gone that she could no longer handle living the life they were now leading, she told Peter she was leaving for her sister’s house and demanded that Peter not follow her. Peter however did not see it as that great a loss and left to go end the drought crisis Africa was facing.
This convinced Mary Jane that their relationship was over. Later on The Uni-Power stripped Spider-Man of his powers and sacrificed itself to unify the world leaving Peter powerless. Mary Jane and Peter reconciled their relationship just in time to learn Mary Jane was pregnant. Nine months later Mary Jane gave birth to a baby girl who had inherited the powers of both Captain Universe and Spider-Man.
Earth-9997
In Earth X, Mary Jane ended up getting Cancer instead of Superhuman abilities when the Terrigen Mists unlocked the Celestial Seed inside of Humanity and died shortly afterwords.
The Spiders-Man later created an illusion of Mary Jane after he trapped Peter inside his own mind where he lived out the life he thought he was going to sometime prior to Gwen Stacy’s death.
Earth-18119 – Spinneret
Mary Jane is still married to Peter Parker in the universe that would have existed if Peter had turned down Mephisto’s offer in the events of OMD.
Peter and MJ now have a daughter named Anna May, who has inherited her father’s spider powers. Mary Jane has also put aside her acting career and is now running her own fashion business and blog. But after Regent basically wipes out the superhero community and takes their powers for his own, the Parker family goes into hiding. Many years later, they are forced to resurface and join Clint Barton and the last survivors of SHIELD in bringing Regent down for good.
With Regent’s control finished and the superheroes in short supply, Mary Jane feels that it is now more important than ever to look after one another. Peter makes her a special suit, out of Regent technology, that allows MJ to tap into his spider powers so that she can help him out of trouble. She gives herself the name Spinneret.
Earth-771013 – Daily Comic Strip
Mary Jane is still Married to Peter Parker. Originally the following what was happening in Earth-616 the main universe and erased the marriage due to BND, but after the outcry of the readers over the dissolving of the marriage, they were back together as if nothing had happened.
Earth-65
On Earth-65, Em Jay Watson is the guitarist and lead singer of The Mary Janes, a budding rock band that includes Gwen Stacy, Glory Grant and Betty Brant. She was also close friends with Liz Allan before the two had a falling out. Em Jay is initially depicted as very mean, self-absorbed and standoffish, and her fame-hungry attitude frequently causes her to frequently clash with Gwen, who often is late to practice due to her secret life as a crime-fighter. She is also the first member of the band to discover that Gwen is actually Spider-Woman. As the series progresses, Em Jay gradually becomes nicer and more affable, and eventually begins dating Glory.
Other Media
Film
Spider-Man Trilogy (2003-2008)
Mary Jane appears in Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, and Spider-Man 3, portrayed in each film by Kirsten Dunst. She is the primary love interest in the first movie, but doesn’t discover Peter is Spider-Man until the sequel. Their relationship is tested in the third movie after Peter becomes increasingly aggressive due to the Venom symbiote‘s influence, but they ultimately reconcile at the end.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
Mary Jane was planned to appear in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, played by future Divergent star Shailene Woodley. However, all of Woodley’s scenes as Mary Jane were cut from the film during the editing phase.
Marvel Cinematic Universe (2017-)
In the MCU reboot of the Spider-Man franchise, one of Peter Parker’s classmates at Midtown High is a mysterious girl named Michelle. At the close of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Michelle is made the head of the school’s academic decathlon team after Liz Allan moves away, and she reveals that her friends call her “MJ.” It was subsequently confirmed that the MJ nickname was a deliberate nod to Mary Jane from the comics.
MJ returns with a larger role in Spider-Man: Far From Home, where she grows closer with Peter during a school trip to Europe. She later reveals that she knows his true identity, and helps him during the battle against Mysterio.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Mary Jane appears in the Oscar-winning animated Spider-Verse movie, voiced by Zoe Kravitz. After Peter Parker is killed by the Kingpin, Mary Jane mourns his passing and gives a public eulogy for the fallen hero. It is also revealed that on his Earth, Peter B. Parker (an older version of Spider-Man from an alternate universe) was previously married to his world’s Mary Jane until they got a divorce. At the close of the movie, Peter B. Parker returns to his universe and resolves to repair his relationship with MJ.
Animated
Spider-Man: The Animated Series
Mary Jane Appears in the series as Peter’s main love interest. She appears in multiple episodes. She was voiced by Saratoga Ballantine.
The Spectacular Spider-Man
Mary Jane appeared in the series as a major character. She was voiced by Vanessa Marshall.
Ultimate Spider-Man
Mary Jane once again appears as a major character. She is described as a childhood friend of Peter and like her Ultimate counterpart, is a journalism student with aspirations of becoming a reporter. She is voiced by Tara Strong.
In the fourth and final season, she becomes a villain named Carnage Queen after bonding with the Carnage symbiote. The heroes are able to save her by removing most of the symbiote, but it turns out that a small portion of the organism is still inside her body. Using the remains of the symbiote to grant her superhuman powers, MJ becomes Spider-Woman.
Marvel Rising
Mary Jane appears in the Marvel Rising animated projects Marvel Rising: Initiation, Marvel Marvel Rising: Chasing Ghosts, Marvel Rising: Battle of the Bands and Marvel Rising: Operation Shuri, with Tara Strong reprising her role. Like in the Spider-Gwen comics, she is the lead singer and guitarist of a garage band with her friends Gwen Stacy, Betty Brant and Glory Grant. Unlike in the comics, however, Mary Jane is much nicer to Gwen.
Marvel’s Spider-Man
Mary Jane appears as one of Peter’s former classmates at Midtown High School. She first appears in the episode “Venom,” where she is the mascot for the school’s football team, which she thinks will help her training to become an actress. She doesn’t appear again until the third season episode “Amazing Friends,” where she finally has a more significant role and actual lines. Felicia Day provides her voice.
Games
Mary Jane appears in almost every Spider-Man video game, almost exclusively as an NPC (non-playable character). She is often seen as a damsel in distress who the player needs to rescue, though this is not always the case.
- She is kidnapped in The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin by the Kingpin, and is hung over a tank of acid. She is freed if the Kingpin is beaten in a certain amount of time. If the fight takes too long, she falls to her death and, after Kingpin is arrested by the police, Spider-Man vows revenge.
- She appears in Spider-Man’s endings in Capcom’s Marvel Super Heroes and Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter.
- In the Spider-Man game for the Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, and PlayStation, Venom believes that Spider-Man stole an invention of Dr. Octavius (it is later revealed that Mysterio is the actual thief) and kidnaps Mary Jane in attempt to get revenge. She is held in the sewers and must be rescued by Spider-Man. Jennifer Hale, who voiced Mary Jane in Spider-Man Unlimited, reprised the role. (Unknowingly, in the Nintendo 64 version, Venom addresses her as “Mary Jane Parker”).
- In Spider-Man: Mysterio’s Menace, Mary Jane forgets to purchase a fish bowl for fish she won at a carnival, and asks Peter to retrieve one for her at the beginning of the game. In the end Peter obtains one for her (Mysterio’s helmet) and says “You’ll never know the trouble I went through for this.”
- She appears in the 2002 Spider-Man game based on the film. Though she resembled Kirsten Dunst, Mary Jane was voiced by Catherine O’Connor. If the player types in the code GIRLNEXTDOOR, they can play as her. This code was taken out of later re-releases due to a controversial cinema scene in which the “real” Mary Jane kisses the “player” Mary Jane, sparking complaints of lesbianism.
- She appears in Spider-Man 2, where Kirsten Dunst reprised the role. In this game, like the movie, she is unaware of Peter’s secret identity until the end. There is a brief additional storyline where Peter is tempted to abandon his interest in Mary Jane due to the possibility of a new relationship with Black Cat, but he eventually abandons such a relationship when he realises the importance of his civilian life.
- In the Ultimate Spider-Man video game, Mary Jane’s Ultimate version appears several times in the game, helping Peter research and discover information on the villains he must fight. The game ends with her talking to Peter. In the Nintendo DS version of the game, the player must save an unnamed character who has Mary Jane’s clothing and hair color. She’s voiced by Andrea Baker.
- Mary Jane appears in Spider-Man: Battle for New York.
- Marvel: Ultimate Alliance – Although not seen, Mary Jane is frequently mentioned by Spider-man throughout the game.
- Mary Jane appears in Spider-Man 3. Much like in the game based on the first movie, she isn’t voiced by Kirsten Dunst. Here, she’s voiced by Kari Wahlgren. During the final fight, she is suspended 80 stories above the ground held hostage in a taxi cab for Spider-Man to save her.
- Mary Jane appears in the video game Spider-Man: Web of Shadows voiced by Dana Seltzer. Unlike most of her appearances in Spider-Man games, she takes an active participation in one of the boss battles, taking out foes with a shotgun while Spider-Man fights a symbiote version of the Black Cat. In the beginning of the game she is caught in the crossfire during a fight between Venom and Spider-Man and is put into the hospital. She frequently appeared throughout the game, where her cutscenes are based on the player’s choice. In the all good ending she joins Spider-Man in web slinging across New York, while in the partially good ending Spider-Man attempted to call her to apologize for his actions but she didn’t pick up. In the darker endings, Mary Jane abandons Peter completely for his willingness to use the Black Suit even after he promises her otherwise, particularly when he uses its powers to save Black Cat.
- Mary Jane is referenced in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions in Deadpool’s level as a “redhead” that Spider-Man is always saving. Deadpool accuses Spider-Man of being in a love triangle with her and Kitty Pryde, much to the latter’s embarrassment.
- Mary Jane, with the Iron Spider Armor, is a playable character in Marvel Avengers Academy, sporting her Iron Spider armor. Mary Jane is voiced by Quinn Kitmitto. She was released during the “Spider-Man” event. Her recruitment quest is “Hit the Jackpot!”
- Mary Jane appears in the 2018 Spider-Man game from Insominac, where she is a playable character in certain missions. This version of the character is a journalist, and her investigations into various underworld figures like Martin Li and Tombstone play vital roles in the story. She is voiced by Laura Bailey.
Merchandise
- Statues of Mary Jane have been produced by various companies. An infamous statue by Sideshow Collectibles drew controversy for depicting Mary Jane bent over in a sexualized pose, which was later lampooned in an issue of Thunderbolts.
- Mary Jane was featured in various action figures by Toy Biz, including a two-pack from the “Marvel’s Famous Couples” line and figures for the Spider-Man live-action movies.
- Mary Jane has been featured in several Lego kits.
- The movie version of Mary Jane was featured in the Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line as part of the movie Sandman Build-a-Figure wave.
- Mary Jane was featured in Hasbro’s Marvel Universe line.
- Hasbro released a Marvel Legends two-pack featuring Mary Jane and Spider-Man.
- Another Marvel Legends two-pack, this time featuring the versions of Spider-Man and MJ from Spider-Man: Homecoming, was also released by Hasbro.
Novels
Mary Jane
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Awards and Honours
Mary Jane was ranked 43rd in Comics Buyer’s Guide Presents: 100 Sexiest Women in Comics.