I remember this being an issue and a topic and heated debate when the movie came out.
We seen many different versions of many characters in the Multiverse. The factors and 'Spirituality' I guess that links characters in the united Multiverse plane to 'their' versions and those close to them that somehow odds in to their versions possibly meeting and being in the bonds and so forth is wide yet we look for something that we can factor in. Many times we look only for the simplest and basic: physical appearance. Something in particular that we associate and feel has to be some sort of rule. In this case 'redhead'.
Enjoying Spider-Gwen and the characters of Earth-65 as one of my first comic series I read when entering the world of comics while also reading some series that takes place on 616 I have seen different takes on various characters. From appearance to personality, to developments some yet have or didn't have, some with one going another direction and the other the other road, ect. That said I guess thanks to Earth-65 I use to vastly different takes on characters. Earth-65 versions compared to 616: Jessica Drew is a man, Reed is a African American 13 years old I think boy who can build transporters and World jumpers with legos and then play the latest game console games (cause he's 13), Samantha Wilson/Captain America, Felicia, the age ranges of characters, the moral spectrums of characters with Matt 'Murder'dock/Kingpin and Cindy moon (we on 616 we also know as Silk) lacks any care about her family and is a evil genius scientist and fighter and head of a scientific terrorist organization S.I.L.K., ect.
Me looking at Zendaya and being told she is 'MJ' I thinking. 'Ok'.
For me it how characters can be apart of people's worlds (and visa versa) and other elements more important. Will the character Zendaya is playing and presented to us grow as a person and develop but also help Peter either as a person also plus how bonding and close will she and Peter become (friends to girlfriend or even not that then a person who is still apart of his world and his hers and also maybe has a elements of love and a world linking Peter and her).
The one element to has me a bit off is usually For various alternate world Gwens, Feleticas, Peters, Miles, ect. a constant is a person's name. What is a name? A 'name' can be more than just a identifier like a filename and given to use usually by parents but who we see ourselves and a self-identity. Her name we first learn is Michelle but then we hear the nickname that we find a identity with 'MJ'.
What she I think is her friends call her 'MJ'. How did she get this nickname? Did she give that to herself? If so then that is part a self-identity and a huge part to a part of how the character can see herself. She see's a MJ in her. Furthermore 'only her friends' call her MJ. Those that she let's in can call her and have her be apart of their internal world as 'MJ'. For Peter who been allow access for a connection she can be viewed and identity as MJ by her right and desire for. Peter earned the right to have 'MJ' in his life cycle. In some sense we normally see Peter opening the door to MJ as a first meeting. In this case 'MJ' opens it instead to those she wants in her cycle and have the right to call her by her self-identity.
If she looks in the mirror and see's herself a MJ. Then that is who she is and in the grand Multiverse spiritually she is linked to the grand esseses and tokens 'MJs' and also for me hits a crucial aspect of the Spider Multiverse consistency found in most Multiverses is the cast that heads to each other and bonds (this case a 'MJ' and a 'Peter' has unlock and entered the early level 1 stages of spiritual connections we see in many Multiverses cast that come together).
As I wrote that matters she first says her name was 'Michelle' had me first thinking the writers were going to try to make a new character found only or at least first seen in this Multiverse for this Peter and the cast. If that was the case I would be fine with that (one of my all time favorite 'love interests' for a Peter and overall a very likeable character as a individual for me was a gal named 'Chat' and in the end in that Multiverse it was her and Peter who were lovers not Gwen or MJ or other and I'm fine with that).
That matter they first had her showcased as Michelle but then she states she also can be called and identity as MJ to her friends threw me for a bit. Thus the writers can openly claim to their liking: 'She is not found as a version in any other Mutiverves spiritually wise or other (till Spidey: School's Out had a version show up) and brand new character', 'She is their MCU MJ version', or 'She is a composite character version being apart and also is MJ PLUS another(s)'.
Now do I feel she NEEDS red hair? Not really. However I don't think Zendaya will look bad at all with red hair based on some photoshop images I saw but in the end that should be up to the writers and very importantly her. As a working actress I don't want her losing a big role she might be fantastic for and would of wanted due to 'hair reasons' plus other matters.
I do hope she will be a 'MJ' I will love and in my personal likes and dislikes of Multiverse MJs listing I always want every new 'MJ' written or shown to rise. Plus in the movies like 616 MJ version has done in the long history she has this 'MJ' will also develop stronger as a independent character and bonds. I find myself loving the videos Zendaya and Tom are having fun and interviews together with which has those positive vibes of 'Peter and MJ' connections that I want to feel in the movies itself. The actors are capable I feel but it's up to the writers and directors and more to bring that magic in.
The first Mary Jane appearance I saw in a video game was in an Amazing Spider-Man DOS game. This is the intro comic based on McFarlane art.
73783-188153-StoryboardJPG-620x.jpg
Somehow I remember the art being better than this, as in, really look like McFarlane art.
I didn't know what to do in this game. You go to Mysterio's base, you can see where Mary Jane was held and Mysterio walking around in a different room, but I didn't know how to get there.
One memorable feature is a big Spider-Man art at the side of the playable area that acts as your life bar. When you take damage, the Spider-Man costume slowly disappeared from the bottom up to reveal his skeleton.
To be honest, I don't think I would have become a fan of Spider-Man and Peter without MJ. The first Spider-Man story I read was the newspaper comic strip. In that one Peter and MJ were married...and the idea of a superhero as a married man, with his wife knowing his double life, it was so far above Superman and Batman...and I liked MJ. She was funny, she was smart, and she's this amazing charismatic presence, and she brought this amazing comedy, charm, and heart to the story.
Newspaper MJ really was a bright spark in the five years in between the end of MC2 and Renew Your Vows.
Mary Jane is one of the most charismatic characters in comics. I mean her, J. Jonah Jameson, Spider-Man, The Joker, Doctor Doom, Wolverine, all are these instantly charismatic figures who no matter the story always command attention, never wear out welcome and offer so many possibilities and dimensions.
I want there to be a sequel to Arachknight just so we can see more Marley Jane Watson.
I am here for short hair MJ, surprisingly enough.
Big fan of those MJ Variant cover a while back:
Last edited by LordUltimus; 01-05-2019 at 01:26 PM.
I believe he's referring to Gloriana "GG" Grant, who was a fellow Stark Camper in the School's Out digital comic series and whose appearance, if not personality and demeanor, was based heavily on Zendaya's Michelle "MJ" Jones from Spider-Man: Homecoming (and the upcoming sequel Far From Home).
Oh, and I loved all of those MJ Variant Covers from June 2017, but my favorites were Spider-Gwen MJ, Venom MJ, and Iron Man MJ. I was thinking of coming up with stories for all of them, although the Captain Marvel one would be somewhat easier because Mary Jane was part of Carol Danvers's supporting cast in the first issues of the original Ms. Marvel solo when Carol was working at The Daily Bugle on Woman Magazine. MJ Thor was fun, too, if only because Thor was a redhead in the actual Norse mythology, so in that sense, Mary Jane as Mjolnir's wielder would be truer to the text.
The spider is always on the hunt.
While many modern ("modern" here defined as 13th century or later) depictions put Thor with red or reddish hair, that does not necessarily mean that the viking-era Scandinavians thought of Thor as red-haired as we think of it today, simply because they had a different terminology for colours. "Red" was used for both what we think of as red and yellow, so the sun was red, gold was red, and hair was often described as red. So both yellowish and reddish hair should be considered "canon" for Thor.
A remnant of this remains in modern Swedish, where the two common types of gold used for jewellery are called "red gold" and "white gold", where "red gold" is similar to the "yellow gold" in English-speaking countries.
But I agree an MJ Thor could be fun!
Point.
Same here.
Thanks for the lesson. I say that with total and utter sincerity. It's fun to learn stuff.
Going back to Mary Jane herself, while a lot of people do look down on the actress/model thing, in retrospect, it could open a lot of storytelling avenues, particularly given this current era of social activism revolving around how women and girls are exploited, harassed, and abused, sexually or otherwise, by powerful men in media and entertainment. Come to think of it, a lot of the earlier Spider-Man stories that dealt with MJ's career could have foreshadowed this current sociocultural climate, especially when you take into account Jonathon Caesar getting her blacklisted as a model after she got him put in jail for kidnapping her when she refused to sleep with him, or that one subplot in Spider-Man (sans adjective) where MJ refused a role because the casting director and producer were more interested in seeing her naked than they were in her ability or suitability to play the role. It would also be an interesting take on the central theme of Spider-Man --- power and how it can be used, how it affects those who have it and those who don't, and of course whether those who have power have a corresponding moral responsibility for how they use it.
The spider is always on the hunt.