Originally Posted by
Yvonmukluk
As a ride-or-die Peter/MJ shipper, I'd actually have no problem with making Mary Jane bisexual, but the problem is that it'd probably be really hard to handle it tastefully and not just as an excuse to have her make out with women. What would be an interesting approach would be to have her in a committed relationship (maybe even married) with Peter and have her run into an ex-girlfriend (maybe from her time in Florida - that time of her life is a blank slate for writers), and then have her dealing with a ex-girlfriend who feels hurt that she was a 'phase' in MJ's life, which could lead to a storyline where MJ comes to terms with her bisexuality and accepts that is who she is - it'd also be an interesting way to address bisexual erasure. Of course, you could argue by saying she's bisexual and keeping her in a relationship with Peter that's also bisexual erasure.
As for giving her powers, that's something I kind vacillate on. I really liked Renew Your Vows (honestly I'd just have her keep the powers from Spider-Island and have her as Spinneret if it came to that), but at the same time Peter & Mary Jane are actually pretty unique in the sense that when it comes to major couples in Marvel, they're one of the only ones where one partner is a civilian with no powers or special abilities.
As to Jackpot...well, I almost feel like both incarnations were unfortunately wasted. We only really got Alana's backstory after she died in a b-book (which spurred Sara to come back as Jackpot...only to lose her husband and retire at the end of her miniseries, proving she'd basically been correct to hang up the costume and Peter shouldn't have guilt-tripped her into doing it again), and she was actually really fascinating and I feel like maybe they should have just depowered her and found other ways to use. I mean, FEAST was still a thing at that point in the books and she had a history in social care, so maybe she could have got a job helping people there. I'd maybe have Peter confide his identity to her, and then he'd have someone to talk about his problems with in that side of his life, so she could be a confidant and friend to him (kind of like MJ was before the wedding). And unlike MJ, since she's canonically a lesbian, they would be able to just be friends, without any of the baggage or expectation that Peter & MJ had to deal with of people expecting or trying to get them back together (although in that case, I do feel that it worked out in the end).
That actually comes to my main thing...I'd have at least some of the supporting cast still know Peter's ID after the mindwipe. While I get why they put that particular genie back in the bottle (although I do feel they could have done more with that concept), I feel like Peter hiding it from some of his family and friends who'd ben OK with it and supported him, even when he was a fugitive - I'm thinking of Flash & Betty in PAD's run, here, as well as obviously Aunt May. Making even his close friends and family forget didn't really seem to add anything to the stories and only seemed to be done because that's how they did it in 'the good old days'.
And speaking of wasted characters...I feel like poor Mattie Franklin could have been used well if she'd not gotten killed off in Grim Hunt (I mean, she literally only died for cheap pathos and to resurrect a character who then died again at the end of the story - talk about a senseless death). She had a backstory as a private investigator, knew Peter's secret ID, and was JJJ's adoptive niece. There's a whole lot that could have been done with that by a writer willing to explore it. Maybe JJJ gets her a job in city hall and she becomes a source of information. Maybe she shows up as a rival or ally to Jessica Jones. Maybe she asks Peter for help on a case. Maybe Mayor JJJ tries to make her the 'officially approved' Spider-Hero, unlike that menace Spider-Man (to her own chagrin, since she's obviously friends with Peter and feels under pressure from the expectations). I feel like I'm one of those people who tends to believe there's no such thing as a bad character, only bad writers. I sort of feel Mattie's a great example.