Mary Jane Watson-Parker Appreciation 2021

[Spider-Tiger]

I imagine No Way Home isn’t going to entirely help in this regard since:

spoilers:

Zendaya’s MJ in the film is established as having her last name be Watson, making her officially MJ Watson. Doesn’t help the situation that there’s also a line that gives the strong implication that she isn’t a fan of her full actual name, leaving me therefore if her name is actually Michelle Jones Watson after all or if her actual name really is Mary Jane Watson and she just changed it or something.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Really? Well, I guess they officially retconned the character into being Mary Jane. So dumb that they even bothered with the Michelle Jones not Mary Jane nonsense in the first place.

end of spoilers

[Confuzzled]

Zendaya is being more direct in interviews now about MCU MJ being a "modern" take on Mary Jane. While I flinch at that description, I assume that's how the character was pitched to her.



In another interview, she also mentioned the backlash but said it was expected whenever an iconic character like Mary Jane is changed in any way:

https://twitter.com/dumas1000/status...70008827125763

[Spiderfan001]

If anything comic MJ is one of the most modern characters even way back when, aside from the dialogue style ofc.

This is backwards, obv not Zendaya's fault but Marvel's

[John Venus]

Hopefully they let her be Mary Jane in future movies. This would be a good opportunity to introduce MJ's father as an explanation for why she kept her name hidden.

[Digifiend]

Considering how the film ends...
spoilers:

Peter has Doctor Strange erase everyone's memories of not just his secret identity, but his entire existence. Partly to protect MJ and Ned, who were rejected from college due to their connection to Spidey. Maybe next movie, MJ relearns Peter's secrets, and joins him in taking a new identity, but keeping the MJ nickname? That could be how she becomes Mary Jane. Peter's new identity would, of course, be Ben Reilly. Ned would take his actual name from the comics, Ganke Lee.

end of spoilers

[Spider-Tiger]

Zendaya is being more direct in interviews now about MCU MJ being a "modern" take on Mary Jane. While I flinch at that description, I assume that's how the character was pitched to her.



In another interview, she also mentioned the backlash but said it was expected whenever an iconic character like Mary Jane is changed in any way:

https://twitter.com/dumas1000/status...70008827125763

Honestly, it just seems like they didn't want to double down on Zendaya being the "real" Mary Jane initially. Maybe one of the producers at Sony or Disney had a problem with having a biracial actress in the role so they had the name changed to Michelle Jones instead. It sucks because she had the potential to make for a great Mary Jane.

I hope that she returns with auburn hair and the classic "face it tiger" introduction in the future. They left the door open to just refer to her as "MJ Watson."

[TinkerSpider]

Zendaya is being more direct in interviews now about MCU MJ being a "modern" take on Mary Jane. While I flinch at that description, I assume that's how the character was pitched to her.



In another interview, she also mentioned the backlash but said it was expected whenever an iconic character like Mary Jane is changed in any way:

https://twitter.com/dumas1000/status...70008827125763

The irony of an actress/model buying into the pitch that a female character aspiring to be an actress/model isn't "modern"... 🤔

The misogyny/internalized misogyny (not counting Amy Pascal out as the one who decided the problem with MJ in the Raimi films was her career, not the inherent miscasting of Dunst) around Mary Jane as a character continues to be strong.

I wish Marvel/Sony hadn't given into their fear of the redneckbeards because Zendaya would have been an amazing classic iconic version of Mary Jane.

[Frontier]

The name thing is probably the silliest thing. I think they should've been more upfront with whom Zendaya was playing both from a name and characterization standpoint.

[Huntsman Spider]

The irony of an actress/model buying into the pitch that a female character aspiring to be an actress/model isn't "modern"... ��

The misogyny/internalized misogyny (not counting Amy Pascal out as the one who decided the problem with MJ in the Raimi films was her career, not the inherent miscasting of Dunst) around Mary Jane as a character continues to be strong.

I wish Marvel/Sony hadn't given into their fear of the redneckbeards because Zendaya would have been an amazing classic iconic version of Mary Jane.

That's actually a pretty solid point there, especially on the whole thing of Marvel/Sony/Disney preemptively giving in to the fear of backlash from certain corners of the fandom. As for the idea of a more "modern" Mary Jane, filtering her classic characterization and backstory through the lens or sieve of contemporary developments would probably have her first getting her name and face out there through photos and videos uploaded to Instagram and/or YouTube, or even TikTok, depending on whether or not she's supposed to be in her teens or twenties.

[Lukmendes]

Zendaya is being more direct in interviews now about MCU MJ being a "modern" take on Mary Jane. While I flinch at that description, I assume that's how the character was pitched to her.

That or it's just a non controversial way to describe MJ's changes, 'cause "modern" could more than just her carreer choice, but also her race, so saying something as vague as "modern" can tone down the backlash.

Oh well, at least they stopped being cowards about this, took only 3 movies, but hey.

[Chris0013]

The irony of an actress/model buying into the pitch that a female character aspiring to be an actress/model isn't "modern"... ��

The misogyny/internalized misogyny (not counting Amy Pascal out as the one who decided the problem with MJ in the Raimi films was her career, not the inherent miscasting of Dunst) around Mary Jane as a character continues to be strong.

I wish Marvel/Sony hadn't given into their fear of the redneckbeards because Zendaya would have been an amazing classic iconic version of Mary Jane.

So it can't be that people want to keep the characters as close to the source material as possible? I have no problem with portraying a diverse supporting cast around Spidey/Peter...but instead of making this 'is she is or is she ain't MJ' character why not have made her Glory Grant? Instead of such a drastic change to Flash...why not keep him as the big, dumb, blonde haired, blue-eyed jock and cast someone to play Hobie Brown and that possibly leading to a Prowler (or isn't he Hornet now?) movie.

[Confuzzled]

I wish Marvel/Sony hadn't given into their fear of the redneckbeards because Zendaya would have been an amazing classic iconic version of Mary Jane.

The timing sucked. I think they would've been more confident if this casting had been done in a post Black Panther/Into the Spider-Verse era where it became more evident that people wanted to see POC in these iconic roles. Also it was pre Zendaya becoming a highly sought after, Emmy winning actress, whose MJ also became incredibly popular as a result.

Still though, not cutting Marvel/Sony any slack as 2016 wasn't that non-progressive a period. Credit where credit's due to Zack Snyder hiring a POC actor to play Aquaman during the same time frame.

[Kevinroc]

They need to have her character either change her name to Mary Jane or reveal that she changed her name from Mary Jane (and then change it back). Go all in on it.

[TinkerSpider]

So it can't be that people want to keep the characters as close to the source material as possible? I have no problem with portraying a diverse supporting cast around Spidey/Peter...but instead of making this 'is she is or is she ain't MJ' character why not have made her Glory Grant? Instead of such a drastic change to Flash...why not keep him as the big, dumb, blonde haired, blue-eyed jock and cast someone to play Hobie Brown and that possibly leading to a Prowler (or isn't he Hornet now?) movie.

If people can't look at Zendaya and note that she is perfect for classic iconic MJ - from her attitude in interviews to the looks she serves on the red carpet - not to mention Zendaya is a versatile, talented performer who can be goofy, charming, sexy, self-deprecating, sarcastic, defensive of those she cares about and just plain fun, exactly like MJ in the comics - then I stand by the issue being racism and not "muh original source material."

I would much rather have a Mary Jane Watson played by Zendaya than by Kirsten Dunst. Dunst is also a talented actress, but she lacks a - let's call it inner fire for a lack of a better term - to be a wholly successful Mary Jane, despite a closer surface resemblance to the comics MJ.

[Chris0013]

If people can't look at Zendaya and note that she is perfect for classic iconic MJ - from her attitude in interviews to the looks she serves on the red carpet - not to mention Zendaya is a versatile, talented performer who can be goofy, charming, sexy, self-deprecating, sarcastic, defensive of those she cares about and just plain fun, exactly like MJ in the comics - then I stand by the issue being racism and not "muh original source material."

I would much rather have a Mary Jane Watson played by Zendaya than by Kirsten Dunst. Dunst is also a talented actress, but she lacks a - let's call it inner fire for a lack of a better term - to be a wholly successful Mary Jane, despite a closer surface resemblance to the comics MJ.

I am not saying anything about her acting ability. I believe that changing a traditionally white, straight, male character to female or POC or LGBT is the same as white washing. I also think it smacks of pandering. Basically saying that the traditionally diverse characters aren't good enough so they will change the famous white characters so they represent other demographics.

I want Marvel to put their traditionally diverse characters into the MCU (or Sony-versea as the case may be). I want to see a Blue Marvel story on screen or for Jon Huertas to get his shot as White Tiger. Of for a Spider-Woman or Black Cat movie that is tied to the MCU.