Raimi Peter and MJ were definitely friends in SM1. Maybe not the closest of friends, but that's the only version other than Ultimate where there was history between them before they dated (not counting Shailene Woodley's erased MJ from The Amazing films).
I don't get the choice for MCU MJ's portrayal. She was acting so deliberately non-MJ that I (and many) first theorised it was a ruse because she was a famous Hannah Montana-esque pop star or supermodel and didn't want people to catch on about her secret identity similar to Peter/Spidey's behavior.
I still like that theory so much more than what we got.
This video tries to make a case for the MCU's decision with MJ to middling success, I feel.