Do you think fans would accept anyone except MJ as the love interest?

[Kevinroc]

(It's important to note that this thread isn't about an individual fan's thoughts on the subject as there are people who don't care about MJ and would prefer Peter with someone else. This is about the collective fandom as a whole.)

Based on an exchange I had elsewhere with people about Spider-Man, the discussion turned to the subject of the current run. Someone said that after Spencer reconciled Peter and MJ, that there was no putting that genie back in the bottle. That even if the current run were better received, there would still be an extremely pervasive negativity around it. And that this was with Black Cat serving as the potential love interest for this run. This person then said to imagine if the potential love interest were a new character. Someone else chimed in that fans don't have to imagine that, fans saw what happened with Carlie.

(I should note that these folks aren't huge Peter x MJ shippers or anything like that.)

It got me thinking. MJ has been the fan favorite love interest since the days Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. were on the title. Their intended love interest, Gwen Stacy, never was a hit with fans in the way MJ was. The first regular writer of Amazing Spider-Man following Stan Lee, Gerry Conway, was a huge fan of the Peter x MJ pairing.

At this point, the Spider-Man franchise is over 60 years old. It's truly difficult to go against such things at this point, if not impossible. So I ask the question. Do you think fans would accept anyone except MJ as THE love interest for Peter?

[Frontier]

If it was executed well enough, yeah, but I think at some point there's a chance they would be handled in a way that felt just derivative of MJ like Gwen in the ASM movies.

[NC_Yankee]

(It's important to note that this thread isn't about an individual fan's thoughts on the subject as there are people who don't care about MJ and would prefer Peter with someone else. This is about the collective fandom as a whole.)

Based on an exchange I had elsewhere with people about Spider-Man, the discussion turned to the subject of the current run. Someone said that after Spencer reconciled Peter and MJ, that there was no putting that genie back in the bottle. That even if the current run were better received, there would still be an extremely pervasive negativity around it. And that this was with Black Cat serving as the potential love interest for this run. This person then said to imagine if the potential love interest were a new character. Someone else chimed in that fans don't have to imagine that, fans saw what happened with Carlie.

(I should note that these folks aren't huge Peter x MJ shippers or anything like that.)

It got me thinking. MJ has been the fan favorite love interest since the days Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. were on the title. Their intended love interest, Gwen Stacy, never was a hit with fans in the way MJ was. The first regular writer of Amazing Spider-Man following Stan Lee, Gerry Conway, was a huge fan of the Peter x MJ pairing.

At this point, the Spider-Man franchise is over 60 years old. It's truly difficult to go against such things at this point, if not impossible. So I ask the question. Do you think fans would accept anyone except MJ as THE love interest for Peter?

I think it is more likely people would accept a new character if well done then Bringing Gwen back from the dead, Felicia and especially Cindy. Most People also do not want someone who diminishes Peter’s role in the book ( Mockingbird comes to mind).

[Max_Mercury]

The problem is that we already had 20+ years of Peter and MJ in the endgame relationship, they got married. And while some writers didn't always make it work, they were for the most part a great couple. Then the trainwreck of OMD comes along and I guess Joe Quesada just figured readers were just going to forget about the marriage the same way everyone else in the 616 did. But we didn't and some of us are still pissed about it. Can anyone else replace her? I doubt it, they've had 40 years of in continuity growth together. However, I've always believed that Marvel only needed to keep them apart long enough for the marriage fans to stop collecting or die off.

[CaptainUniverse]

No, and despite what Marvel Editorial thinks to the contrary, there never will be. While she wasn't the first attempt at replacing MJ, it was Carlie Cooper who proved without a shadow of a doubt that it doesn't work, especially after she was foisted upon us by someone who is trying to vicariously live a second bachelorhood through a fictional character.

[Kaitou D. Kid]

In theory it can happen, it's just that it would be really, really hard to come up with a love interest more compatible than MJ. That's what Editorial doesn't get... there is objectively no one more compatible with Peter than MJ. You can maybe write some decent stories with other love interests, but they still won't be as compatible as MJ.

So I'm voting no. That ship has sailed.

[Matt Rat]

Nope. She's too embedded in the mythos as the endgame and little May making her way into movies solidifies her stature as the one to beat. Too many years, and far too many legacies. Nobody stands a chance.

[exile001]

Absolutely, the problem is that Marvel would need to split them in a way that feels natural but also final, and then stick to a new love interest. That's their biggest problem, they never have since MJ/OMD.

It is the nature of comics to have The one or a revolving door but Peter has had several big, meaningful relationships with different partners.

Peter loved Betty, but they split and it wasn't long before Gwen was THE girl. Gwen died and MJ immediately moved to fill that spot (although it took Peter a while to reciprocate), which she'd kinda been doing anyway during Gwen's time.

MJ leaves and Peter bounces back to Betty (ugh!) then Marvel seemed to drop women as a heavy focus for a bit. Black Cat, who many fans are fond of, was mostly in the secondary book, but it's still the reason there are a bunch of people hoping she'll be back as the permanent love interest.

Once MJ came back it was all MJ and straight down the aisle (ironically many argued it was too sudden and quick).

Since OMD Marvel spent years building Carlie only to squash that in like a year, and then what? Sajani? Anna-Marie? Silk? Mockingbird? None of these seemed remotely serious.

Then back to MJ and a much deeper and more intimate relationship* than we'd seen in years which, in my opinion, puts a stamp on the idea that anything outside of Pete/MJ is a bit of a waste of time.

I think Peter's history shows that given serious time in a relationship with another character, most fans will likely come around. But that's the problem, they need to pick someone, give us a reason why they're compatible, and then stick to it until fans accept it as staying. Despite what's said on here, people got very used to single Peter from BND to Spencer's run (again, the actual Carlie relationship was very short) and Spidey's sales were pretty stable.

There are fans who still can't get past Gwen, so you'll always have those who refuse to let MJ go but they'll be a small minority probably posting on this very board. But broadly I don't think it matters too much who Peter is with as far as sales go.

My rambly point is that Spidey's history does show that other romantic interests can and will be accepted, but what is needed is stability and focus.

So probably have to wait for a new editor.

*seriously, look how deeply they connect and they way they do. Carlie never got anything like the stage issue.

[Matt Rat]

Despite what's said on here, people got very used to single Peter from BND to Spencer's run (again, the actual Carlie relationship was very short) and Spidey's sales were pretty stable.

The marriage did not go away after OMD.

The fans had the newspaper strip, Spider-Girl, and Renew Your Vows to keep them happy at the time.

The same is happening with Wells at the moment, with Lost Hunt and a new Spider-Girl story in Marvel Infinity doing the rounds, plus the advancement of Peter B's story in Across The Spider-Verse.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[Chris0013]

It would take a long time to do it...but it could be done. First they would need to write MJ out of the book permanently then introduce the new love interest and make her the focus of Peter's love life. Eventually the only love interest fans would know is whoever this new one is.

[Mercwmouth12]

It would take a long time to do it...but it could be done. First they would need to write MJ out of the book permanently then introduce the new love interest and make her the focus of Peter's love life. Eventually the only love interest fans would know is whoever this new one is.

Problem is that they'd have to do that in other forms of media too as all regular people who don't read comics think of Peter and MJ together in some fashion. You have also games and movies that pair them and who know if she'll be in Freshman year as well

[Matt Rat]

It would take a long time to do it...but it could be done. First they would need to write MJ out of the book permanently then introduce the new love interest and make her the focus of Peter's love life. Eventually the only love interest fans would know is whoever this new one is.

Until they decide to read back issues and trades, and realize "oh s*it, he was married and they never really ever divorced"

[CaptainUniverse]

It would take a long time to do it...but it could be done. First they would need to write MJ out of the book permanently then introduce the new love interest and make her the focus of Peter's love life. Eventually the only love interest fans would know is whoever this new one is.

Marvel would literally have to stop reprinting every story with her in it for something as outlandish as "replacing" MJ to "work" and I don't think that is a sacrifice they are willing to make, if the Wedding Album is anything to go by. EDIT: Hit the wrong reply button.

[Daibhidh]

I don't know anything about the fans in general.
Mary Jane has been around a long time, has more and better known love interest scenes and stories than any other character in comics that I know of, and when written competently is one of the most charismatic and three dimensional characters in comics.
To displace Mary Jane a love interest would have to make up that ground, either in all three areas or get far enough ahead in one to make up for the others.

Felicia is her only real current competition for charisma and character development. But that very character development means Felicia / Peter just isn't good for either character since one of them has to compromise what makes them an interesting character. Further, Felicia just doesn't have the stories behind her.
Betty and Liz are the only ones who have more history than Mary Jane and they don't have the charisma. Moreover they both right now have families of their own so pairing them with Peter would immediately make him a parental figure, which is what the people trying to displace Mary Jane are trying to avoid more than anything.
Jessica Jones is happily married to Luke and has a child.
If Firestar were modelled on the way she was written in the original animated series, she might have the charisma because she basically was Mary Jane with mutant powers. But that's really going for the nostalgia factor for a very particular generation. And she hasn't been written that way in the comics.
I haven't read the Peter/Bobbi Morse stories but I can believe that someone other than Dan Slott could do better with them. But Clint/Bobbi will always be a thing.
A left field suggestion would be Kirsten McDuffie from Daredevil, who has the same kind of charisma. The Daredevil people don't seem to be using her. But I think she'd age Peter more than Mary Jane does which is what the anti-Mary Jane crowd are trying to avoid.

Deliberately creating a new character to be a love interest is just more miss than hit, especially as either you're just replicating character traits that Mary Jane has in which case why not use the original, or you're trying to avoid them in which case you run the risk of recreating Deb Whitman, and in either case you run the risk of being seen to try too hard.

I think the only thing that could displace Mary Jane is bringing Gwen back to life. Mary Jane was more popular than Gwen the first time round, firstly because Mary Jane was at times written as a rounded character - the only real young female character Stan Lee ever wrote as far as I am aware - and Gwen never was really, and secondly because Mary Jane liked Spider-man and Gwen didn't. With some determined and skilled character development Gwen might displace Mary Jane. But that would require undoing Gwen's death, which after Uncle Ben's death, is one of the few deaths they seem unlikely to want to touch.

[Mercwmouth12]

I don't know anything about the fans in general.
Mary Jane has been around a long time, has more and better known love interest scenes and stories than any other character in comics that I know of, and when written competently is one of the most charismatic and three dimensional characters in comics.
To displace Mary Jane a love interest would have to make up that ground, either in all three areas or get far enough ahead in one to make up for the others.

Felicia is her only real current competition for charisma and character development. But that very character development means Felicia / Peter just isn't good for either character since one of them has to compromise what makes them an interesting character. Further, Felicia just doesn't have the stories behind her.
Betty and Liz are the only ones who have more history than Mary Jane and they don't have the charisma. Moreover they both right now have families of their own so pairing them with Peter would immediately make him a parental figure, which is what the people trying to displace Mary Jane are trying to avoid more than anything.
Jessica Jones is happily married to Luke and has a child.
If Firestar were modelled on the way she was written in the original animated series, she might have the charisma because she basically was Mary Jane with mutant powers. But that's really going for the nostalgia factor for a very particular generation. And she hasn't been written that way in the comics.
I haven't read the Peter/Bobbi Morse stories but I can believe that someone other than Dan Slott could do better with them. But Clint/Bobbi will always be a thing.
A left field suggestion would be Kirsten McDuffie from Daredevil, who has the same kind of charisma. The Daredevil people don't seem to be using her. But I think she'd age Peter more than Mary Jane does which is what the anti-Mary Jane crowd are trying to avoid.

Deliberately creating a new character to be a love interest is just more miss than hit, especially as either you're just replicating character traits that Mary Jane has in which case why not use the original, or you're trying to avoid them in which case you run the risk of recreating Deb Whitman, and in either case you run the risk of being seen to try too hard.

I think the only thing that could displace Mary Jane is bringing Gwen back to life. Mary Jane was more popular than Gwen the first time round, firstly because Mary Jane was at times written as a rounded character - the only real young female character Stan Lee ever wrote as far as I am aware - and Gwen never was really, and secondly because Mary Jane liked Spider-man and Gwen didn't. With some determined and skilled character development Gwen might displace Mary Jane. But that would require undoing Gwen's death, which after Uncle Ben's death, is one of the few deaths they seem unlikely to want to touch.

Plus you have Spider-Gwen which essential makes here the new default Gwen her as a character is more profitable going forward