Mary Jane & Black Cat #4 Preview

[Kevinroc]

Yeah, I don't see the watch sticking around unless McKay writes MJ any more, assuming he still wants her to have powers at the ready moving forward.

I think MacKay put too much effort into explaining the mechanics of the thing that he won't toss it out casually like that.

(Not that I expect MJ to keep it forever going forward. Or even for ASM to acknowledge it.)

[Frontier]

I think MacKay put too much effort into explaining the mechanics of the thing that he won't toss it out casually like that.

(Not that I expect MJ to keep it forever going forward. Or even for ASM to acknowledge it.)

Oh yeah, there's no way Wells is going to acknowledge it. Now it doesn't even seem like it exists because of the mystery box either.

[Vworp Vworp]

Not sure why this needed to be five issues.

I'm not sure why it had to be any issues.

[Ursalink]

Well, I have to say, what I espected ended up happening in this issue.

I mean, MJ and Black Cat's powers ended up combining in a perfect way. At the moment Felicia stopped seeing MJ as an enemy, her bad luck went directly just to the monster; and bad luck for the monster meant good luck for her and MJ, unlocking her 777 form.

I was thinking this would end up happening and I was right.

[Majesty]

Well, I have to say, what I espected ended up happening in this issue.

I mean, MJ and Black Cat's powers ended up combining in a perfect way. At the moment Felicia stopped seeing MJ as an enemy, her bad luck went directly just to the monster; and bad luck for the monster meant good luck for her and MJ, unlocking her 777 form.

I was thinking this would end up happening and I was right.

I'm glad it did. As I think 777 Mary Jane(or would we call it "Jackpot"?) is pretty darn awesome imho.

[Ursalink]

I'm glad it did. As I think 777 Mary Jane(or would we call it "Jackpot"?) is pretty darn awesome imho.

Honestly, considering the kind of power she gets in that form, I don't think "Jackpot" is the most accurate name for her. I mean, having the power to shift reality goes way beyond a Jackpot. It's like winning the biggest lottery in the world.

And although I don't deny that form is awesome, she's also creepy for MJ. I mean, a Spider-MJ is perfect, a Mary Jane as Black Cat is enjoyable. But a MJ with any kind of power you can imagine an by mere luck? I don't see it fitting. She's now literally like DC's Dial H for Heroe.

[Majesty]

Honestly, considering the kind of power she gets in that form, I don't think "Jackpot" is the most accurate name for her. I mean, having the power to shift reality goes way beyond a Jackpot. It's like winning the biggest lottery in the world.

They'll probably call it Burning 7 Form or something like Triple 7 that. Then again 777 Form works just fine too. Either way, Mary Jane is pretty incredible in it, and the range of abilities she has in it is something I'd like to see explored at some point.

[Daibhidh]

What is really annoying is that if MJ with powers is a good idea at all - I'm not fully sold - we have missed all the emotional beats of MJ discovering that she has powers, discovering that she is now a powered person and a part of the powered community, and so on. Just as we've missed all the emotional beats of MJ learning to be a mother for the first time.

[Majesty]

What is really annoying is that if MJ with powers is a good idea at all - I'm not fully sold - we have missed all the emotional beats of MJ discovering that she has powers, discovering that she is now a powered person and a part of the powered community, and so on. Just as we've missed all the emotional beats of MJ learning to be a mother for the first time.

So what you're saying is, you want a "Mary Jane Begins" story about how she got the bracelet.

As it currently stands, she's keeping her powers a secret from Peter and only Felicia (and likely Paul) knows that she has them. But she hasn't told Felicia (and in turn the audience) how she's gotten them yet.

It's not that we've "missed" it. It's that they haven't told us yet. Remember when The Mighty Thor showed up? We didn't "miss" seeing Jane get the Hammer nor how she became The Mighty Thor, it was just shown later when they revealed who she was. Comics tend to do this whenever new powers come up like this.

As it currently stands, we've seen Mary Jane dealing with being a hero before (Spinnernet) as well as fighting off bad guys with Tony Stark's armor. If we want to go into TV Series we've seen plenty of her with hero personas in some of the animated Spider-Man series that have existed.

As far as "this" powerset goes, we haven't missed anything. They just haven't told us yet how she's gotten her powers which means it's something they'll explain later. Likely in flashback.

As it currently stands she doesn't seem to want to be a 'hero' or live that kind of life and only wants to use her powers to protect her friends, loved ones and family. So that's understandable.

And sadly even if this story gives us more beats of her being a mother to her children, people will either ignore it or talk trash about it because they aren't "Peter's" which is the ugly side of the fandom in that regard,

[Frontier]

I assumed it was involved in the mystery box but Wells is completely ignoring it so I doubt it.

I'm just wondering if it'll end up broken or explained in the final issue.

So what you're saying is, you want a "Mary Jane Begins" story about how she got the bracelet.

As it currently stands, she's keeping her powers a secret from Peter and only Felicia (and likely Paul) knows that she has them. But she hasn't told Felicia (and in turn the audience) how she's gotten them yet.

It's not that we've "missed" it. It's that they haven't told us yet. Remember when The Mighty Thor showed up? We didn't "miss" seeing Jane get the Hammer nor how she became The Mighty Thor, it was just shown later when they revealed who she was. Comics tend to do this whenever new powers come up like this.

As it currently stands, we've seen Mary Jane dealing with being a hero before (Spinnernet) as well as fighting off bad guys with Tony Stark's armor. If we want to go into TV Series we've seen plenty of her with hero personas in some of the animated Spider-Man series that have existed.

As far as "this" powerset goes, we haven't missed anything. They just haven't told us yet how she's gotten her powers which means it's something they'll explain later. Likely in flashback.

As it currently stands she doesn't seem to want to be a 'hero' or live that kind of life and only wants to use her powers to protect her friends, loved ones and family. So that's understandable.

And sadly even if this story gives us more beats of her being a mother to her children, people will either ignore it or talk trash about it because they aren't "Peter's" which is the ugly side of the fandom in that regard,

It's hard to get invested or care about her being a mom to random kids who just showed up and are part of a relationship designed to deliberately keep her apart from Peter and who are barely characters as of this point.

Of course the kids might be on their way out soon.

It is a pretty consistent part of her character that MJ doesn't want to be a Superhero. At least 616 MJ.

[Daibhidh]

It is a pretty consistent part of her character that MJ doesn't want to be a Superhero. At least 616 MJ.

It's a bit dependent on the writer. Under Lee/Romita she was a bit of superhero groupie and under Straczynski she definitely wanted to share in as much of Peter's life as Spider-man as she could.
If you're trying to harmonise Mary Jane's attitude to Peter being Spider-man across all writers, I think you'd have to say that what she finds difficult about Peter being Spider-man is not that he puts himself in danger and neglects her, as that he puts himself in danger as Spider-man and she can't do anything to help him. She agreed to marry him after she saved his life from a giant robot twice. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the point at which she decides to accept his proposal is directly after they defeat the robot and she says to Spider-man that they made a pretty good team.

[Frontier]

It's a bit dependent on the writer. Under Lee/Romita she was a bit of superhero groupie and under Straczynski she definitely wanted to share in as much of Peter's life as Spider-man as she could.
If you're trying to harmonise Mary Jane's attitude to Peter being Spider-man across all writers, I think you'd have to say that what she finds difficult about Peter being Spider-man is not that he puts himself in danger and neglects her, as that he puts himself in danger as Spider-man and she can't do anything to help him. She agreed to marry him after she saved his life from a giant robot twice. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the point at which she decides to accept his proposal is directly after they defeat the robot and she says to Spider-man that they made a pretty good team.

I think there's a difference between supporting or cheering for heroes versus dressing up in tights and going out to fight crime yourself.

MJ has always struck me as more career-oriented than someone who would rather spend more time playing Superhero and fighting crime. That's why she helps ground Peter.

[Majesty]

MJ is the kind of person whom could have superpowers and only use them to protect her family, friends and those she loves but never ever suits up to go out "Superheroing" it's a very fantastic dynamic and subversion of expectations. I do like that aspect of it. Mary Jane getting to be the one with her own "secret identity" that only Paul and Felicia knows about because she was protecting them is pretty cool tbh.

[Frontier]

MJ is the kind of person whom could have superpowers and only use them to protect her family, friends and those she loves but never ever suits up to go out "Superheroing" it's a very fantastic dynamic and subversion of expectations. I do like that aspect of it. Mary Jane getting to be the one with her own "secret identity" that only Paul and Felicia knows about because she was protecting them is pretty cool tbh.

I guess we'll see if there are any plans for MJ and the watch after the current series with Felicia ends.

[Majesty]

I guess we'll see if there are any plans for MJ and the watch after the current series with Felicia ends.

Probably will depend more on fan response and how the comics sell. If the comics with Mary Jane showing off her super powers sell well. We'll get more of it. They don't hate money. Although sometimes you wonder if they do with the decisions comics can make :3