She may have accepted her role as a lifelong duty of protecting Earth and has just gone along with it. I think the kids are made from totem magic. I have never seen her kiss Paul or say I love you. It's almost like they are just there for the kids. There is something like protecting those kids is her goal going forward as she has not defeated Rabin and she knows he is coming for them. So she is basically stuck in this situation until they find a way to stop Rabin for good.
Quiet, you!
Also...that would suck so hard.
Eh, given the inconsistencies we saw with MJ/Black Cat, I wouldn't be surprised if Joe Kelly winged it for #19 and #20 like Mackay did for MJ/Black Cat. Wells did skip those issues in order to get a head start on WDPD, after all.
Last edited by CaptainUniverse; 05-04-2023 at 09:18 PM.
"The Enigma Force is not a tool to be manipulated by mortals. The Enigma Force comes to those it deems worthy. What temerity, what arrogance, makes you think you are worthy? Have you not all made mistakes? Unforgiveable ones?" - Captain Universe
"Call me an Avenging Angel, Baron, come to safeguard Earth...call me CAPTAIN UNIVERSE!" - Ray Coffin
"You're my heart, Mary Jane Watson...you're my jackpot." - Peter Parker
I'm hoping for that to be the case. As awful as she's treated Peter, if she's resigned herself to this role and thinks she's got to do this, I could see MJ doing that. If she's really in it for saving the world she'd go pretty far. Even if it kills her inside to hurt him.
I mean...those issues were written back when Wells only had in mind what the fallout of WDPD was, not what caused it. I think things have changed rather significantly since then. Like, for instance, Paul said "Do I seem like a violent person?" and yes, yes he is. We know he is! She literally met him in the Mayan Apocalypse where he was killing monsters! Simply put, I don't think the stuff from the early issues is going to match what we see in ASM #25.
Last edited by CaptainUniverse; 05-04-2023 at 09:26 PM.
"The Enigma Force is not a tool to be manipulated by mortals. The Enigma Force comes to those it deems worthy. What temerity, what arrogance, makes you think you are worthy? Have you not all made mistakes? Unforgiveable ones?" - Captain Universe
"Call me an Avenging Angel, Baron, come to safeguard Earth...call me CAPTAIN UNIVERSE!" - Ray Coffin
"You're my heart, Mary Jane Watson...you're my jackpot." - Peter Parker
Last edited by spiderlink; 05-04-2023 at 09:32 PM.
What gets me is that she's standing there helplessly waiting for Peter when she should be the one ordering Paul around and being active.
I think now we might know why she seemed unhappy with him right after she saw him again, she was resentful of him for not coming back sooner as she hoped he would. When you think about it they really covered all their bases when it comes to MJ's behavior towards Peter. She trapped herself there for him, was stuck in there likely for decades, kept her hope alive that he would come back for her for years and years when he never did, eventually she couldn't take it anymore and thought she had no choice but to move on(even though her situation isn't exactly one where she can have the agency to "move on" from Peter), while becoming a "badass mom" since she and her family have been in danger all that time. All the while Peter is dead-tired, sleep-deprived, anxiety ridden, learns the woman he did everything to come back for didn't wait for him and he knows nothing about what kind of person "the mysterious Paul" is, so in his perspective it makes sense to think that Paul might have done something bad to MJ and somehow react to him accordingly, which would draw her ire to him. Hardened survivor MJ whose only purpose is to protect the only people close to her has no loyalty to someone she hasn't seen in, say, 25 years or someone she might have thought "abandoned" her long ago(she "accepted her chains"). Naturally if Peter did anything that in her mind was remotely offensive to her or the family, she would be cold and cruel to him. They made sure they have every excuse under the sun to make it look like it "makes sense" for MJ to treat him like this going forward, while seemingly absolving her of any accountability for everything that happened.
Last edited by Johnny; 05-04-2023 at 09:54 PM.
If that's the case, I'm gonna be furious because of course MJ would understand, even if it's been years, that he's doing everything he can to get back to her. She's a compassionate, empathetic person who understands Peter better than he understandsh himself half the time. If Wells seriously thinks "Well it was YEARS!" will cover his ass about ruining MJ's character, he's sorely wrong. Like I said earlier, I know it's unrealistic, but I feel MJ would wait however long it takes for him. Maybe they could explain she's "changed" all those years but it won't work on us. For one, it will always feel like cheating if she feels betrayed and and forgotten by Peter. You can frame it in every single way that makes MJ look like an angel and Peter the devil, but it doesn't change the emotion that comes with her moving on and being with another man while Peter is doing everything in his power to save her.
Then there's Peter's perspective on all this. While I'm not trying to say his POV matters more, at the end of the day MJ is the one who had to suffer in Monster Hell, he's got every right to feel betrayed in his own right. And as far as I'm concerned, any version of MJ, no matter how hardened, would understand where Peter is coming from even if he lashes out. Ands if she's really bitter he didn't save her earlier, then it's Nega-MJ for sure.
Plus as I've stated earlier, when it comes to lashing out in anger, MJ has no legs to stand on.
Just speculating like everyone else. I could be totally off the mark about everything I'm saying, which I truly hope I am since this shit pisses me off to no end.
Whatever the case, what I'm all but certain about is this issue will likely end up being Peter's biggest humiliation in his entire publication history. The way it's all been set up, it practically screams shame and embarrassment for him.
Last edited by Johnny; 05-05-2023 at 12:49 AM.
"The Enigma Force is not a tool to be manipulated by mortals. The Enigma Force comes to those it deems worthy. What temerity, what arrogance, makes you think you are worthy? Have you not all made mistakes? Unforgiveable ones?" - Captain Universe
"Call me an Avenging Angel, Baron, come to safeguard Earth...call me CAPTAIN UNIVERSE!" - Ray Coffin
"You're my heart, Mary Jane Watson...you're my jackpot." - Peter Parker