Mary Jane Watson-Parker Appreciation 2024.

[SturdyMike89]

So I saw this in Reddit and thought it be fun to do here. Let’s say we had 616 MJ, 1610 MJ, MC2 MJ, Imsonmiac MJ, Renew your Vows MJ and 6160 MJ all in the same room. How would the conversation go?

Insomniac MJ flashes that weird CGI smile of hers that creeps the hell out of me then whines about having to work for JJJ and the 616 and RYV MJ mock the hell out of her. She threatens them with her trusty taser gun but is knocked out by MC2 MJ who proceeds to then insult 616 MJ for just about every moment she has been in during Zeb Well's run. Both RYV MJ and MC2 MJ give the 6160 version tips on how to get Ultimate Peter to shave his beard and make him think it's his idea. Having lost her Spider-Man (maybe, it's strange and not exactly resloved), 1610 MJ just takes it all in trying not stare at Insomniac MJ's weird CGI face.

[K7P5V]

^^^D'oh! I thought 1610 Spidey was already brought back...

[Majesty]

Just some of my favorite moments from the Jackpot and Black Cat first issue

[Malachi]

Just some of my favorite moments from the Jackpot and Black Cat first issue

Different tastes. It feels like diet MJ… nah scratch that. Just Diet Superhero.

Normally I would say that I hope people enjoy it and that I won’t buy it. But with this I am willing to make an exception. I hope it sells really badly and that marvel gets the message that, superhero or not, this is not how we want MJ to be written. Which is no diss towards Bronfman, it’s all about the direction Lowe has steered this in.

[Frontier]

Different tastes. It feels like diet MJ… nah scratch that. Just Diet Superhero.

Normally I would say that I hope people enjoy it and that I won’t buy it. But with this I am willing to make an exception. I hope it sells really badly and that marvel gets the message that, superhero or not, this is not how we want MJ to be written. Which is no diss towards Bronfman, it’s all about the direction Lowe has steered this in.

The art is probably the only universally good thing about it in my opinion, especially Majesty's pics showing it takes full advantage of MJ being in a skintight costume (whether you actually like the design of said costume is another thing) .

But yeah, I don't think Bronfman really "gets" MJ as a character.

[Celgress]

The art is probably the only universally good thing about it in my opinion, especially Majesty's pics showing it takes full advantage of MJ being in a skintight costume (whether you actually like the design of said costume is another thing) .

But yeah, I don't think Bronfman really "gets" MJ as a character.

I don't blame Bronfman. I'm all but certain this characterization change is editorially mandated got to push Jackpot. I refuse to call her MJ any longer because they are so drastically different characters.

[Frontier]

I don't blame Bronfman. I'm all but certain this characterization change is editorially mandated got to push Jackpot. I refuse to call her MJ any longer because they are so drastically different characters.

I don't think it helped but from interviews it doesn't seem like Bronfman did much in the way of research beyond the current Zeb era.

[Prime]

Depends on who is writing this scene. If it's Wells, they'll all end up leaving their Peters.

Just to point out everyone there agreed that every other MJ would roast and berate the current MJ. Or smack her

[Kevinroc]

Don't you bring that evil here!

An entire room of MJs written by Zeb Wells is an evil I didn't wanna imagine, so thanks for that...

Just to point out everyone there agreed that every other MJ would roast and berate the current MJ. Or smack her

[Huntsman Spider]

I don't think it helped but from interviews it doesn't seem like Bronfman did much in the way of research beyond the current Zeb era.

Alas, yeah . . . even reading MacKay's Dark Web tie-in mini for MJ/Black Cat would have been somewhat better.

Just to point out everyone there agreed that every other MJ would roast and berate the current MJ. Or smack her

Well, yeah . . .

[Lifetap]

As others have mentioned, I am guessing the Jackpot turn is driven by editorial since it seems like Wells does not want to really do anything with it himself, which makes me question a lot of the run other than basically the Tombstone stuff really as he seems to be invested in that compared to everything else. Like did he create the Paul scenario and Editorial thought it could be used as a launching point for a new persona (powers + break from Peter), or was the whole Paul scenario also driven by editorial and he just used some of his previously created characters to fill in the gaps in the story.

[9AlphaOmega1]

As others have mentioned, I am guessing the Jackpot turn is driven by editorial since it seems like Wells does not want to really do anything with it himself, which makes me question a lot of the run other than basically the Tombstone stuff really as he seems to be invested in that compared to everything else. Like did he create the Paul scenario and Editorial thought it could be used as a launching point for a new persona (powers + break from Peter), or was the whole Paul scenario also driven by editorial and he just used some of his previously created characters to fill in the gaps in the story.

I always find it fascinating the behind the scene of DC and Marvel comics, how to tell stories in an on going universe. It feels they had a good story idea, but rush through or did not really plan how to execute it. It also feels like they are throwing things at the wall to see what stick. IMO, I think Marvel thought that the popularity of MJ and giving her powers, fans would behind, they are not wrong, but how and why she got those powers left a lot of bad taste to fans myself included. Also IMO, if they were really want to sell the Jackpot, they should gave her an on going, detailing what happen to her in that dystopian alternate universe, to showcase her hero's journey and, not happy to say it, at what point she gave up waiting for Peter and move on. I think it would show empathy why she made these decisions, instead of telling us cliff notes or picking up these important plot lines near at the run, because that bad story telling. One last thing, I did not read the "Clone Sage" when it came out, but the parallel of whats going back then, feels the same now.

[Tuck]

I think Marvel thought that the popularity of MJ and giving her powers, fans would behind, they are not wrong,

I don't know. More fans say this that seem to approve of Jackpot, but stripping Peter's circle of normies takes away from the very thing that made Spider-Man stand out from other superhero books.

I don't see Spider-Man losing its status as the most popular superhero in the world; that's pretty much ossified. But it will really just be a brand name if this continues. I like Miles and Ghost Spider and the animated movies, but the whole Spider-verse thing has diluted the property somewhat.

[Kevinroc]

As others have mentioned, I am guessing the Jackpot turn is driven by editorial since it seems like Wells does not want to really do anything with it himself, which makes me question a lot of the run other than basically the Tombstone stuff really as he seems to be invested in that compared to everything else. Like did he create the Paul scenario and Editorial thought it could be used as a launching point for a new persona (powers + break from Peter), or was the whole Paul scenario also driven by editorial and he just used some of his previously created characters to fill in the gaps in the story.

I really want to know what happened behind the scenes toward the end of Spencer's run to Beyond and the Wells run. I'd love a Life of Reilly style tell-all. That probably won't happen.

At the very least, I think killing Marvel Editorial's idea that enragement equals engagement would be nice. But that would require sales on ASM to just completely collapse and that won't happen.

[Malachi]

I don't know. More fans say this that seem to approve of Jackpot, but stripping Peter's circle of normies takes away from the very thing that made Spider-Man stand out from other superhero books.

I don't see Spider-Man losing its status as the most popular superhero in the world; that's pretty much ossified. But it will really just be a brand name if this continues. I like Miles and Ghost Spider and the animated movies, but the whole Spider-verse thing has diluted the property somewhat.

When I started reading Spider-man titles a problem he had was that there was almost no one to turn to for help since he had no friends with powers. Even Felicia was far from a sure bet. He had the Fantastic four but that was mostly for Venom related stories.

Now I’m just waiting for Aunt May or Jonah to get powers.