Originally Posted by
Dan Slott
She is, without a doubt, one of the best supporting characters in all of Marvel Comics.
Same for J. Jonah Jameson, Aunt May, and Harry Osborn.
Spider-Man has one of the most relatable secret identity/alter ego's in all of comics.
Along with Batman and the Flash, he has one of the Top 3 Rogues' Galleries in all of comics.
And you add that Best Supporting Cast in all of comics and you've got an unbeatable title that will be around till the end of publishing and/or super hero movies and cartoons.
As a fictional character, Spider-Man will stand the test of time-- up there with Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, and Alice in Wonderland. I have no doubt.
And MJ is a big part of that. In the same way I can't imagine a version of Spider-Man without J. Jonah Jameson or the Green Goblin, I can't imagine any iteration that doesn't have MaryJane Watson.
Before I joined the Brand New Day writing team, most of the times I'd write a story where Spider-Man showed up, she'd be there somewhere (Ren & Stimpy #6, Venom Super Special #1, Spider-Man/Human Torch, She-Hulk #4, Thing #6, etc.).
Coming on to BND, the assignment was to write an unmarried Spider-Man in the 616. That was the job. And, in a way, it still is. Having them together but not married, and not being able to have them get remarried, made it feel regressive to have her play the regular romantic roll in the book. (I can hear an entire message board's worth of eyes rolling right now...) But please bear with me...
Readers would have had over two decades worth of stories where Pete & MJ were married. Having MJ be the go-to love interest in the book, but NOT having them be married, would have felt like a step back. Her presence in that capacity would be a constant reminder of the book going backwards to a previous status quo instead of going forwards. Peter being in different relationships with different people would feel like something new. The assignment was to tell stories with an unmarried Peter Parker. So those were the alternatives-- MJ, but not married (which we'd seen before) or Pete dating other people (which we hadn't really seen in a long time).
One of the things I knew that would happen after I left the book was that the next writer would put them back together as a couple, because after 10 years that would be something that would be fresh again. And (I know no one on this board will believe it, but...) I thought that was a good idea! In early drafts of my plots for my last arc of ASM, I was moving them to a spot where they would reignite their relationship. My take was that I'd be teeing it up. I was told that Nick wanted to do that entirely in his run, I didn't want to step on any toes, so that element was scrapped from my issues. It wasn't going to be a big thing, just hints. But we nixed it anyway.
There's stuff I enjoyed when writing Renew Your Vows, there were so many moments that I enjoyed when writing that AF #1000 story. And I am happy that fans of MJ and of the relationship are getting to read it over in John and Marco's USM. Just as I was happy fans got to read stuff like that when Gerry, Ryan, and Jody were writing the Renew Your Vows ongoing. I think that non-616 realities like those books, and projects like the Spider-Verse movies, are where readers are going to continue to find that they can get that fix.