Preview: Jackpot #1

[Spider-Tiger]

I very much doubt this was viewed as a permanent thing internally at Marvel.

I agree. The whole Jackpot angle seems like a haphazard CYA by editorial to accommodate the current status quo. And perhaps an attempt to recreate some of the success that MJ saw with the Leah Williams spin off. (But they clearly had more faith in that book than they do here.) I don't think Marvel sees much of anything as permanent these days outside of the traditional status quo. Nearly every move is just designed to make a quick buck. Unless it truly takes off in popularity like Spider-Gwen and becomes part of the zeitgeist. And this clearly won't.

The status quo of this book does not interest me. And has done the character 0 favors...except to temporarily remove her because the current ASM writer clearly didn't want to write Peter in a relationship or deal with MJ as a deuteragonist. He just saddled her with a bunch of trauma via a bunch of random characters that she had no prior connection to, all to position her as the angry unobtainable ex love interest, and then handed her off. So I'm not supporting it despite being a big fan of MJ (and despite Marvel editorial's attempts to mask reductive choices under a facade of empowerment.)

[SplinteringHeart]

How is this her "choosing to end up on that other world?" Both her and Peter were forcibly taken from Earth-616 by Paul's father.

Thes pics are one angle/perspective, they're not the one where MJ pushes Peter back to our world and stays in his place...

[SplinteringHeart]

How does that negate that she taken to the dystopian world against her will?!

She didn't choose to stay because she thought it would be fun, she sent Peter back to save his life and the lives of everyone on 616. How does that change that HER will was violated and she was forcibly removed from her world?



A) Women taking on traditionally "strong man" symbols like combat gear and toting a big gun and wearing a Rambo headband does not necessarily make them kick ass nor a strong female character. It just means they are borrowing traditional "big strong male" signifiers, that's all. MJ was already a strong female character who defeated multiple supervillains with her wits, charm and/or acting skills.

B) The depictions of that pretty much stopped once she was chained into being a 1950s sitcom wife/mommy.



A) Paul did not come up with it originally for MJ, he was working on it before she arrived

B) How is a random device with random powers that one cannot control and have no way of determining so one runs the risk of pulling a power that can put you into even MORE danger, AND a device with the threat of ominous three skulls hanging over it, supposed to be seen as something positive?! It's just a nonsense plot device and obvious authorial intrusion, it serves absolutely no purpose within the world of the story and in fact, is a really asinine thing for those characters to have because it's so unpredictable and could kill them. It's nothing but a deus ex machina, because the device has nothing to do with MJ or who she is, anything that happens with the device is obviously motivated and manipulated by the writer.

C) If Paul wanted to help MJ, why didn't Paul build MJ a device to send her home? He built the one that Peter used and it only needed a minor adjustment from Peter - we're supposed to believe Paul, who could build all sorts of fantastical devices, couldn't replicate the portal device and work on that instead over the four years?



We are talking about the preview of Jackpot. And it's fruit of the poisonous tree. The tree is very germane to the discussion.



He is the deuteragonist of the Jackpot book. That's made clear from the preview pages and the unlettered preview pages previously released.

None of us have any idea yet how much Paul will be in the Black Cat book.

As you say, MJ didn't choose to stay for fun, she chose to save Peter and lives in 616...yes she did, she made that move that choice/decision...this "violated" woman..

MJ wasn't on a fashion shoot when she was wearing her combat gear, she was shooting that gun...taking an action

You paint a picture of MJ being in thrall to Paul..however/whenever/why ever Paul worked up the gizmo jackpot...he gave it to MJ, he didn't keep it for himself...

Deuteragonist...that's a good word...in the preview we see Paul and MJ talk to a "counsellor", and share a horrible drink...that doesn't look like part of a machiavelan plot by "the deuteragonist"...and of course Paul may not appear at all in the Black Cat book...he's likely not a deuteragonist again..

It's all perspective...I'm saying I'll read about MJ in Jackpot and the BC team up, with an open mind...

It's yours, and some others, prerogative to continue with the perspective you're carrying around: it's all Paul, MJ is just a wronged woman, she has no power...she must be married to Peter...nothing else will do..

[TinkerSpider]

As you say, MJ didn't choose to stay for fun, she chose to save Peter and lives in 616...yes she did, she made that move that choice/decision...this "violated" woman..

What does MJ saving Peter have to do with the fact she was kidnapped against her will and taken to a dystopian world?! I honestly can't follow. Because MJ saves Peter, that makes the kidnapping and stranding her in another dimension where she's actively being hunted okay? That makes taking away any other choice from her okay?

MJ wasn't on a fashion shoot when she was wearing her combat gear, she was shooting that gun...taking an action

What does that have to do with the fact she was forced into that situation and would never have chosen that situation of her own free will? Do you think the only way woman can be portrayed as strong is if they tote guns and dress like Rambo?

You paint a picture of MJ being in thrall to Paul..however/whenever/whoy ever Paul worked up the gizmo jackpot...he gave it to MJ, he didn't keep it for himself...

It's on the page that Rabin chained her. It's stated in the text. "Thrall" is your word. We're pointing out that the story takes away all of MJ's choices, explictly chains her, and then depicts her as a 1950s sitcom wife/mommy doing all the domestic labor. Again, all on the page. And the jackpot device is pure nonsense and is highly illogical from a story and character POV, the way it is currently established Paul basically gave her a device with which to play Russian roulette (hmmm, maybe that's why she's dressed like a casino dealer....). That doesn't scream caring to me.

Deuteragonist...that's a good word...in the preview we see Paul and MJ talk to a "counsellor", and share a horrible drink...that doesn't look like part of a machiavelan plot by "the deuteragonist"

Deuteragonist means second lead. No one said anything about a machiavellian plot.

...and of course Paul may not appear at all in the Black Cat book...he's likely not a deuteragonist again..

We have no idea if he will or not at this time.

It's all perspective...I'm saying I'll read about MJ in Jackpot and the BC team up, with an open mind...

Cool! Hope you enjoy!

It's yours, and some others, prerogative to continue with the perspective you're carrying around: it's all Paul, MJ is just a wronged woman, she has no power...she must be married to Peter...nothing else will do..

I have never, ever, NEVER said MJ must be married to Peter. Nor have most people here. I have never said MJ has no power, but I have factually pointed out that Dead Language removed all agency from MJ once she sent Peter to 616 and the run still hasn't allowed her to exercise much agency, to the point she wasn't even active in creating her own superhero hero persona but has been wholly passive. And we know from the unlettered preview pages that Paul continues to monitor her in this book, so she's not even a superhero on her own. We've also pointed out we enjoyed The Amazing Mary Jane and MJ & BC: Beyond, which put MJ on center stage.

I agree. The whole Jackpot angle seems like a haphazard CYA by editorial to accommodate the current status quo. And perhaps an attempt to recreate some of the success that MJ saw with the Leah Williams spin off. (But they clearly had more faith in that book than they do here.) I don't think Marvel sees much of anything as permanent these days outside of the traditional status quo. Nearly every move is just designed to make a quick buck. Unless it truly takes off in popularity like Spider-Gwen and becomes part of the zeitgeist. And this clearly won't.

The status quo of this book does not interest me. And has done the character 0 favors...except to temporarily remove her because the current ASM writer clearly didn't want to write Peter in a relationship or deal with MJ as a deuteragonist. He just saddled her with a bunch of trauma via a bunch of random characters that she had no prior connection to, all to position her as the angry unobtainable ex love interest, and then handed her off. So I'm not supporting it despite being a big fan of MJ (and despite Marvel editorial's attempts to mask reductive choices under a facade of empowerment.)

This.

[CaptainUniverse]

Thes pics are one angle/perspective, they're not the one where MJ pushes Peter back to our world and stays in his place...

Her choosing to stay after the fact isn't a "different angle/perspective" nor does it negate the fact that she was still forcibly taken from her home to begin with, regardless of how much you try to argue otherwise.

[Frontier]

Can't help but notice they don't say a single word about the kids in that preview.

Well, the kids are why they're in therapy to begin with.

[SplinteringHeart]

Her choosing to stay after the fact isn't a "different angle/perspective" nor does it negate the fact that she was still forcibly taken from her home to begin with, regardless of how much you try to argue otherwise.

But, I'm not trying to argue otherwise....I'm just mentioning perspectives, I mention there was a choice made by MJ...I'm only arguing against just the perspective that MJ was "just" a victim...

[Frontier]

MJ definitely made the choice to make sure Peter went back but that doesn't mean that she made the choice to be trapped there in the first place or get stuck in that situation.

Though I will say those pagse where she gets emotional and upset with Peter gone and wanting to say in place instead of actively trying to get out herself until Paul motivates her was some of the worst MJ pages I've ever seen.

[Vortex85]

4 YEARS LATER....



This doesn't look like much of a choice to me. MJ was trapped and all things pointed to no escape. She took the only rode she was given, which was no choice at all.

[SplinteringHeart]

Look back on the posts on here....see how much the discussion has been about ASM plotlines, about Paul, about MJ in ASM, about MJ and Paul...and not just because I've joined in...we've had just a preview of Jackpot, an MJ as the protagonist vehicle...and with all this talk of the above I mention comes mention of boycotting Jackpot....tell me what is this thread for? What's the point of it, who's going to read Jackpot and discuss on here? Should this thread close, or be changed in title to "The decline of MJ"...?

[Frontier]

Look back on the posts on here....see how much the discussion has been about ASM plotlines, about Paul, about MJ in ASM, about MJ and Paul...and not just because I've joined in...we've had just a preview of Jackpot, an MJ as the protagonist vehicle...and with all this talk of the above I mention comes mention of boycotting Jackpot....tell me what is this thread for? What's the point of it, who's going to read Jackpot and discuss on here? Should this thread close, or be changed in title to "The decline of MJ"...?

Isn't it all kind of connected though? All of the writing of MJ up to this point is culminating in this Jackpot book.

[Tuck]

It's yours, and some others, prerogative to continue with the perspective you're carrying around: it's all Paul, MJ is just a wronged woman, she has no power...she must be married to Peter...nothing else will do..

Come on, this is a straw man. Anyone who holds the highlighted view stopped reading the book after OMD.

[LordUltimus]

Well, the kids are why they're in therapy to begin with.

Yeah, and they don't mention it even there. Feels like they're trying to avoid it as much as possible.

[CaptainUniverse]

Isn't it all kind of connected though? All of the writing of MJ up to this point is culminating in this Jackpot book.

It is, everything shown above is literally part of the origin story for Jackpot, there is no getting around it.

[Huntsman Spider]

Loved the Amazing Mary Jane! Supported the Amazing Mary Jane!

The real problem here is this run has egregiously mistreated Mary Jane as a character, put her through the worst, and made her the villain in the eyes of fandom at large. Any video covering this storyline on youtube for example is chock full of comments to the effect of "This story made me hate Mary Jane".

I have never seen so much damage done to a character and it's really unforgivable. Most people aren't going to put theirselves into MJ's shoes or give her the benefit of the doubt. They only casually know the chracter and already have a bias against her due to the Raimi films portrayal which has popularized her as a cheater. The simple story is that Peter tried his best to save MJ, but she moved on with another man before he could save her. She gave up on Peter and moved on without any official breakup. That in 95% of fandom's minds puts her in a very negative light and at fault. Now the entire Jackpot origin is intrinsically tied to this story that made the vast majority of fans dislike the character.

Jackpot is a no go. It's should be scrapped entirely. The origin is one of the worst you could possibly imagine for a character.

The whole story reinforces the belief that MJ is the most toxic love interest of Spider-Man. This is the worst and most hateful storyline to MJ that has ever been written, because it turned fandom against her. There has never been a worse time to be an MJ fan as now with this Wells run.

Thank god for Ultimate Spider-Man at this time, I hope that it can help start repairing MJ's image to some extent.

Oh yeah, I definitely don't blame MJ on this. In fact, I see her as more of a victim in this story than anyone.

However, many out there seem to want to blame MJ due to this story. The word that got out of it is Peter got cucked by Paul and MJ was compicit. She left Peter and had kids with Paul. It seems half the people out there still don't even know the kids are fake since there are videos with 2.5 million views not explaining that aspect. Then you have MJ as "MJ is the most toxic love interest ever". Type in Mary Jane Watson and its the first and biggest result on here. At the end of the video they bring this up as proof that she is toxic in EVERY universe. It seems people just eat it up too.

Just 2 years ago, Mary Jane was in a great place. People were appreciating her character and celebrating her and Peter being back together. Now the feeling is the complete opposite and MJ is getting the blame hard. Now Raimi MJ is not the only one being called a cheater, 616 MJ is too.

They eat it up because frankly, based on their reaction to Insomniac Games' Spider-Man series' MJ being "insufficiently attractive" to them, they're misogynists who don't need that much in the way of excuses or permission to hate and bash women, fictional or real, for whatever. There's no point in giving such people any attention or credence, and it's a shame that these social media algorithms that are designed to get as much engagement as possible with their platforms end up rewarding that kind of crap because that seems to be what gets people fired up.