Preview: Jackpot #1

[stillanerd]

You know, I find it ironic that Mary Jane narrates about how much she is in control of her own life, that she is where she is because of the choices she made. And yet her entire power set is based around random chance. That and her man-bun sporting hipster duffus of a partner known as Paul "I was duped into committing genocide but I'm a good person" Rabin literally controls the power levels on her discount Ben-10 watch--for her own safety, of course! You'd think Celeste Bronfman would've done something with this to highlight the dramatic irony of MJ's current status quo, but no! Like her tragic loss of MJ's fake adopted kids that she's going to therapy for, everything's fine! Oh, and apparently MJ forgot how to act during those four years she spent in Mayan Apocalypse land despite being, you know, a professional actress! Who was able to fool "She-lectro" once before by pretending to be the Invisible Woman yet can't seem to fool her with a simple bluff? Glad this was a one-shot because if this was an actual series, it'd be dead on arrival.

[Frontier]

You know, I find it ironic that Mary Jane narrates about how much she is in control of her own life, that she is where she is because of the choices she made. And yet her entire power set is based around random chance. That and her man-bun sporting hipster duffus of a partner known as Paul "I was duped into committing genocide but I'm a good person" Rabin literally controls the power levels on her discount Ben-10 watch--for her own safety, of course! You'd think Celeste Bronfman would've done something with this to highlight the dramatic irony of MJ's current status quo, but no! Like her tragic loss of MJ's fake adopted kids that she's going to therapy for, everything's fine! Oh, and apparently MJ forgot how to act during those four years she spent in Mayan Apocalypse land despite being, you know, a professional actress! Who was able to fool "She-lectro" once before by pretending to be the Invisible Woman yet can't seem to fool her with a simple bluff? Glad this was a one-shot because if this was an actual series, it'd be dead on arrival.

And we're getting a mini with Felicia after this .

I hope her writing of MJ and Paul doesn't translate to however she writes Felicia with her new love interest.

[t-spider]

This'll be controversial, I know... but when MJ finally dumps Man-Bun-Man, I almost hope, this time, Peter isn't so quick to take her back. Mainly, I just think of how she treated him during this run (Granted, he did come off a bit stalkerish at times, but seriously...). Have it be where she has to earn Peters love back instead of just immediately getting back together.

[Malachi]

This'll be controversial, I know... but when MJ finally dumps Man-Bun-Man, I almost hope, this time, Peter isn't so quick to take her back. Mainly, I just think of how she treated him during this run (Granted, he did come off a bit stalkerish at times, but seriously...). Have it be where she has to earn Peters love back instead of just immediately getting back together.

Not to me. Spencer got a pass because he wrote them very well but mostly it was because the sheer absurdness of OMD and the vast time that had elapsed. Many just wanted to ignore it and move on with MJ&Peter as a couple again.

This time both of them has been written as just awful. Let’s start with them addressing that followed of a period of not being awful.

[Majesty]

How do we know she knows how it works? She needed Paul to boot it back up when it got knocked out and she did need him to turn off the limiter. A choice was made by the creative team to have him in control over the tech he gave her. Maybe that was just to give him something to do, maybe it was to reinforce their "partnership" or whatever, but it's there on the page. It doesn't matter if he listened to her order or not, she still needed for him to. She clearly didn't have the ability to do it herself. That's problematic.


Yeah, actually. Bruce definitely held the power in that relationship at that time. He literally robbed Terry of his power at the press of a button because he could. He made the suit and it relied on Bruce to keep it up, like Paul making and tweaking Jackpot's gauntlet. It's not that he never had agency, it's that it was taken from him in that moment.

You are very correct. And unless Paul does that to MJ her agency isn't in question. Because on the evidence we have thus far, Paul does what she says and doesn't compromise that.

The main point is that Bruce proved he COULD do that, and had the mentality to do it, and showed the power dynamic with Terry and in that moment he had talent Terry's agency. But Terry pleaded with him not to and Bruce complied. After that it was still true that Bruce COULD HAVE shut down Terry at any second, but didn't. But nobody questioned Terry's agency after that. Paul never even had a "Bruce" moment with MJ but people are going by 'what if he does though...' then it will be addressed then and MJ WOULD have her agency messed with. But it hasn't been. The fact is Bruce DID what messed with Terry's agency as it was a story plot point. It isn't one with MJ and Paul but people want to make it one due to what 'might' happen one day with no evidence it's going to.

Bruce actually DID this to Terry but then listened to Terry's pleas and released him. After that Terry's agency was never a topic of discussion because he and Bruce had a partnership and despite the fact that Bruce could have shut him down at any second after that, nobody goes "Bruce is always at the mercy of Bruce and therefore has no agency as Batman." now do they?

This'll be controversial, I know... but when MJ finally dumps Man-Bun-Man, I almost hope, this time, Peter isn't so quick to take her back. Mainly, I just think of how she treated him during this run (Granted, he did come off a bit stalkerish at times, but seriously...). Have it be where she has to earn Peters love back instead of just immediately getting back together.

Peter punched her in the face while she was pregnant cause he was angry at someone else and she immediately forgave him afterwards and was the first person to comfort him after he went on a Goblin rampage.

There's nothing MJ has to 'earn' from Peter, ever.

[Anthony W]

I can't wait to not read this!

[TinkerSpider]

You are very correct. And unless Paul does that to MJ her agency isn't in question.

Her agency is in question because she doesn’t have control of her own device/destiny and has to ask another person. Period.

Same for Terry. But Bruce is also his mentor and teacher and the story is about Bruce creating the next Batman. The power imbalance is built into the story. And Terry accepts the limits of his agency because he is getting something very valuable in return. The audience sees and buys into the relationship between the two men, which is perhaps why Terry abdicating some of his agency may be glossed over by some. (It also added suspense and an additional thought to be held in the back of Terry’s and the audience’s minds - would Bruce do that again to him? Again, just because one has a benevolent overlord doesn’t mean the overlord might not snap one day. Which is why that should also be a thought in MJ’s and the Jackpot’s audience’s minds).

But Paul is not MJ’s teacher or mentor. In fact, SHE is the one with the years of experience in the 616, who knows the villains and heroes, not him. There is no trade-off, no attempt to give the audience a reason why MJ’s power must be controlled by Paul. Yet control it he does, which many people have pointed out (I’ve learned much about Metroid: Other M since this comic was published because the memes are out there), which also puts the lie to the faux “empowerment” text box which only read as MJ gaslighting herself and by extension the audience.

MJ is also a female character whose power is being controlled by a male character who we’re told is her “partner” - making this an allegory, sadly, for what can and does happen in real life relationships - and this added layer is why Batman Beyond is a very imperfect analogy.

And there’s such an easy fix! Just give MJ full control over the device. Wonder why they didn’t…

[Daibhidh]

Same for Terry. But Bruce is also his mentor and teacher and the story is about Bruce creating the next Batman. The power imbalance is built into the story. And Terry accepts the limits of his agency because he is getting something very valuable in return. The audience sees and buys into the relationship between the two men, which is perhaps why Terry abdicating some of his agency may be glossed over by some.

As I understand it, at the start of Batman Beyond Bruce's misanthropic control freak jerk tendencies are cranked up to eleven and he hasn't had a healthy human relationship in years. He's in serious need of character development.

If the argument is that this relationship is healthy because one of the people in it is like Bruce Wayne at the start of Batman Beyond, then that's just conceding that there's a problem.

[Majesty]

As I understand it, at the start of Batman Beyond Bruce's misanthropic control freak jerk tendencies are cranked up to eleven and he hasn't had a healthy human relationship in years. He's in serious need of character development.

If the argument is that this relationship is healthy because one of the people in it is like Bruce Wayne at the start of Batman Beyond, then that's just conceding that there's a problem.

Fortunately, that isn't the argument.

[MisterTorgo]

You are very correct. And unless Paul does that to MJ her agency isn't in question. Because on the evidence we have thus far, Paul does what she says and doesn't compromise that.

No, the problem of Jackpot having her own agency isn't that Paul knew to comply, it's that Paul had to comply for Jackpot to have access to her full power---the fact that he can compromise that at anytime. Whether or not he complied has nothing to do with it.

Peter punched her in the face while she was pregnant cause he was angry at someone else and she immediately forgave him afterwards and was the first person to comfort him after he went on a Goblin rampage.

That was a horrible, horrible moment that, until recently, was easily my most hated moment in all of Spider-Man's written history. He should have had to earn her trust back after that, honestly. And she forgave him for the Goblin stuff because she knew he was literally being controlled. She knew it literally wasn't his fault. I mean, Peter should have been written as feeling responsible or guilty afterwards because that's who he is, but he ultimately wasn't to blame for that.

[Thievery]

Very reasonable post.

The problem with Paul is that he is Paul. He was introduced as a way of splitting Peter&MJ. It was a messy breakup, filled with tons of negative stuff and ludicrous plots to make it happen. He was and is a paper thin character who is tied to a genocide.

So whatever he does comes with this huge backpack of baggage. Makes you wonder why Marvel insists on using him when the price to rehabilitate him is very steep. Unless of course they don't want to rehabilitate him.

Yeah, I get that. Paul is hated because he is not Peter. I'd say that it is mostly because he is a boring character, but it's mostly really because he isn't Peter. I'm sure that readers who don't like Wells' Spider-Man run have issues with it that include more than Paul being with MJ instead of Peter. But that seems to be the biggest mark against it.

Now as far as Paul the character, I think that we have to take into account that the X-Books have been focusing heavy on the villains and somewhat redeeming them. Even murderers like Apocalypse and Selene were welcomed to Krakoa. Many of the villains were given more prominent roles than the X-Men characters themselves, even the ones who received more than one miniseries or a spot in more than one comic. We both know that.

That may be some of the thinking with Paul. The Spider office saw that it was working to an extant and may have tried to copy a bit of that. Wells came from the X-office after writing a really good Hellions comic that featured the likes of Mr. Sinister, Nannie, Empath and even did a nice job of reintroducing Maddie Pryor to the X-Men comics. I know that most of you will probably hate the Maddie Pryor reference to Maddie and the Dark Web story. But Wells was able to craft a well liked comic featuring the villains and pulling some nice twists with it. Either the Spider-Man office or Wells may have thought that the same approach with a higher profile book like Spider-Man could produce the same results. No idea if this is true or not, just a theory on my part. Unless their has been an interview on the subject that states either way that this approach was taken, and I missed it seeing as I don't really follow a lot of internet news and advertisement the way that I do with the X-Men. I could have missed some grand statement so forgive me if I'm ignorant about this.

Now, I really don't think that Paul will ultimately be redeemed. I think that the story will end with Paul betraying MJ. I'm in the camp of fans who believe that Paul is being set up as a character who is just keeping the seat warm for another character to fill the role of MJ's boyfriend. One that the Spider-Office hopes will be better received than Paul. Paul will have been used to make the next guy more acceptable for long time fans just for not being Paul. Just my thoughts, and I'm usually wrong about such things. You and I both know that, Malachi.

[Jwyatt]

I digress, but did MJ mention her aunt Anna is this one-shot? If not, when was the last time we've seen the two of them interact?

[Malachi]

Yeah, I get that. Paul is hated because he is not Peter. I'd say that it is mostly because he is a boring character, but it's mostly really because he isn't Peter. I'm sure that readers who don't like Wells' Spider-Man run have issues with it that include more than Paul being with MJ instead of Peter. But that seems to be the biggest mark against it.

Now as far as Paul the character, I think that we have to take into account that the X-Books have been focusing heavy on the villains and somewhat redeeming them. Even murderers like Apocalypse and Selene were welcomed to Krakoa. Many of the villains were given more prominent roles than the X-Men characters themselves, even the ones who received more than one miniseries or a spot in more than one comic. We both know that.

That may be some of the thinking with Paul. The Spider office saw that it was working to an extant and may have tried to copy a bit of that. Wells came from the X-office after writing a really good Hellions comic that featured the likes of Mr. Sinister, Nannie, Empath and even did a nice job of reintroducing Maddie Pryor to the X-Men comics. I know that most of you will probably hate the Maddie Pryor reference to Maddie and the Dark Web story. But Wells was able to craft a well liked comic featuring the villains and pulling some nice twists with it. Either the Spider-Man office or Wells may have thought that the same approach with a higher profile book like Spider-Man could produce the same results. No idea if this is true or not, just a theory on my part. Unless their has been an interview on the subject that states either way that this approach was taken, and I missed it seeing as I don't really follow a lot of internet news and advertisement the way that I do with the X-Men. I could have missed some grand statement so forgive me if I'm ignorant about this.

Now, I really don't think that Paul will ultimately be redeemed. I think that the story will end with Paul betraying MJ. I'm in the camp of fans who believe that Paul is being set up as a character who is just keeping the seat warm for another character to fill the role of MJ's boyfriend. One that the Spider-Office hopes will be better received than Paul. Paul will have been used to make the next guy more acceptable for long time fans just for not being Paul. Just my thoughts, and I'm usually wrong about such things. You and I both know that, Malachi.

You know how it goes. If you put your thoughts about plot development down in a post it will most likely not happen. If you don’t share it you find yourself reading and going “Just as I thought”.

Having Paul be an intermediate boyfriend, as you say someone who takes the first punches, certainly seems cynical. So to me it makes a lot of sense when it comes to spider-editorial.

[Kurus]

Now, I really don't think that Paul will ultimately be redeemed. I think that the story will end with Paul betraying MJ. I'm in the camp of fans who believe that Paul is being set up as a character who is just keeping the seat warm for another character to fill the role of MJ's boyfriend. One that the Spider-Office hopes will be better received than Paul. Paul will have been used to make the next guy more acceptable for long time fans just for not being Paul. Just my thoughts, and I'm usually wrong about such things. You and I both know that, Malachi.

Why do we need a character to be MJ’s boyfriend? Like if they don’t want to write MJ, just don’t write her. The days of her and Peter being just friends is long past. If they aren’t dating just boot her out of the book. It would be so much better than what they’ve been doing.

[MisterTorgo]

Why do we need a character to be MJ’s boyfriend? Like if they don’t want to write MJ, just don’t write her. The days of her and Peter being just friends is long past. If they aren’t dating just boot her out of the book. It would be so much better than what they’ve been doing.

Agreed. At least that way, no damage is actively being done to her.