Controversial Spider-Man Opinions

[Starrius]

Peter's landlord's daughter Ursula is the best non-comics character in any Spider-Man film (a small group, I know.)

I liked her more than Mary Jane in the movie even though Peter/Mary Jane is my favorite comic book couple!
I'd have cookies with milk with her any time! hehehehe

[Majesty]

Peter/Mary Jane is the my all time favorite comic book couple, but I didn't like them in the Raimi movies.
I didn't like that Mary Jane was Peter's childhood crush and his primary love interest in those movies.
I would have preferred that the movies had 1. Betty, 2. Gwen, and 3. Mary Jane as Peter's love interests.


I didn't like Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane. I didn't like that she kissed Spider-Man on the lips without knowing his secret identity while she's dating Harry. I didn't like that she left her fiancee John Jameson at the altar to be with Peter.
I thought she was too mean to Peter in Spider-Man 3.
I didn't think she had good chemistry with Tobey Maguire as Peter.
Why not cast Bryce Dallas Howard as Mary Jane and Kirsten Dunst as Gwen?

I liked Emma Stone as Gwen. She came off really nice, caring, and supportive. She definitely wasn't like the Gwen that died hating Spider-Man and not knowing that he's Peter.

Even though I like movies Peter/Gwen more than movies Peter/Mary Jane, I am way too much of Peter/Mary Jane fan to convert to being Peter/Gwen as the result of the movies.


Some of my favorite stuff in regards to their marriage in the comics is in the 2nd Clone Saga. The one that stands out to me is when Mary Jane risked her life from getting killed by Peter while helping him break Jackal's programming. I also like that her love for him never wavered and she never gave up on him even when he was the clone. She loved him no matter what.


I think Betty has been too overlooked as Peter's first girlfriend that he loved. I liked Betty in the Sam Raimi movies, and I wouldn't have mind him hooking up with her first before Mary Jane.

I don't think either of these opinions would be controversial and I agree wholeheartedly

Peter's landlord's daughter Ursula is the best non-comics character in any Spider-Man film (a small group, I know.)

I liked their chemistry more in 2 minutes than I did Mary Jane and Peter's throughout all 3 movies.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

I don't think either of these opinions would be controversial and I agree wholeheartedly

Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane Watson is widely popular and generally well-liked. Of the three Spider-Man leads, she went on to have the biggest career.

Peter/MJ in the Raimi movies was the most popular and charismatic movie-romance since Titanic and "the Kiss" is one of cinema's all-time great romantic moments. The writing wasn't always there for her in the sequels (but then that's true for everyone in those movies, even Simmons) but yeah she's generally popular.

Peter/MJ was and remains a bigger romance than anything in the movies that came after. Talk about Emma Stone all you want but Peter/MJ had Homer and Marge unironically homage them in the cartoons in addition to many other references across popular culture.

So yeah, I'd say attacking KD's Mary Jane would still be controversial.

[Kaitou D. Kid]

Not to be pedantic, but I think James Franco went on to have the biggest career.

[Jman27]

Not to be pedantic, but I think James Franco went on to have the biggest career.

i did like his portrayal of harry Osborn and some of his films but isnt franco dealing with accusations so he is pretty much push away

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Not to be pedantic, but I think James Franco went on to have the biggest career.

In truth all the Spider-Man actors did well, and the cast of those movies have a more storied alumni than any Hollywood franchise of the mid-2000s.

I said of the three leads, Kirsten Dunst did the best and I stand by that. Kirsten Dunst became a leading lady on many films after Spider-Man, like Marie Antoinette and won an award for Best Actress at Cannes for Melancholia, while appearing in significant films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and well regarded comedies like Wimbledon, Elizabethtown.

Tobey Maguire also did well after the Spider-Man films (Seabiscuit, The Good German, Cider House Rules) but he's mostly semi-retired from acting and living on his Spider-Man money becoming as Hypno stated a poker player with an obnoxious attitude, if rumors are to be believed. The last notable performance was as Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby alongside his real-life best friend Leonardo DiCaprio.**

James Franco, before his recent unpleasantness, made a name for himself as a character actor in some independent films but never really gave any significant performances as a leading man and mostly he's made a name for himself by becoming a "personality" i.e. an actor who's enough of a household name to lend himself to low-budget films (his turn in Spring Breakers) but not in films where he has to carry the film on the performance. Franco admittedly is a more prolific actor than KD and Tobey but in the case of Dunst a female actress for sexist reasons has a smaller shelf life anyway, so relatively she's still done the best.

The actors who really did best with the Raimi films are Willem Dafoe and JK Simmons. Dafoe became famous in the late-80s but his career dipped for all of the 90s (he still did great work in films for Schrader and Ferrara but nobody saw those films) and Raimi's film was his first blockbuster success and as the most popular and influential villain of the trilogy, he became in-demand as a character actor and appeared in films by Wes Anderson and others, and also a name actor for films like The Florida Project that wouldn't have been made without him. Simmons of course became a major part of the Coen Brothers' films and won an Oscar for Whiplash and none of that would have happened had Raimi not cast a practically unknown actor (who did appear in Raimi's previous film The Gift as did Rosemary Harris) as J. Jonah Jameson.

Granted, Andrew Garfield probably bettered them all. Garfield acted in a Scorsese film for crying out loud and in the recent cult film Under the Silver Lake (which is maybe more weird than good but it's unforgettable and AG is very very good in that movie).


** I have to say that my dream-cast for Fantastic Four is Tobey as Reed, KD as Susan Storm and DiCaprio as Victor von Doom. Just watching Tobey and DiCaprio interact in the Great Gatsby movie it would be cool to transfer that on the greatest rivalry in comics. And since a few comics have hinted that Reed-Sue are an older take on Peter-MJ why not cast Peter-MJ as them.

[Majesty]

Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane Watson is widely popular and generally well-liked. Of the three Spider-Man leads, she went on to have the biggest career.

Peter/MJ in the Raimi movies was the most popular and charismatic movie-romance since Titanic and "the Kiss" is one of cinema's all-time great romantic moments. The writing wasn't always there for her in the sequels (but then that's true for everyone in those movies, even Simmons) but yeah she's generally popular.

Peter/MJ was and remains a bigger romance than anything in the movies that came after. Talk about Emma Stone all you want but Peter/MJ had Homer and Marge unironically homage them in the cartoons in addition to many other references across popular culture.

So yeah, I'd say attacking KD's Mary Jane would still be controversial.

I'd say Garfield had the better career.
Zendaya is still carving out hers and is pretty darn huge right now, and her performance in Malcolm and Marie put her on another level acting-wise to Dunst imo.
and Emma Stone has probably become a bigger star than Dunst.
Heck if we're being honest... so did Bryce Dallas Howard despite her Gwen Stacy being panned X_X

They've all done well though, but Dunst certainly didn't become the biggest star after of the leads imo.

[HypnoHustler]

I'd say Garfield had the better career.
Zendaya is still carving out hers and is pretty darn huge right now, and her performance in Malcolm and Marie put her on another level acting-wise to Dunst imo.
and Emma Stone has probably become a bigger star than Dunst.
Heck if we're being honest... so did Bryce Dallas Howard despite her Gwen Stacy being panned X_X

They've all done well though, but Dunst certainly didn't become the biggest star after of the leads imo.

Agree Emma Stone is now bigger than Dunst ever was (and Dunst was pretty big).

Strong disagree about Bryce Dallas Howard being bigger than Dunst. Without checking on IMDB, I can only think of 2 movies she’s been in beside SM III. I’m sure she had a solid career, but not an exceptional one.

EDIT: Okay I just remembered BDH is in the JP World franchise now. Meh, I still think she’s B-list.

[PanicPixieDreamGirl]

The actors who really did best with the Raimi films are Willem Dafoe and JK Simmons. Dafoe became famous in the late-80s but his career dipped for all of the 90s (he still did great work in films for Schrader and Ferrara but nobody saw those films) and Raimi's film was his first blockbuster success and as the most popular and influential villain of the trilogy, he became in-demand as a character actor and appeared in films by Wes Anderson and others, and also a name actor for films like The Florida Project that wouldn't have been made without him. Simmons of course became a major part of the Coen Brothers' films and won an Oscar for Whiplash and none of that would have happened had Raimi not cast a practically unknown actor (who did appear in Raimi's previous film The Gift as did Rosemary Harris) as J. Jonah Jameson.

I would throw Elizabeth Banks in there too, I think she'd only done a few films before being cast as Betty and now she's a big name!

[HypnoHustler]

Not to be pedantic, but I think James Franco went on to have the biggest career.

JK Simmons would like a word.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

...

When I said, "Of the three Spider-Man leads, she went on to have the biggest career" I meant the three leads of the original Raimi Trilogy i.e. between KD, Tobey, Franco.

I didn't mean all actors and actresses of the Spider-Man movies. Just between the three of them.

And I stand by that claim.

Agree Emma Stone is now bigger than Dunst ever was (and Dunst was pretty big).

Kirsten Dunst was the lead of Marie Antoinette which grossed $80mn on a $60mn budget. The movie was anchored on her performance and presence. Emma Stone has never had a movie success that sold entirely on her alone. The recent Disney movie Cruella was close but there's a reason why Scarlett Johanssen feels comfortable taking Disney to the courts while Emma Stone is biting the bullet and signing away her streaming rights to do a Cruella sequel. Films like La La Land had her headline the film with Ryan Gosling, acting-wise some of her most notable films were two collaborations with Woody Allen which she doesn't like to talk about anymore.

Okay I just remembered BDH is in the JP World franchise now. Meh, I still think she’s B-list.

Howard is actually making a name for herself as a director, following in Dad's footsteps. I don't think her appearances in the JP movies makes her a big star if we are being real. The dinosaurs sold those movies as does 90s nostalgia.

My definition of personal success for actor, is "ability to headline movies on themselves" and in that KD did well for herself at least in the 2000s decade. She's kind of dropped from the radar since but then actresses have a shorter career than male actors and in the 2000s after the Raimi movies she did better than Tobey and Franco. KD also appeared in a lot of interesting films as a child actor and teenage actor (Interview with a Vampire, Jumanji, Small Soldiers, The Virgin Suicides) before making it big as an adult actor with Spider-Man 1.

I would throw Elizabeth Banks in there too, I think she'd only done a few films before being cast as Betty and now she's a big name!

To reiterate, my claim was on the three leads - KD, Tobey, Franco. Not all the actors and actresses in the original trilogy. And as I said the Raimi trilogy cast have a more storied alumni than other early 2000s blockbusters.

And even then, Banks become a known name but she's not a big name. A big name is an actress who headlines a $80mn artsy movie like Marie Antoinette.

[Tendrin]

She’s aloof from others around her, puts on a facade to hide how much she cares, she susses out that Peter is Spider-Man before he tells her, and her somewhat jokey attitude is from Defalco’s run on ASM #259 where in her flashback she reveals that she was a class clown in high school. There are issues with the writing and certainly having Ned Leeds/Ganke as Peter’s first bestie is a huge problem but Zendaya’s MJ is closer to her role in the comics than anyone else.

Holy crap, something we agree on!

I've been pilloried before for suggesting that Zenday's MJ is closer to who MJ would be if, all things being equal, she were being made today from scratch.

[Kevinroc]

Holy crap, something we agree on!

I've been pilloried before for suggesting that Zenday's MJ is closer to who MJ would be if, all things being equal, she were being made today from scratch.

Is this taking into account that MJ wasn't supposed to be the franchise's most iconic love interest?

(I certainly would agree that if Spider-Man were being created from scratch today, and taking all things into account, she would probably look more like Zendaya.)

[Spiderfan001]

Is this taking into account that MJ wasn't supposed to be the franchise's most iconic love interest?

(I certainly would agree that if Spider-Man were being created from scratch today, and taking all things into account, she would probably look more like Zendaya.)

She should be a red-head but modern hollywood and tv shows hate redheads for an unknown reason.Not only do they not get the hair color, they are the ones who are always race changed as well.
Is there a reason for this?

[Kevinroc]

She should be a red-head but modern hollywood and tv shows hate redheads for an unknown reason.Not only do they not get the hair color, they are the ones who are always race changed as well.
Is there a reason for this?

You clearly want a different discussion than the one I am interested in. I only want to focus on MJ and her place in the Spider-Man franchise. (I don't see this discussion around Paul Rudd's Scott Lang clearly not being a redhead.)

John Romita Sr. designed Mary Jane after Ann-Margret from the film Bye Bye Birdie because Mary Jane was supposed to be very attractive and Ann-Margret was considered very beautiful. But societal standards of beauty have changed, and if Spider-Man were being created today, and Peter's supporting cast were being created today, Mary Jane would look different. She'd probably look more like Zendaya.

But people aren't acknowledging that MJ was not originally supposed to be the love interest. She was originally conceived as a comic relief character. Stan had intended Gwen to be the love interest, and Gwen was based off of Stan's wife Joan, just as the Fantastic Four's Sue Storm was based on Joan (per word of Gerry Conway).