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Mary Jane "MJ" Watson is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko , making her first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #25 (June 1965), and subsequently designed by John Romita Sr. in #42 (November 1966).
- Overview
- History Early Life
- Personality
- Attributes
- Paraphernalia
- Notes
- Trivia
- See Also
- Links and References
Early Life
Mary Jane Watson was born to Philip and Madeline Watson. She is the second of two children, with her elder sister Gayle having been born four years earlier. Due to her family's constant moving (as a result of her father's various teaching jobs), Mary Jane began developing a more extroverted and carefree personality, a trait which helped her make friends as the Watson's moved from one location to the next. After Madeline left Philip, the Watson women stayed with various relatives. One such relative that Mary Jane was particularly fond of was her Aunt Anna, living in Queens, New York. On the night of Ben Parker's murder, Mary Jane spotted a frantic Peter running into his house, with Spider-Man emerging from an upstairs window only moments later. At this, she deduced that Peter and Spider-Man were one and the same. Confused by the emotions set off by the discovery, Mary Jane chose to keep this information to herself, and just like Peter refused to pursue a relationship with him, out of fear that he might neglect her for his super hero duties.
Introduction
After numerous attempts by Aunt May to pair Peter and Mary Jane together, Mary Jane finally paid a visit to the Parker home. Unfortunately, as Spider-Man was fighting the Spider-Slayer robots, he was not at home. Instead, she encountered Betty Brant and Liz Allan, who were both vying for Peter's affections at the time. Both women were stunned by Mary Jane's beauty. Much like her mother and sister, Mary Jane had an interest in performing arts. Dreaming of a career in either Broadway or film, she starred in high school productions such as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire and other various plays and productions.[citation needed] When her mother fell seriously ill, Mary Jane temporarily gave up her acting at school and took a series of after-school jobs to help support the family. When Madeline died, Mary Jane left home and was determined not to sacrifice her dreams of happiness as had her mother and sister. Arriving at her Aunt Anna's house on a Saturday, Mary Jane and Peter finally met face-to-face when Aunt May and Peter came over for Sunday dinner.[citation needed] Knowing that Peter was Spider-Man, when a news bulletin about the escape of the Rhino interrupted the music program the pair were watching, Mary Jane suggested they try and see if they could spot the criminal. Agreeing to this, Peter later left her side with the excuse of having to take pictures for The Daily Bugle, only to reappear battling as Spider-Man.[citation needed] Peter soon introduced Mary Jane to his other college friends, Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn and Flash Thompson. With the entanglement of these relationships, jealousy and rivalry were underlying constants between Stacy, Osborn, Parker and Watson.[citation needed]
Interacting with Spider-Man
During a gunfight at the Gloom Room where Mary Jane worked as a dancer, she was put in danger when a criminal tried to use her as a human shield, but Spider-Man rescued her from the ordeal. It was the first time the pair met while Peter was in his Spider-Man costume. During a battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin atop the Brooklyn Bridge, Gwen died from the impact of Spider-Man's attempt to rescue her with his webbing. When Mary Jane tried to comfort Peter, he accused her of not being able to understand what it would feel like even though her own mother died. Though hurt by his outburst, she stayed to comfort Peter regardless. Gwen's death had serious consequences for Mary Jane and Peter's on-and-off friendship; the feisty and carefree party girl Mary Jane, who had been one of Gwen's best friends, eventually became more serious and sensitive, while grief of loss brought her and Peter closer together.
Mary Jane is an empathetic and understanding person, willing to give the benefit of the doubt to friends and take the time to wrap her head around something. Having grown up in an abusive household due to her father's teaching positions and frustrations in private, Mary Jane coped with the emotional trauma by acting with an extroverted personality, which was useful in her pursuits of an acting career.
Mary Jane is also shown to be a dedicated person as she kept pursuing her acting career and worked hard to open a business. Due to her training as an actress, she also has great insight and almost always knows when someone is pretending or lying. She is also an exceptionally trustworthy character, having kept Peter's secret identity as Spider-Man since high school on the night Uncle Ben died, seeing him exit his room in costume and not telling anyone. And over the years, she would secretly become fascinated by Peter with his nerdy self in contrast to his actions as Spider-Man saving people.
Her friendship with Gwen Stacy exemplified Mary Jane's extroverted nature and willingness to be around others, such as her dating Harry but also flirting with Peter and other guys they knew. After Gwen's death, a distraught Peter lashed out at Mary Jane for not caring, but despite the harsh words and instead of leaving with indignation, she stayed to be with a grieving Peter out of her compassion and empathy for his situation.
In fact, her relationship with Peter is one of the factors that most defines Mary Jane. Because of her coexistence with his super hero life, while she initially suffered a great deal of stress and insecurity from worrying about him, Mary Jane would improve her perception of herself as she matured. In general, even after so many troubles that have plagued them over the years, both never stopped supporting each other and no matter how much they got involved with other persons, they always ended up reconnecting and helping each other.
Even Mephisto points out that the love between Peter and Mary Jane is very rare, which encouraged him to want to take it from them through his Faustian deal. However, even that had not been able to keep them away for a long time and they would once again resume, further reaffirming Mary Jane's own belief that her destiny is to remain with Peter. After the circumstances of Peter regaining his secret identity, the two took a break from each other to be intermittent friends focusing on themselves. After working for Stark, Norman's Red Goblin attack and Peter's company failing, Mary Jane chose to be with him once more and has been supportive and counseling of him in his return to Empire State University.
Mary Jane, after so many years involved in the super hero community, has been shown to be a capable negotiator and rescue operator. Such as when Melanie Daniels was held captive by Electro, Mary Jane had Carlie Cooper provide ample distraction to swap places with Melanie, where she distracted the villain long enough to subdue her for authorities to later apprehend. Dealing with the demon "Kindred" haunting her and Peter, believed to be Harry Osborn, Mary Jane used diplomacy upon meeting him, using her actress training to keep composure and reasoning to convince "Harry" to focus whenever on her, showing a sense of self-sacrifice directing Kindred to blame her instead.
Powers
With a bracelet device, Mary Jane can temporarily gain randomized super powers for extreme situations. Similar to slots, Mary Jane's powers are based on the luck per pull to activate her powers.
Abilities
Mary Jane Watson is an accomplished professional actress, dancer, and model, allowing her to gain skill sets complimentary to her being in the life of a super hero. In turn, her life among the super hero community allowed Mary Jane to develop her aforementioned skills when confronting dangers. •Skilled actress: Her acting career developed a calm under pressure and controlling the scene for escaping dangerous situations or talking her way out. Such was the case with saving Melanie Daniels held hostage on a livestream by Electro, and thousands of people seeing her impersonation before capturing Electro for the NYPD. This acting skill has also allowed Mary Jane to easily explain Peter's injuries from being Spider-Man, such as his injuries by the U-Foes attacking as he attended ESU. •Trained fighter: Has moderate experience in hand-to-hand combat, as she has had many trainers - one of whom is Captain America. She has been able to fend off attackers of normal strength and skill, including the Chameleon using a baseball bat, and an obsessive stalker using a cue stick. •Experienced Entrepreneurship: Having owned her own business with MJ's, a short lived club, and working at Stark Industries, Mary Jane developed an advanced business acumen and contacts in several business industries. With her history with Peter, she was able to have him intermediate as Spider-Man for help from various superheroes in California while her film was on a reduced budget.[121]
Equipment
A bracelet with slot machine functionality, which endows randomized powers for Mary Jane to use.
Weapons
•Gun: Mary Jane carries a gun, despite Peter's aversions, which she used against the Green Goblin.[122] •Web-Shooter Bracelet: When Peter developed organic web-shooters, he modified his original web-shooters into bracelets that she could wear discreetly, giving her an additional defensive weapon. •Modified Spider-Tracer: She also carries a modified spider-tracer with an amplified signal that can be traced over long distances. •Jackpot Bracelet: With a bracelet device, Mary Jane can temporarily gain randomized super powers. Similar to slots, Mary Jane's powers are based on the luck per pull to activate her powers.
•Mary Jane was first mentioned in Amazing Spider-Man #15, made a cameo with her face hidden by a lampshade in Amazing Spider-Man #25, and made her first full appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #42.
•Having a kind-hearted and responsive personality, Mary Jane seems to be able to bear with Peter's past love interests. It might be friendship (with Carlie Cooper) or mutual respect (with Felicia Hardy). Gwen Stacy is a special case - Mary Jane and Gwen were close friends, and the death of latter greatly affected Mary Jane, although not even half as much as it did Peter. So when Mary Jane discovered that Peter still writes audio messages for Gwen, she asked him to say "Hello" to Gwen for her and remind that she misses Gwen too.[123]
•Mary Jane has used her fashion design and sewing skills on many occasions to make and repair Spider-Man's costumes. She also designed the Hornet, Prodigy, and Ricochet costumes.
•She is usually the person who provides first aid when Peter's injured.
•On one occasion, she was possessed by Red Sonja and battled Kulan Gath, but she has no memory of those events.
•She once temporarily borrowed Iron Man's old armor.
•During her early relationship with Peter, she claimed that "our song" was Kung Fu Fighting -apparently Carl Douglas' 1974 disco single. Peter was confused at hearing this, but knew better than to argue.[124]
•1167 appearance(s) of Mary Jane Watson (Earth-616)
•12 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Mary Jane Watson (Earth-616)
•141 minor appearance(s) of Mary Jane Watson (Earth-616)
•248 mention(s) of Mary Jane Watson (Earth-616)
•9 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Mary Jane Watson (Earth-616)
•782 image(s) of Mary Jane Watson (Earth-616)
Nov 14, 2023 · What Happened to Mary Jane Watson Before Marvel’s Spider-Man 2? By the time Marvel’s Spider-Man begins, MJ is already aware Peter is Spider-Man. After dating him seriously, she broke up with him because of the pressures his double life brought to their relationship.
The quick witted and extroverted Mary Jane “MJ” Watson is a professional actress and fashion model who at a young age befriends Peter Parker and quickly discovers his secret, that he’s the web-slinging Spider-Man. She keeps his identity safe and becomes Peter’s guiding light.
Mary Jane "MJ" Watson is a fictional character in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man film series. Based on the character of the same name , she is portrayed by Kirsten Dunst . In the films, Mary Jane is Peter Parker 's next-door neighbor , childhood crush, and primary love interest.
Mary Jane Watson, often known simply as MJ, is a major character in the Marvel's Spider-Man series. She is also a playable character in both Marvel's Spider-Man and Marvel's Spider-Man 2. An investigative journalist for the Daily Bugle, Mary Jane Watson is a friend and love interest of Peter...
Jan 18, 2024 · Jackpot's origins began on an alternate Earth. There, Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson found themselves pursued by Benjamin Rabin, an arcane mathematician hell-bent on summoning Wayep, the Mayan god of mischief.
