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"Go get 'em, tiger."
―Mary Jane Watson[src]

Mary Jane Watson is an actress who grew up next door to Peter Parker.

Biography[]

Spider-Man[]

"He's saved my life twice and I've never even seen his face."
―Mary Jane Watson [src]

Mary Jane was a popular student in the same high school as her neighbor, Peter Parker, who had a crush on her. She was dating Flash Thompson. She was warm-hearted and good-looking, and often didn't approve of the way her boyfriend bullied Peter. During a field trip to a genetics lab, MJ was photographed many times by Peter, who got distracted by her and bitten by a genetically-enhanced spider, which would transform him in Spider-Man.

MJ started to notice many changes in Peter at school, when, during lunch, he prevented her from falling with incredibly fast reflexes. Flash, angered with him, tried to fight Peter, but was easily overpowered to MJ's surprise. At their high school graduation, MJ broke up with Flash and was ready to start a new life, following her dreams as an actress. She didn't have much luck and was forced to work as a waitress at the Moondance Diner. After her break-up with Flash, MJ became close to Harry Osborn, Peter's best friend, and she became his girlfriend soon after, but they kept the relationship secret from Peter.

During the World Unity Festival, Mary Jane accompanied Harry in order to meet his father. They were spotted by Peter, who acknowledged their relationship. The fair was interrupted by a mysterious masked criminal, the Green Goblin, who killed the Oscorp directors and put MJ's life in danger. Spider-Man saved her and she took an extreme liking to the hero.

After a failed audition, she met up with Peter again as they had seen each other earlier when Peter found out about her relationship with Harry. After a talk, she left but was ambushed by some thugs. However, she was once again saved by Spider-Man, whom she then thanked with a kiss. Harry tried once again to make MJ meet Norman during a Thanksgiving dinner with Peter and May Parker, but Norman, who had just deduced that Peter was Spider-Man, left immediately and humiliated MJ, who was hurt by Harry's refusal to defend her.

When May was attacked by the Green Goblin, Mary Jane went to the hospital to visit her and met Peter. She confessed to him that she thought she was in love with Spider-Man and he indirectly confessed his true feelings to her. Harry arrived when the two of them were holding hands, and went to his father claiming he was right and that MJ loved Peter, unintentionally giving Goblin a hint on how to hurt his enemy. Shortly after, Goblin kidnapped MJ and brought her to the Brooklyn Bridge. Goblin made Spider-Man choose who to save, Mary Jane or a tramway full of children. Spider-Man managed to save them both and then engaged his nemesis in a mortal battle.

Later, Mary Jane attended Norman Osborn's funeral, not knowing he really was the Goblin. During the wake, she and Peter shared a kiss but Peter told her they couldn't be together.

Spider-Man 2[]

"She looks at me everyday. Mary Jane Watson. Oh, boy. If she only knew how I felt about her. But she can never know."
Peter Parker[src]

After Peter Parker's refusal to have a relationship with her in order to focus on his responsibility as a hero, Mary Jane started a relationship with John Jameson, the son of the Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson. She was now a model and had gotten a job as a theater actress in The Importance of Being Earnest and was annoyed because Peter hadn't made it to her show since he'd been busy as Spider-Man.

When she and John started to talk about marriage, Peter tried to enter MJ's life again, but she told him it was too late. She did start to have doubts about her groom-to-be and tried to kiss him the way Spider-Man kissed her the first time, realizing she doesn't feel the same. Wanting to understand what she, and Peter, were really feeling, MJ met him in a cafe, asking him if he still loved her. He replied that he didn't, despite this being not true, in order to assure her a normal life with a man she can learn to love. During their meeting, Doctor Octopus attacked, in search of Spider-Man as Harry Osborn told him Peter was the key for reaching the hero. In order to convince Parker to send Spider-Man to him, Doc Ock kidnapped Mary Jane. MJ was brought to an abandoned warehouse, which served as Octopus' hideout and lab. She was found by Spider-Man, who engaged in a fierce battle with Doctor Octopus. During the fight, Spider-Man lost his mask, and MJ had confirmation that Peter was actually Spider-Man. After the fight, he told her that they couldn't be together, since he would always have enemies who would threaten her life.

During her wedding, Mary Jane decided she couldn't marry a man she didn't love and fled, leaving John at the altar. She visited Peter in his apartment and told him that she wanted to be with him, despite the risks, and managed to convince him to let her in. The police radio in Peter's apartment announced an emergency call and Peter had to go. MJ looked at him as the hero went out to save the day.

Spider-Man 3[]

"Everybody needs help sometimes, Peter. Even Spider-Man."
―Mary Jane Watson[src]

Mary Jane and Peter Parker were a couple and he planned to propose to her as soon as possible. The two seemed happy together, but MJ still had doubts for a life shared with a hero with Spider-Man's "mission". She turned to Peter to discuss the negative criticism she received for lacking an audible voice during her first Broadway performance, seeking consolation. Despite Peter's attempt to reassure her that it was a passing phase of constructive criticism, comparing it to his own endeavors as Spider-Man, she was still depressed and still did not believe he had full insight regarding her dismay. They were interrupted by Spider-Man needing to intervene in a crane incident.

After attending a rehearsal, she was abruptly informed that she had been replaced in her role by another actress, due to wide criticism from all newspaper publishers. When Harry Osborn, after his first flight as the New Goblin, had amnesia, he and MJ returned to being friends. They were together during a city celebration for Spider-Man, who had saved Gwen Stacy, the daughter of the police captain. Mary Jane got angry when, during the ceremony, Spider-Man kissed Gwen the way they used to do, and, later, she had a quarrel with him, during the dinner Peter wanted to propose to her in. She claimed it was their kiss, and Peter replied that Spider-Man kissed the girl, not him. MJ, furious and frustrated over Peter's prima donna attitude, left.

MJ found solace with Harry, who tried to help her as a friend. Harry recovered his memory and forced MJ to break up with Peter, menacing her. MJ met Peter and told him that she didn't want to see him anymore, since she had another man, who Peter then discovered was Harry himself, who he confronted as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, leaving him disfigured.

MJ saw Peter while she was working as a singer in a nightclub, but he had changed due to the corruption of the alien costume and just wanted to make her jealous in order to get revenge on her, so he danced with Gwen Stacy in front of her. When Gwen realized what Peter was doing, she told him off, apologized to Mary Jane, and left. Peter then engaged in a fight with the customers, but accidentally backhanded MJ. Realizing that the black suit was influencing his mind, he decided to remove it, unintentionally giving birth to Venom, Eddie Brock's deranged alter-ego.

Brock, having discovered Peter's secret identity as Spider-Man after witnessing him break free from his symbiote costume, allied with Sandman and kidnapped Mary Jane, taking her hostage in a black spider web above a construction site. The subsequent battle between Spider-Man and Harry (who no longer begrudged Peter after discovering the truth about his father's death) against Venom and the Sandman left the two villains defeated, but Harry lost his life in the process due to being impaled with his own glider by Venom. MJ and Peter consoled their dying friend as he passed away in their arms, reconciling with Peter in his last moments.

After Harry's funeral, Peter decided it was time to mend his relationship with MJ and began by going to the jazz bar and asking her to dance, which she accepted.

Spider-Man: No Way Home[]

"It took a while, but... we made it work."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Me and... MJ. My MJ. It... It gets confusing here.
"
Peter-Two and Peter-Three[src]

Peter-Two, while creating an anti-serum for the Goblin Formula that transformed Norman Osborn into the Green Goblin, told Peter-Three, who is creating an antidote for the Lizard Serum that transformed Curt Connors into the Lizard, that while his relationship with MJ got complicated after Harry's death and it took awhile, they were able to make it work in the end. Peter-Two used this as proof that it was worth it to not give up on love. Peter-Three became confused when Peter-Two mentioned his MJ, due to Peter-One, who is repairing both the Particle Accelerator for Flint Marko and the Electricity Siphon for Max Dillon, also having an MJ. Peter-Two clarified that he was really talking about his own MJ and acknowledged that, due to the alternate universes, it was all complicated.

Character traits[]

Mary Jane is apparently a material girl, only caring for new dresses and big cars. But in truth, she actually has a cheerful personality in order to hide her bad family condition, with her father always yelling at her and treating her badly for no clear reason at all. After high school, she tried to realize her ambitions to become an actress.

She is a loyal friend and a warm person, capable of intense love and real feelings. Unlike any popular girls or girlfriends of popular jocks, Mary Jane was never vain nor showed contempt for humble people who were considered losers, notably such as Peter Parker. She is, however, an active and somewhat indecisive dater, and has been the girlfriend, in order, of Flash Thompson, high school football star and bully, Harry Osborn, who cared for her but treated her like a trophy, John Jameson, who wasn't the right person for her, and Peter, who is proved to be the love of her life. Decades later, it was revealed that while her and Peter's relationship was complicated, they were able to make it work in the end, as Peter explained to an alternate Peter Parker while working with another alternate Peter Parker to create cures for villains.

Relationships[]

Appearances/Actresses[]

Behind the scenes[]

Trivia[]

  • In the comics, Gwen Stacy had a similar role to the one played by MJ in the movies. This included the famous scene on the Brooklyn Bridge, in which, in the comics, Gwen died, while MJ, in the first movie, was saved by Spider-Man.

Gallery[]

Spider-Man[]

Spider-Man 2[]

Spider-Man 3[]

See Also[]

MDB
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