The Untold Truth Of Mary Jane Watson

Originally introduced in 1966 in one of the most memorable moments in Spider-Man history, Mary Jane has had a career on the page that's almost as complicated as her radioactive boyfriend's. From her comic book origins to her on-screen adaptations, here's the untold truth behind Mary Jane Watson.

While she wouldn't make her full appearance until December 1966, Mary Jane was first mentioned more than two years earlier. It was actually a running gag in the comic, with Aunt May constantly trying to wrangle Peter into a blind date with the niece of her next-door neighbor, and Peter making every excuse that he could to duck out and avoid actually meeting her. The joke, of course, was that Peter assumed anyone who needed their aged aunt to set them up on a blind date was, to put it charitably, probably not the most desirable person for a relationship. For the record, Peter was also someone who needed his elderly aunt to set him up on dates.

Finally, after 27 issues of MJ looming ominously like a go-go dancing Sword of Damocles, came Amazing Spider-Man #42, from Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. After a relatively forgettable fight between Spider-Man and hero astronaut and future werewolf space god John Jameson, Mary Jane Watson made her first full appearance, and we finally got the punchline. It turned out that MJ was actually hot.

Putting aside the slightly sketchy moral lesson about keeping an open mind because people you haven't met might be physically attractive, Mary Jane's appearance marked a huge shift in the Spider-Man dynamic.

For the first few years of her existence, Mary Jane's major effect on the Amazing Spider-Man comics was to convert a love triangle into something that looked a little more like a rhombus. She was pitted against Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker's long-established dream girl, competing for Peter's affection, and settling for double dates with Peter's roommate (and future Green Goblin), Harry Osborn.

Gwen, for her part, had been introduced way back in the early days by Spider-Man's co-creators, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. In her original appearances, Gwen was a very different sort of love interest — a brilliant science student with a short temper who often found herself bickering with Peter and trading sharp quips as their romantic tension grew.

All that changed when Ditko left the book and Romita stepped in as Ditko's replacement and arguably became the definitive artist of the era. The main change came from bringing his experience from doing romance comics at DC, and he transformed Peter from an awkward, angular teenager to a handsome college student. Romita also applied the same style to the rest of the cast. Gwen started spending a lot of time in go-go boots and minidresses, and MJ, earned her reputation as the consummate party girl ... right up until the Green Goblin changed Spidey's supporting cast forever. Keep watching the video to see the untold truth of Mary Jane Watson!

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The girl next door | 0:19
A rocky relationship | 1:35
Gwen goes, Mary Jane stays | 2:52
Parallel Lives and secret identities | 4:14
Wedding of the century | 5:31
Wedding? What wedding? | 7:14
No Powers | 9:02
MJ at the movies | 10:11

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