Poor Peter Parker, What a Brutal Choice.
How does the movie�s relationship between Mary Jane Watson and Peter Parker match up with that of the comic books? This is the one area where the movie deviates greatly from comic book lore. MJ�s home life was awful in both the theaters and in the comics[1]; however, Comic Mary Jane was not Peter�s neighbor during high school. She actually lived in Pittsburgh, but periodically visited her Aunt Anna�who lived next door to the Parkers. Peter and MJ didn�t actually meet until 1966[2], when both were in college. (Peter even previously avoided two blind dates with Mary Jane[3,4]. If only Aunt Anna had just showed him a picture of her niece�) Comic Book Peter Parker�s high school girlfriend was actually Betty Brant, J. Jonah Jameson�s secretary�the movie version of Betty cuts Peter his check for the first Spider-Man photos. When Peter and Betty started dating, he was probably 16 and she was 19. Stud-Boy! Comic Peter also stole Liz Allan, girlfriend of Flash Thompson (the school bully), for a few dates. In the movie, Mary Jane was Flash�s girlfriend.
When Comic Peter finally meets Mary Jane, he�s already met Gwen Stacy, the first love of his life. Peter and MJ only go out a few times before Gwen becomes Peter�s steady gal, so Mary Jane and Peter remain friends only. Comic Mary Jane is quite the party girl and fills her time dating a number of guys, including Harry Osborn. MJ and Peter don�t hook up until after Gwen�s death in 1973[5]. As the movie MJ works as a waitress while dreaming of becoming an actress, Comic Mary Jane works as a barmaid/disco dancer (it was the late 60�s) and wants to be a model�which is exactly what she is today (although she also acted on the soap opera, Secret Hospital, for a while). MJ makes a damn good living as a supermodel, too--which really helped Peter afford all of his webbing chemicals.
The movie ends with Peter deciding not to date Mary Jane--for fear that his loved ones could be put at risk by other villains like the Green Goblin. Comic Peter has never let that danger affect his social life, as he�s dated a number of women during his Spider-Man career. The notable ones being Betty Brant, Gewn Stacy, Mary Jane, and the Black Cat--a costumed cat burgler/adventurer (O.K., I admit it, she�s a cheap Catwoman rip-off.). In fact, Peter married Mary Jane in 1987[6] (following the second of his marriage proposals to her[7,8]). When you think about it, though, maybe the movie Peter has the right idea. Comic Peter�s friends and family have been the target of several villains who know Spider-Man�s secret identity�Mostly Green Goblin I (Norman), Green Goblin III (Harry), Venom, and the Jackal. Mary Jane has gotten the worst of it as far as threats and kidnapping, but Aunt May has been abducted a few times, too. Worse yet, the original Green Goblin killed Gwen[5], killed Peter�s clone[9] (don�t ask), and poisoned a pregnant MJ�causing her to lose her and Peter�s baby[9]! Recently, Mary Jane was finally kidnapped and imprisoned one time too many (this time by a psychotic telepath) and her and Peter have separated[10]. But who knows, they could reunite�as long a writer wants to do it and an editor allows it.
Also in the last scene of the movie, did Mary Jane realize that Peter is Spider-Man (unbekowest to him)? She discovered Comic Peter's secret even before they officially met[2] when she saw Spider-Man crawling out of Pete's bedrooom window one night[1]. Although MJ didn't reveal this to Peter until years later[11]. |
