With the hype of Spider-man: Brand New Day still going strong, I think it’s time we discussed the elephant in the room, or lack thereof: MJ’s character development.
Audiences meet Michelle Jones in Spider-Man: Homecoming, the first installment of the latest Spider-Man trilogy. However, there is little difference between who she is at the start of the franchise, at 15 years old, and who she has become most recently, at 22 years old.
In Brand New Day, MJ mentions how she switched majors from bioengineering to aerospace engineering, and I still remember the surprise on my face because I had no idea she was even interested in those subjects to begin with. Aside from her relationship with Peter Parker, all audiences really know about her is that she is observant, likes Black Dahlias, draws people in crisis, and wants to go to MIT. Even compared to Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane Watson and Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy, we can see the stark (no pun intended) difference in the amount of knowledge presented about the women.Â
Mary Jane Watson dreams of being a stage actress, and audiences get an inside look at her relationship with her abusive father. She struggles with jealousy issues, career roadblocks, and toxic relationships throughout the trilogy that make her a fully fleshed-out character even without Peter in the picture. Emma Stone only filmed two Spider-Man movies, and her portrayal of Gwen Stacy still became a fan favorite. Gwen worked as a lab assistant for Oscorp, where movie-watchers got to see her scientific skills shine. She used her intelligence to help Peter take down bad guys and solve problems, while also being a responsible sister to her younger siblings and darling daughter to her father, NYPD Captain George Stacy.
We know so much about Gwen and Mary Jane, but Michelle Jones remains an enigma. However, this isn’t even the tip of the iceberg. The real question people need to be asking here is, why is Marvel able to get away with this?
The answer is simple. Their work is already being done for them.
Since Tom Holland and Zendaya were first introduced to the world as Peter and MJ, fans have speculated about their off-screen relationship. Theories were discussed, and edits were made. I myself can attest to being a Tomdaya fan since 2016. In fact, the entire Marvel fandom practically exploded with energy when those iconic car photos were leaked in 2021 (if you know, you know).Â
The point is, Tom Holland and Zendaya made their characters more entertaining just by being a power couple outside of the franchise. When audiences watch Peter Parker and MJ on the big screen, they don’t just see two teenagers in love; they see two actors who actually went from best friends to lovers over the span of nearly a decade.
The insane chemistry and romance between these two actually affected the way audiences view their characters and made people almost completely blind to the fact that Peter and MJ’s romance came entirely out of nowhere.
In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter is all about Liz and goes as far as asking her to the homecoming dance. He barely gives MJ a second glance, which you would think would make the perfect unrequited-love-to-slow-burn romance story, but that is not at all what happened. Instead, Peter all of a sudden has fallen in love with MJ and confesses to Ned exactly how he plans on asking her out in the second installment of his trilogy, Far From Home.Â
Not only did Marvel rob MJ of an actual life outside of being a love interest, but they couldn’t even give her a real romance story. Audiences never got to see just how Peter and MJ developed feelings for each other, yet somehow we are supposed to be rooting for them to get together on their trip to Europe.Â
However, Marvel’s lack of effort on MJ’s character is perhaps most notable in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Moviegoers finally got to see more of MJ outside of Peter Parker’s world, and there was almost nothing to show for it. She went to MIT, shares an apartment with Ned, and has a new boyfriend. That’s it. That is literally all the development she was given.Â
Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy were these independent, goal-oriented girl bosses who had their own lives outside of Peter Parker; lives that audiences were able to see develop and change throughout their respective Spider-Man franchises. Michelle Jones is most notable for being played by Zendaya and contributing to the world’s favorite power couple Tomdaya.
I don’t know about you guys, but if Marvel decides to keep MJ as Peter’s love interest in the next Spider-Man movie, I really hope they put more thought and effort into her character. I would like to be able to genuinely root for their relationship as opposed to just being happy I’m getting more Tomdaya content on my screen.