In Defense of Mary Jane Watson

Mary Jane in Spiderman (2002)

If there is a hill I will always die on, it's that Mary Jane did no wrong! Most of the time, anyway. I am specifically referring to Sam Raimi's Mary Jane, played by Kirsten Dunst in the 2000's Spiderman, who was played by Tobey Magurie. Fans just absolutely tear into her portrayal of the iconic love interest, spewing nothing but hate when she's mentioned. Saying things like "she's for the streets" and that she was overall really annoying. I just think these people just didn't get her or want to see things from her point of view. What I am going to do is go through each film and tell you exactly why she wasn't wrong... for the most part.

We'll start at the beginning, with Spiderman (2002). We are introduced to Mary Jane and she is the typical popular girl. Beautiful, sweet, and dating the star football player. She grew up with Peter, and she's got a side of daddy issues, as her father is verbally abusive to both her and mama Watson. Of course since Peter was a dork, he never worked up the nerve to tell her. Fast forward a couple months, Peter is now Spiderman, they've graduated high school, and Peter pretty much handed Mary Jane to his best friend on a silver platter. They literally saw her dump Flash (her ex) and he did nothing! Then he proceeded to be okay with essentially being cucked by Harry. What kinda dude would just be okay with his best friend going for the girl he's always been in love with? And the worst part is that Harry fucking knew! Anyway, there's no way in hell I would blame Mary Jane for that relationship. While I'm sure she had an idea that Peter liked her, he never fucking said anything. There was really no inclination for her to assume that he wanted more than a friendship, so she pursued something else with Harry. It also wasn't her fault that Harry was a spineless prick that allowed Osborn to speak ill of his girlfriend. Anybody would feel some kind of way after hearing their partners father scream in the hall, "do what you need to with her, and broom her fast." He proceeded to defend his father, and not his girlfriend who was visibly hurt and humiliated. It's no wonder the relationship didn't last. Not to mention, she was so scared to be judged or an embarrassment to Harry, she didn't even tell him she was working at the diner. Another thing, while it was poor in taste, her holding Peter's hand for a half a second isn't really cheating because Harry knew damn well the relationship was over well before the hospital scene.

(I also have to laugh a little bit because Mary Jane's demented ass was really having an affair with a whole ass vigilante. Who cheats on their man with a superhero?)

Fast forward to end of the first film, they attend the funeral for Harry's father where she confessed her love for Peter. That... that was terrible timing, I can't defend that. There was definitely a better time for that confession. Regardless, she does it at the funeral and this motherfucker rejects her. Obviously, everyone knows why he rejects her. To protect those he loves, prioritize being Spiderman, yada, yada, yada. SO then, we begin another love triangle saga in Spiderman 2 (2004). Mary Jane is at the height of her career because the girl is on broadway. She is thriving in her career and in her love life, as she gets engaged to J. Jonah Jameson's son, John Jameson. A successful astronaut. So life is good, she's having a blast and in comes Peter fucking up her vibes. I know a lot of morons say "he can't go to your stupid play, he's Spiderman" or whatever, but she didn't know that now, did she? Even if she had a feeling he was, she wasn't going to accuse him of it because it's unthinkable. So on top of being an inconsistent ass, unreliable ass friend, he confuses the hell outta her. Even Harry knew she spent like a year waiting on him, and Peter only jumps on it when she gets engaged. Tries to woo her with a damn poem and everything. Now Peter's panicking and trying to win her back, now that she's now unavailable to him. So who's the toxic one again?

She's not being unreasonable. Mary Jane has strong feelings for him, and even though they weren't reciprocated, she expected basic friendship, at least. I think the audience just got mad at her for having expectations and standards for how she should be treated. Especially after she experienced a toxic relationship in her childhood years. I don't think people point Peter out as a menace enough, because when he gets his life together and can actually come out to support her, the man has the gall to ask her out. Knowing she's getting married! Then sometime passes, Peter realizes he needs to be Spiderman after all and Mary Jane realizes she wants Peter. They meet up and he rejects her again. To someone who is ignorant to his situation, it would seem like the dude just likes to kickbox with her heart. To a girl that doesn't know he's Spiderman, she's still not being unreasonable or annoying. She's being a cheater because this time she is a fully committed relationship, but the heart wants what the heart wants and she's making it abundantly clear that she wants Peter. She gets kidnapped, they makeup, and... we're not gonna talk about that ending. Actually we are! The real victim here is actually John Jameson. Poor man got left waiting at the altar with a broken heart, destroyed ego, and the bill for the wedding.

Mary Jane in Spiderman 2

Finally, we have Spiderman 3 (2007). So this one starts with their perfect life. Peter's got his shit together, Mary Jane is the lead in a new broadway show, and they are seemingly happy together. Peter even wants to propose to her. I mean, he seriously better marry her after all that heartache. Then we get to our first confrontation: the review. Listen, I get Peter's whole point with positivity and stuff, but nobody wants to hear all that all the time. Mary Jane's disappointment was justified. All he had to do was listen. And he tried to make it about his experience with being critiqued. Excuse me sir, she didn't ask. We get another taste of her daddy issues too. Her dad must've been a piece of work if she's comparing him to a critic. Obviously her being upset at Peter needing to pounce at his Spiderman duties is silly, but I didn't say she was perfect! She was tad jealous, but she still didn't take it out on him. Poor Mary Jane didn't even tell him she was let go because she didn't want to ruin his day, steal his moment. And what did she get in return? Peter being a cocky little shit and kissing another woman the same way he kissed Mary Jane. Replicating their special moment for a publicity stunt. Then he wouldn't let her get two words out at dinner before perfect Gwen Stacy comes over to flirt. Then he has the nerve to be confused when she's upset when she learns that he personally knows the woman he locked lips with just 24 hours before. So it feels suspicious and personal, seeing as she had no idea they even went to the same class. Should she have called her ex and Peter's ex bestie? Absolutely not. Buuutt... we are here to defend Mary Jane's rights, not laugh at her wrongs!

I am also going to excuse the jazz bar scene for Peter because he was under the symbiotes influence. He actually didn't hurt her on purpose this time!

At the end of this trilogy, Mary Jane tried her damndest to be with Peter all while dealing with some personal problems of her own. You know what I think? I think the comic book fans just wanted Mary Jane to sit and wait for Peter like a good little virgin. Not have any depth or any real issues. Fans of superhero projects only like love interests if they are "easy to deal with" and "likable". If they oppose the hero in anyway or tell it like it is, they are deduced as an annoying girl and look for the next best love interest they feel the hero should be with. It's always some "cool girl" or somebody that doesn't really have much of an opinion. Pretty much, their life has to be about their heroic boyfriend.

The same fanbase that had an issue with Mary Jane, are probably the same people that had an issue with Iris from The Flash on the CW (which was mixture of misogyny and racism, but a lot of people still aren't ready for that conversation). But I will defend Mary Jane till the day I die! This isn't to say she wasn't toxic, but let's call a spade a spade. They were both toxic as hell.