Alternate versions of Mary Jane Watson

Mary Jane Watson is a fictional supporting character in the "Spider-Man" comics published by Marvel Comics. This article is a comprehensive list of all the versions she appeared in.

The Amazing Spider-Man: The Daily Comic Strip

As a major character in the comic strip version of "The Amazing Spider-Man", Mary Jane is currently married to Peter Parker, as that continuity focuses on the Parkers' personal lives and real-world villains over the superhero aspect, though several members of the classic rouges gallery still appear occasionally. Mary Jane's constantly having to be saved by Spider-Man resulted in a complaint by a reader that saw the strip dropped by the Toronto Star in the late '70's/early '80's.

Exiles

In "Exiles", Mary Jane is Spider-Woman, a member of the Avengers. Mary Jane is a lesbian who fell in love with the reality-hopping Mariko Yashida, the ill-fated Exiles member Sunfire.

House of M

In "House of M", Mary Jane is a world-famous actress, and she is one of the few humans that the mutant population likes. She co-starred in movies with Spider-Man (who has led the mutant population to believe that he is a mutant, when in fact he isn't). In her latest movie, she plays Spider-Man's real-life wife, Gwen Stacy.

Mangaverse

In "Marvel Mangaverse", Mary Jane Watson is Spider-Woman. She is a new initiate into the Spider-clan (of ninjas), with her boyfriend (Peter Parker) showing her the ropes. In the "New Mangaverse" five part limited series, they join several other heroes in combatting a superhero massacre.

"Marvel Zombies"

In "Marvel Zombies", Mary Jane and Aunt May were attacked and devoured by a bitten Peter Parker when he arrives home to rescue them, only to lose control to his hunger. After he has eaten, Peter is consumed by the guilt and grief of what he has done to the last two people who ever loved him, refusing to take off his mask so he won't have to look himself in the eyes again.

"Spider-Man: Reign"

In the alternate future seen in "", Mary Jane died of cancer due to prolonged exposure to Peter's radioactive blood, her last words being "Go..." as he leapt out of a window to respond to sirens (He likes to believe she wanted to say "Go get 'em, Tiger"). After her death, he buried his red and blue costume with her, wearing the black suit until his retirement. However, with the coming of the (and thanks to some bizarre encouragement from the tentacles of the now-deceased ), Peter reclaims his original suit from Mary Jane's coffin and returns to his life as Spider-Man. After the Six are defeated and the WEBB surrounding New York is destroyed, Peter visits Mary Jane's grave, assuring her that he'll be with her again some day, but, for now, he still has his responsibility.

pectacular Spider-Man Magazine

The UK based Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine, aimed at considerably younger readers, is based slightly from the canon of the FOX animated Spider-Man series of the 1990s. Mary Jane is Peter's love interest, but possesses no existing knowledge of his duel identity.

MC2

In the "MC2" universe, Mary Jane is reunited with her baby daughter by Kaine, who found the child living with Alison Mongraine, the con artist who had kidnapped the baby on instruction from the Green Goblin. Baby May grew to become May "Mayday" Parker, AKA Spider-Girl. Alison Mongraine became quite attached to the baby while she was in her care. Though she was thought to have been killed by Kaine, she returns years later to make contact with May. May and Mary Jane forgive Alison, who sincerely regrets her crime and loves the girl like her own child. After a complicated pregnancy, Mary Jane also gives birth to a baby son, Benjamin. She is a respected fashion designer and businesswoman, and secretly starts a store based on Spider-Girl related merchandise to pay for May's and Ben's educations. She has recently become a guidance councelor at Mayday's school, where she becomes aware of the anti-mutant group Humanity First.

pider-Ham

In "Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham" #15 Mary Jane appears as a water buffalo called Mary Jane Waterbuffalo.

"Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane"

In "Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane", Mary Jane is still a teenager and the book is primarily a teen drama rather than a superhero comic book, although it takes place in a superhero universe with Spider-Man playing a prominent role. In this continuity, Mary Jane is regarded as the most popular girl at Midtown high (her high school in Queens, NY) and was even voted homecoming queen. She had a brief infatuation with Spider-Man until she went on a date with him and realized that she would much rather be with Peter Parker. The ongoing series was preceded by two four-issue limited series, "Mary Jane" and "", intended to capitalize on the female readership of manga and the Mary Jane novels.

"Spider-Man: Fairy Tales"

Issue #1 of "Spider-Man: Fairy Tales" follows the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood. Mary Jane is the part of Little Red Riding Hood, and Peter is one of the woodsmen. Peter is not very strong but he is fast, agile, and "can climb better than most anyone." The wolf is killed by Peter and Mary Jane working together. Mary Jane and Peter are engaged.

In issue #4, a gender-reversed version of Cinderella, Mary Jane is a servant girl in the house of Sir Osborn, and is in love with Peter Parker. Peter does not realise this and disguises himself as the "Prince of Arachne" to win the hand of Princess Gwendolyn. Mary Jane discovers Peter's secret identity, and aids him. Following Gwendolyn's death and Peter being knighted for saving the King's life, the last panel shows Mary Jane sadly holding one of Peter's webbed gauntlets.

Ultimate Mary Jane

Mary Jane [First appears in "Ultimate Spider-Man" #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley] attends Midtown High School with Peter Parker and Liz Allan. Though originally known as "Mary" to her friends, she later picks up the "MJ" nickname. Unlike the original MJ, Ultimate Mary Jane is a brilliant student and expresses her true feelings instead of masquerading as a party girl. She can be short-tempered and has even physically attacked some of the bullies at her school. At one time, MJ had expressed her wish to become an actress, but now dreams of being a 'Teacher who Cares'. She and Peter begin dating in "Ultimate Spider-Man" #13, as well as becoming the second person to learn of Peter's secret identity and the first Peter reveals it to. She sews Peter's spare Spider-Man costumes, once calling herself the Betsy Ross of superheroes. Although Peter and MJ love each other very much, Peter's Spider-Man identity proves a heavy burden on their relationship. The relationship is complicated when Gwen Stacy enters their lives.

Later, Peter began to fear for Mary Jane's safety more than ever when the Green Goblin kidnapped her in a twisted attempt to gain Peter's allegiance and flung her off the Queensboro bridge. MJ survived, but was left traumatized. During this time, she became angry and jealous when she thought that a new girl, Gwen Stacy had feelings for Peter and ended their relationship in issue #32, although they soon reconciled in issue #41. When MJ's father read her diary and found her referring to something as the 'bridge incident' where she was nearly killed, he tells MJ that she is not to see Peter anymore. Furious, MJ ran away to an old factory but Peter finds her and her parents separate soon after.

In "Hobgoblin" (#72-78), it was said Harry and Mary Jane had engaged in a brief romance around the same day Peter was bitten. Then, long after his father is gunned down as the Green Goblin, Harry tells her that Peter "killed his father". Recently, Peter ended the relationship in issue #77 after realizing his life as a superhero will always endanger her. Shortly thereafter, Mary Jane went out with a character named Mark Raxton. After one date, however, she planned to prove herself to Peter and to get him back. When Raxton asked what was so special about Parker, she simply replied "everything." She has since shown difficulty in moving on from Peter and in dealing with the state of their friendship, especially now that Peter has recently dated Kitty Pryde. However, Peter has shown an interest in reconciling their differences, and becoming, if not a couple, friends again.

As part of the "Clone Saga" arc, MJ is kidnapped from her bedroom by a facially disfigured clone of Peter Parker who is determined to give her powers so that she is no longer in danger from his enemies. He pumps in her bloodstream an unquantified amount of OZ, the drug responsible for the creation of the Ultimate Green Goblin, Hobgoblin and also Spider-Man. Upon learning this, she becomes very angry and transforms into a huge, hairy, horned red goblin-type creature (referred to by Bendis as Ultimate Demogoblin). However, when the real Peter Parker and Spider-Woman show up, she calms down and resumes her original form, just in time for Peter (her ex) to render his evil clone unconscious. MJ is taken to the Fantastic Four's Baxter Building and when she wakes up, she is afraid and angry, causing another transformation. However when she spots the Peter clone who was in the building, she calms down once again and reverts back to her normal self. She is then given what is believed to be a cure to the effects of the OZ formula.

During the epilogue of the Clone Saga, Peter and MJ rekindle their love bond, much to Kitty's dismay. Although MJ seems physically cured, as confirmed on "Ultimate Spider-Man" #105, the ordeal has left her badly traumatized, and she is shown to be affected by panic issues and haunted by the scarred visage of Peter's disfigured clone. Sue Storm suggests that Peter should keep a close eye on MJ and seeking a psychiatrist to help her get through her traumatic episodes. However, in issue #107, MJ watches Peter talking to Kitty and it makes her mad. Her hand starts to tremble and her fingernails briefly become claws but she calms down when Kitty takes off in anger, indicating that her cure might not be permanent or even complete. However, considering the the source of the Oz was from Doctor Octopus and not from Norman Osborn, it's possible that the Oz used on her was altered in some way. Plus, in issue #112, it is seen that Mary Jane daydreams a scene where she's fighting against Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four in her mutant form. Mary Jane decides to actively pursue a career in broadcast journalism, and she begins a series of webcast reports on-location in New York with Peter as her cameraman, only to constantly flub her surname, causing her to lose her temper, much to Peter's amusement. She eventually helps Kitty Pryde track down Peter when he is captured and unmasked by The Shocker.

In Death of a Goblin, when Spiderman asks why they can't just cure Harry and Norman, one of the SHIELD agents tells Peter that the cure for Oz doesn't work.

Recently, Bendis announced on his official message boards that the third "Ultimate Spider-Man Annual" had been "approved" following a long period of consideration, as the story deals with what is described as a "heavily controversial topic". Fans have speculated that this will prove to be Peter and MJ exploring a sexual relationship despite their young age; thusfar, the only hints of sexual intercourse have been brief encounters interrupted by changes in circumstance (e.g., Aunt May bursting into the room before they can kiss) and an attempt by Wolverine to make some sort of advance to her when he was briefly trapped in Peter's body.