Mary Jane Watson

* Spider-Man
* X-Men
* Spider-Man Unlimited

**Spider-Man Unlimited:**

* Jennifer Hale

*Looking for another article with the name Mary Jane Watson? Check out the Mary Jane Watson disambiguation page.*
**Mary Jane Watson**, or simply known as **MJ**, is a beautiful woman and the love of Peter Parker's life.

## History

### Early life

#### Childhood

As a child, Mary Jane grew up in a home with a verbally abusive father. Mary Jane's father then walked out on her and her mother. Sometime after this, Mary Jane went to live with her Aunt Anna. It is unknown what happened to her mother.

#### Dating Morris Bench

As a teenager, Mary Jane began dating Morris Bench. However, after spending some time with him, she realized that he was a big jerk and broke up with him.

### Later life

#### Dating Peter Parker

##### The Blind Date

When May Parker learned that Mary Jane moved off next door with Anna Watson, she attempted to set the two of them up on a blind date. However, Peter Parker was against the blind date because he felt that blind dates were like winning the lottery "The odds are so stacked against you, you're nuts if you expect to ever hit the jackpot." However, Aunt May forced him to go on a date with her. When Mary Jane arrived at May's house Peter opened the door and saw how beautiful Mary Jane was. Mary Jane then told Peter "Face it, tiger. you just hit the jackpot."

##### Study Date

Sometime after their first date, Mary Jane called Peter asking him for help studying for her physics test at Empire State University. However, Peter believed that she only asked him for his help because she wanted to see him again. However, Mysterio's arrival had Spider-Man's attention because he framed Spider-Man. Peter then forgot about his study date with Mary Jane and went to fight Mysterio. The day after Mysterio defeated Spider-Man, Peter received a phone call from Mary Jane who was furious at him for missing their study date. However, Mary Jane ended up passing her test and forgave Peter once she learned that she was capable of passing the test by herself.

#### Hydro-Man

Morris Bench eventually returned and began stealing jewelry to win back Mary Jane's affections. Bench then called Mary Jane at the Coffee Bean and told her to meet him at the Seville Hotel. As Mary Jane left Peter could tell something was wrong and followed her. As Mary Jane arrived at the hotel she met with Bench and told him that they are over. As Mary Jane left Spider-Man followed her to Washington Square Park and was surprised to see Bench had made it there before him. Bench then told Mary Jane that he could give her whatever she wanted. Bench then showed Mary Jane that he had the power to control water which frightened Mary Jane. Spider-Man then attacked Bench who revealed that he called himself Hydro-Man but Spider-Man was able to get away and get Mary Jane to a safe place. Mary Jane then told Spider-Man about her past relationship with Bench. Spider-Man then gave Mary Jane a Spider-Tracer and told her that she could use it to contact him if Hydro-Man came near her again.

However, Hydro-Man was able to find Mary Jane and kidnapped her. Peter Parker was there at the time and attempted to save her as Spider-Man. Although Hydro-Man was able to get away with her and Spider-Man was unable to track her because Mary Jane had dropped the Spider-Tracer. As Spider-Man looked across the river and saw a water pumping station he realized that from there Hydro-Man could go travel pipes, sinks, and sprinklers to go anywhere in New York City. As Spider-Man arrived at the pumping station he fought with Hydro-Man which allowed Mary Jane enough time to get away. When Hydro-Man realized that Mary Jane was gone he followed after her. However, Marry Jane was really leading Hydro-Man away from the river made him stronger. As Hydro-Man chased Mary Jane away from the river he became weaker and when he lunged at Spider-Man he his body fell apart and then evaporated.

#### The Center for Reunification

Mary Jane later received a letter from her father saying that he wanted to meet her. However, unknown to Mary Jane the letter was really sent by Baron Mordo who wanted to use her to free his master, Dormammu, from the Dark Dimension onto Earth.

Mordo then brainwashed Mary Jane and had her join a cult called the Center for Reunification. Mordo then had Mary Jane and some other cultists break into the Sanctum Sanctorum to steal the Wand of Watoomb which could be used to open a portal to the Dark Dimension to free Dormammu. However, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange were able to stop Mary Jane and the other cultist from stealing the Wand of Watoomb.

Peter Parker later broke into the Center for Reunification to free Mary Jane. However, Mary Jane's brainwashing was so severe that she sounded an alarm and Peter was captured by the cultist.

Doctor Strange later used his magic to make Mary Jane see what her father was really like. Doctor Strange then told Mary Jane that Mordo used her feelings for her father as a way to control her. However, Mary Jane was dragged into the Dark Dimension by Dormammu. Spider-Man attempted to save her but Doctor Strange stopped Spider-Man and told him that Dormammu had to be accepted into their world by one of his followers and that Mary Jane must reject Dormammu.

While in the Dark Dimension, Dormammu shapeshifted into Philip Watson and tried to convince Mary Jane to release him onto Earth. However, Mary Jane was able to see through Dormammu's tricks and refused to invite him to Earth. Mary Jane then went back to Earth and Doctor Strange used the Wand of Watoomb to seal the portal to the Dark Dimension.

#### Dating Harry Osborn

Because of Peter's responsibilities as Spider-Man and his mutation disease he could not give Mary Jane the attention she needed. This ended up driving Mary Jane into the arms of Peter's best friend, Harry Osborn.

##### The Green Goblin

After Norman Osborn supposedly died in an explosion at OsCorp Harry became depressed. Around this time Green Goblin appeared in New York City and began to abduct the members of the OsCorp board of directors. Mary Jane was led to believe that Harry had become the Green Goblin to take revenge on those he believed were responsible for his fathers death. As Mary Jane went to OsCorp to investigate she was taken hostage by the Green Goblin. However, Spider-Man later saved her. During this time Spider-Man learned that the Green Goblin was really Norman Osborn who had survived the explosion at OsCorp.

##### Richard Fisk

When Peter was framed for treason by Richard Fisk, Peter was broken out of prison by Chameleon so that everyone would believe that Peter was guilty. However, Daredevil was able to save Peter before Richard could kill him.

Richard Fisk and Kingpin then learned that May Parker became ill and was taken to the hospital. They knew that Peter would go and visit her, and they would set a trap for him.

Later Peter was able to sneak into the hospital and pulled Mary Jane into a closet so they wouldn't be seen by security. Mary Jane was so excited to see Peter that she kissed him but quickly pulled away because she and Harry Osborn were dating. Anna Watson later caught Peter in May's room and offered to help them get out of the hospital unseen. However, it turned out that Anna Watson was really Chameleon is disguise. Chameleon then pushed Mary Jane and Peter into the back of a van and knocked them out with gas and took them to Kingpin's mansion.

Richard Fisk then had Peter Parker and Mary Jane placed in an decompression chamber and began to suck all the oxygen out of it. Mary Jane and Peter would have died of suffocation. However, Detective Terri Lee arrived and was able to free them before they could die.

Later Richard Fisk was put on trial and found guilty of his crimes. Peter was also cleared of all charges.

##### The Proposal

Later things got serious between Mary Jane and Harry and Harry asked Mary Jane to marry him. Peter later saw Mary Jane and said he was happy for her but quickly told Mary Jane that he was lying and wondered why it couldn't have been him. Mary Jane answered that Harry was one of the few men in her life that made her feel special. However, Peter asked Mary Jane if she loved Harry and Mary Jane walked away as quickly as possible without answering the question. Peter then realized that Mary Jane wasn't really in love with Harry. At that moment Alistair Smythe arrived intending to kill Norman Osborn. However, Kingpin's men quickly arrived and captured Alistair and trapped him in their airship. However, Alistair had already captured Norman. Harry rushed out to try and save his father and Mary Jane followed to try and stop him. However, both of them ended up getting captured. As the airship flew off Spider-Man followed them.

When the airship arrived at Crime Central, Mary Jane and Harry were taken to a holding cell. While in the cell Mary Jane searched for a way to escape. Harry warned Mary Jane against doing so because of the guards that were outside their door. However, Mary Jane ignored his warnings. At that moment the guards came in and ordered Mary Jane and Harry Osborn to go with them. Harry was willing to go with them, but Mary Jane wasn't. Mary Jane tackled the guards, but they managed to subdue her. However, Spider-Man arrived and rescued her.

After Mary Jane was rescued, she realized that she really didn't love Harry and she broke off their engagement. Mary Jane then asked Spider-Man to take her web swinging which he did. Spider-Man then landed on a rooftop. Mary Jane then confessed to Spider-Man that while they were being held captive, she was worried for Harry. However, she revealed that she felt like she was worried for a little brother and that she broke off her engagement because those are not the types of feelings someone should have for a future husband. Mary Jane also told Spider-Man that she might be in love with someone else. Spider-Man asked who it was she really loved hoping it would be him. However, Mary Jane was distracted by a taxi and told Spider-Man to set her on the sidewalk so she could catch it.

#### Back to Peter

Sometime after Mary Jane ended her engagement to Harry Osborn, she got back together with Peter Parker.

Sometime later Eddie Brock went to May's house looking for Peter Parker. Eddie told May that he was a friend of Peter's and he needed to know where Peter was. May told Brock that Peter was at the Daily Bugle. As Brock began to walk to the Bugle, Mary Jane ran out and said that she knew he and Peter weren't friends and asked Brock what he wanted with Peter. Brock replied that Mary Jane was inquisitive and very beautiful. As Brock walked he also said that it was no wonder that Peter loved her so much. Mary Jane was surprised to hear this. Even though they had been dating Mary Jane was unaware that Peter had those kinds of feelings for her.

Mary Jane and Peter eventually got back together. Both of them attended Felicia Hardy and Jason Philips engagement party. There they ran into Harry Osborn. Harry revealed that he resented Peter for stealing Mary Jane away from him. As Harry walked away Mary Jane said that Harry would have to accept the fact that she wasn't his girlfriend anymore and went to talk to him.

#### The Night Mary Jane Watson Disappeared

Harry later invited Mary Jane to his birthday party and told her that she could bring Peter. When Mary Jane told Peter this, Peter believed that Harry wanted to put the past behind him and start over. Later on, Peter and Mary Jane attended Harry's birthday party. Peter thanked Harry for inviting them. However, Harry got angry and told Peter that the only reason he was invited was because Norman insisted. Harry then stormed off in a rage. Mary Jane went after him to try and calm him down.

Sometime after Harry's birthday party Mary Jane returned home. Anna called Peter irresponsible, However, Mary Jane told her aunt that Peter was wonderful and that she loved him. Around this time Green Goblin had learned that Spider-Man was really Peter and was tormenting his foe by attacking the people closest to him. Green Goblin abducted Mary Jane from her home to use as bait to lure Spider-Man to the George Washington Bridge.

When Spider-Man arrived at the George Washington Bridge he saw Mary Jane lying unconscious at Green Goblin's feet. While Spider-Man and Green Goblin fought, Green Goblin launched a missile from his glider to try and kill Spider-Man. However, the missile missed Spider-Man and instead hit the bridge. The explosion caused part of the bridge to collapse. With the bridge collapsing Mary Jane and the Time Dilation Accelerator, which was being used by Green Goblin at the time, fell off the side. However, before Mary Jane could hit the water the Time Dilation Accelerator activated and created a time dilation portal. Mary Jane then fell into the portal and then it closed. This trapped Mary Jane inside limbo. However, Spider-Man did not see Mary Jane fall into the portal and believed that Mary Jane had drown in the water below. Furious, Spider-Man attacked the Green Goblin. Their final battle ended with Green Goblin and the Time Dilation Accelerator being trapped in limbo.

After defeating Green Goblin, Spider-Man called out to Madame Web and begged her to bring Mary Jane back. However, Madame Web refused and told Peter that this was another lesson he had to learn. At that moment inside limbo, Mary Jane called out for help, but no one was around to hear her.

## Powers

When Mary Jane was brainwashed by Baron Mordo, she was given a limited degree of magic powers.

Mary Jane could fire mystical beams from her eyes.

Mary Jane had super strength.

She could also fly through the air.

However, when Doctor Strange broke Mordo's hold on Mary Jane, she lost these powers.

## In the comics

In the Spider-Man comics, Mary Jane was much more of a party girl. More so than how she was portrayed in Spider-Man: The Animated Series.

Mary Jane knew that Peter Parker was Spider-Man the entire time because on the night of Ben Parker's murder Mary Jane saw Peter run up to his bedroom and only minutes later Spider-Man came out of the window on Peter's room.

She wanted a career in Hollywood or Broadway as an actress. While this was in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, it was downplayed a lot.

After witnessing a fight between Spider-Man and Puma, Mary Jane revealed to Spider-Man that she knew he was Peter Parker.

Mary Jane and Peter Parker eventually got married.

Mary Jane became pregnant with Peter's baby. However, the baby was stillborn.

### In television

In the 1967 Spider-Man series Mary Jane Watson was George Stacy's niece.

In Ultimate Spider-Man, Mary Jane wanted to become a journalist instead of a model or an actress.

In Ultimate Spider-Man, Mary Jane bonded with the Carnage  symbiote and became the Carnage Queen.

Spider-Man was able to free Mary Jane from the Carnage symbiote. However, some of the symbiote still remained in her body. Mary Jane used the symbiote to become a superhero called Spider-Woman.

## Appearances

### **Spider-Man: The Animated Series**

* The Spider Slayer (Mentioned only)
* Return of the Spider Slayer
* The Menace of Mysterio
* The Sting of the Scorpion (Mentioned only)
* Kraven the Hunter
* The Alien Costume, Part III
* The Hobgoblin, Part I
* The Hobgoblin, Part II
* Day of the Chameleon
* The Insidious Six
* Battle of the Insidious Six
* Hydro-Man
* The Mutant Agenda
* Morbius
* Enter the Punisher
* Duel of the Hunters
* Blade, the Vampire Hunter
* The Immortal Vampire
* Tablet of Time
* Ravages of Time (Mentioned only)
* Shriek of the Vulture
* The Final Nightmare
* Doctor Strange
* Make a Wish
* Attack of the Octobot
* Enter the Green Goblin
* Framed
* The Man Without Fear
* The Ultimate Slayer
* The Spot
* Carnage
* Goblin War!
* Turning Point

## Trivia

* According to Sara Ballantine during an interview, Jennifer Tilly had auditioned for the role of Mary Jane Watson before she got the role.
* Mary Jane's design in Spider-Man: The Animated Series was based on how John Romita Sr. drew her in the original comics.
* According to John Semper Jr., Stan Lee once cornered him one day and he was adamant that Mary Jane had to be the only woman in Peter's life in Spider-Man: The Animated Series. John Semper Jr. said *"Stan Lee cornered me one day and he was adamant that Mary Jane had to be the only woman in Peter's life in the series. But I knew that I wanted to build up to that famous Mary Jane entrance and opening line, face it Tiger, you just hit the jackpot. And let's be real, if Peter wasn't torn between two or more women, then he just wasn't the Peter Parker that we had all known and come to love. And he certainly wasn't the Peter Parker that I'd grown up with in the comic. So, I ignored Stan's initial protests and developed the relationship that you ended up with in the series. And to Stan's credit, once he saw how everything was playing out his initial fears were put to rest, and he was a hundred percent behind everything I did. After all I was only emulating what he had done years earlier in the comics with great success."*
* John Semper felt that most of the women in the Spider-Man comics were two-dimensional and that there were not many strong women in Spider-Man lore until the 1980s. Because of this Semper gave Mary Jane, Aunt May, and Felicia Hardy more personality and made them stronger and independent.
* Had Spider-Man: The Animated Series been renewed for a sixth season, Spider-Man would have traveled to 19th century England and found Mary Jane who had amnesia.
* In Spider-Man Unlimited, Mary Jane was voiced by Jennifer Hale.

* In the X-Men: The Animated Series episode, Old Soldiers there is a character called Justine Cocteau who is the daughter of a Nazi scientist and double agent for the Allies named Andre Cocteau. The character model for Justine Cocteau was the same one used for Mary Jane in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, with a mole added on and her hair and eyes colored brown.

## References

1. ↑ Sara Ballantine - (Mary Jane) - Episode #62 at *YouTube*