So, MJ will be Tony Stark's newest love interest when Marvel relaunches. Gotta say, I really hate this as it turns her into a huge hypocrite, she cut Peter off because she wanted to get away fro the trouble knowing a superhero brings, but she's willing to date Stark. What do you think?

Impossible to know until the series comes out. Technically its not even out, if she will be Tonys love interest. As Bendis puts it thats one of the things he wants people to read his book for. Which roughly translates to: "My experience has shown controversy is the easiest way of selling comics without trying to hard, therefore I'm playing with the fear of longterm fans. If that doesn't work I will burn the character down till nothing good remains, that always gets peoples attention. Hey, I'm sorry unlike other works I ruined I actually want to write Iron Man, but I can't risk that all the bullshit I'm pulling in those books leads to them selling better than my pet project here."

People assume MJ will be the love interest

Bendis says their relationship is different from that.

This. They never said she was going to be romantically involved with Tony.

I think it it is a strictly platonic relationship.

@theheaven_guardian10: it's hypocritical even then. She wasn't even dating Peter when she cut him out of her life, they were just friends, but she said that even being just friends caused too much trouble for her life.

She said she'd always care for Peter and what happens to him, and she helped him deal with amnesia in a little known limited series called "Who Am I" shortly after Superior ended. She's still his friend, it's just she doesn't want long-term communication (which even I think is OOC and impossible for her, but I'll trying to argue on her behalf because Bendis is now writing her)

The experience with Tony is going to give her a fresh outlook on superhero life. You're assuming MJ is going to stick to this philosophy indefinitely, when nothing in comics is indefinite. For all we know, this is the building blocks to a proper reconciliation between Peter and MJ in a different sort of way, with MJ realizing she can pretty much deal with this kind of lifestyle and that it's foolhardy and unhealthy of her to try to deny that part of the world. Many people attracted to others in dangerous occupations go through these periods where they realize that there is really no such thing as normality in those lifestyles.

Ultimate MJ has been through a similar set of ordeals three times with Peter, one instance of which was actually initiated by Peter himself, on each occasion she came through and overcame her own doubts, fears,and selfishness, and realized what she wanted was to be with Peter.

Who wrote Ultimate MJ? Bendis.

@feartheliving said:

Exactly

@william300: I can understand your anger, that who line and scene made me disgust as well. So very OOC for MJ, everyone been out of character of late. When it comes to Spiderman and his world.

It's the length of time everyone has been out-of-character that troubles me. Precisely the same problem I've had with post-Morrison X-Men books

When Mackie and Byrne were rebooting the books back in the 90s, where Felicia, MJ and Peter were really off-point, it only lasted...what, three years tops? And then everything afterwards fixed all of that

This has been going on nearly ten years. And for many younger readers, these ;present characterizations are all the ones they've ever known, until they get older, develop both a brain and critical faculties and seek out a back issue to learn how things truly were before the devil deal.

@zarius: It's one of the reasons I can't get excited for the MCU Spidey film, film Spidey is going back to Marvel at a time when Marvel hasn't done him right in years.

Are we seriously talking tough MJ has only just now become a hypocrite?

Seriously she broke up with Peter because him being Spider-Man was all of a sudden way too dangerous for those around him during Goblin Nation even though it was because she was with Peter that she was even able to survive that. Not to mention the many, many, MANY times before that and the even worse stuff they've been through such as Norman causing MJ to lose her baby during the Night of the Goblin & When she got kidnapped by Venom. I really hope she does get shifted into Iron Man because Peter deserves a much more interesting piece of cardboard to fall for.

@zarius: Yeah I totally see the things you have mentioned, I really hate how ASM and his cast have been portrayed in recent years. Specially the current portrayal, like you said for many younger readers, these ;present characterizations are all the ones they've ever known. Which is just sad and a shame, I hope and pray that these things well change.

This is the attitude Marvel are instructing you to have against her, suiting their anti-marriage agenda. Don't fall for the trap. The writers make MJ act the way she does, where as in the hands of others (and even recently Dan on RYV), she can be a strong and durable character. She's far from an uninteresting piece of cardboard, she's the glue that holds Peter together.

@zarius: True but at this point they've really oversaturated her with too many conflicting elements I know that's not the fault of the character but they've really failed her just like they did Gwen Stacy, Betty Brant and Felicia Hardy...actually you know what I don't mind Felicia because it's balanced out by her counterpart.

Felicia held well right up until she lost her knowledge of Peter's identity, which has been instructing her character and her fall from grace ever since sadly.

@zarius: The way she been handled specially recently, has been a Goddamn shame in my opinion.

@zarius: Well said man. I mean I'll be honest my favourite incarnation of Felicia was hilariously enough the 94 Cartoon Series and I did actually like her character during that 4 Issue Comic Arc she had but you're right since A Brand New Day they've really made a mess of her character which is a shame because she or at least Black Cats incarnation seems like the ideal Super-Hero relationship. I've got to admit I do love when Peter experiments with other super heroines to like in Ultimate Spider-Man with Kitty Pryde and another comic which I can't quite remember with a girl named Chat (and while having Emma Frost as a teenage rival for his affections).

Anyone wanting a quiet life should stay away from Tony Stark. It's not as if Tony has a secret id anymore so MJ has to know what she's getting into. This is Bendis and he is reported to like the character. If he like a character that character is pretty safe, but that won't stop him from dragging her into the mud. As to hypocrisy? In my opinion that's something that marvel writers are incapable of recognizing.

how about we actually wait until the series actually comes out before making such harsh and dumb judgements...ugh

@william300: You realize that Spider-Man bet his marriage with Mary Jane to the Devil to save his ant.

Only if she does become a love interest.

Not that Bendis actually cares, tho.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YKtNRoqFd78/U06rYlrsvlI/AAAAAAACr28/7fvXx1gUdx4/s1600/-033+copy.jpg

That is what she said the last time se saw her, then she goes enter in life and problems of another RICHIER hero... yes, she has been a few bitch recently.

@vitalius: Yes, it was an awful retcon that never should have happened.

I've read a theory from RDMaQ over on the Crawlspace that Marvel could be undoing the retcon...sort of. Newsarama worded the news of MJ moving over to Iron Man with the fact that she is "Peter's ex-wife", so it's possible OMD is undone following Secret Wars, but because Marvel have to maintain the continuity of the last eight years, the characters have had to divorce. Then again, Newsarama has always considered MJ the "ex-wife" whenever they bring these articles up from my experiance

@zarius: That would be even worse. Because here's the thing, when Peter and MJ sold their marriage, they did it was a wonderfully successful one and that they knew that they would eventually get back together. Them making it to where they divorced would mean that the marriage failed, it would be just as big as an insult, taking a marriage most fans really liked and retconing it into a failure just to make it clear to fans that there never getting Peter and MJ back together.

The only reason the Mephisto deal came about in the first place was because the acting EIC did not think Peter and MJ would get divorced for the same reasons you cite, just the same as he thought crossing over the Ultimate and 616 Universes was a creatively bankrupt idea.

Quesada hasn't been the EIC for a long time now. And the crossing over of universes has since happened under Alonzo. I wouldn't rule this out any longer.

There is still the chance they will get back together (the future shown to Peter by the One-Above-All sees them raising a family), and there are real life examples of divorced couples remarrying one another (Eddie and Vickie Guerrero being one). Teaching kids not to give up is one thing, telling them everyone deserves a second chance at their old relationship could be just as inspirational.

You also have to go back to one of the older stories from the 90s set in the future where a group of historians are discussing MJ and Peter's lives together. They cite that one of her fates was she and Peter ultimately divorced, while another historian claimed that they still managed to live happily ever after...indicating that they probably did get back together.

No, Bendis is. He doesn't care about comics and he'll plainly ignore any story written by a writer he doesn't like, like slott. He can't into canon. At all. He just cares about making money, hes got more bad runs than good, and he should be taken off of spidey. You're talking about a man so petty he admits to spelling characters names wrong just to piss of fans. He'd sell his soul to sell one issue.

Yes let's not bash MJ because Bendis and marvel are jerks that think controversial changes and insults to the characters and fan base will make them money.

@william300: Just showing that both had moments where both hypocrites

@vitalius: him selling their marriage wasnt hypocritical, him and MJ agreed to do it to save Aunt May, they were willing to do it because they believed they would get back together no matter what.

@zarius: Yea that's why I've nearly lost all my faith in Marvel Comics, the X-MEN are going to be the only mainstream comic I'll be reading next year.

I gave up on X-Men a while ago, but I came back a bit for Bendis because I liked his ideas for the O5 in the present, but that was mainly because I hoped it'd undo Jean Grey's death in the present. Foolish of me to think Marvel would ever compromise their preciously fragile continuity as it currently stands. They'll go through all sorts of nonsense to keep everything continuous.

The only way she be a hypocrite if turns romantic with Stark, which I hope, and pray won't.

Sounds like MJ is about to join the illustrious ranks of Mavel's perceived hypocrites also containing the likes of Hank McCoy and Wolverine :)

Anyways, I think we should wait and see what MJ is actually doing in the vicinity of Tony Stark and what the world actually looks like when Secret Wars is over. Like it could be that we are back to the heydays where no one was sure if Iron Man was actually Stark or some unknown bodyguard.

But that said, it does look like MJ is being brought in to effectively replace Pepper, whos seems to have spent the last year or so getting in Tony's way (for good reasons).

I'm going to join the opposite side here: I hope Tony rails her bow-legged. Its about time she dated a real man instead of Puny Parker and his endless whining....

:)

MJ's whole appeal is that she loved Peter for everything he wasn't as well as everything he could aspire to be. When writers are true to her character, she resists moments of temptation like that from high society jerks. Something the writers forgot when all of reality was altered and chaos magic started influencing the characters.

And it doesn't really matter. MJ's still married to Peter in the newspapers, so the comparisons will always be there between one Peter who "has it all" but is probably emotionally unfulfilled, and a Peter who is financially and ambitiously unfulfilled but truly does "have it all" as he's a richer person to be married to his best friend and champion.

Nice.

@zarius: Nice Post man.

She's not doing anything wrong, I don't get what the big fuss is about. Her and Peter's marriage was sacrificed to Mephisto nearly a decade ago-- what's the point in having her supporting Spider-Man's cast?

If you knew jack about Spider-Man and consistent characterization, you'd realize she is doing something wrong. She's presently out-of-character, she's been through much worse with Peter over the years and held herself together. She's been willing to have children with Peter despite the risks (she's mother to his children in other canons, one of whom IS a super hero), now this version of her suddenly decides she's had enough, only to then involve her with Stark's buisness? What on Earth is keeping her from being with Peter? The simple fact is she has'nt been herself for a long time, as has virtually every other character in these books which includes Peter per the results of the devil deal. The state of reality is altered to the point you will never really be able to tell if she's acting like this or if it's chaos magic influencing her. Keep in mind before reality was altered, MJ assured Peter nothing would get in the way of them being together again, showing how commited she was and how much faith she had in their love. The real MJ would never leave Peter in the lurch the way Mephistoverse MJ has.

She's Peter's best friend, established soul mate, confidant, I could go on, but just because her marriage ended to him doesn't she can't still be important to him or his world. Not to mention there will eventually be writers who will want to do something with her and Peter down the line under the right circumstances. The only reason she is'nt being used is because Slott sees nothing interesting about using her with the marriage under lock and key. That changed this summer when he had the rare oppertunity to do something with MJ in a relationship with Peter.

And, again, Peter is still married to MJ in the daily strips, the marriage has never went anywhere in all this time, and Marvel have routinely published stories since OMD about it on an off-and-on basis up to and including this very year. If Marvel wanted us to get over OMD and forget the marriage, they wouldn't still be reminding us of it now would they? They WANT us to keep it in mind so they can make more money off of it at times convenient to them.

She is doing something wrong. She's presently out-of-character, she's been through much worse with Peter over the years and held herself together...now she's suddenly deciding to have enough, only to then involve her with Stark's buisness? What on Earth is keeping her from being with Peter? The simple fact is she has'nt been herself for a long time, as has virtually every other character in these books which includes Peter himself per the results of the devil deal. The state of reality is altered to the point you will never really be able to tell if she's acting like this or if it's chaos magic influencing her. Keep in mind before reality was altered, MJ assured Peter nothing would get in the way of them being together again, showing how commited she was and how much faith she had in their love. The real MJ would never leave Peter in the lurch the way Mephistoverse MJ has.

She's Peter's best friend, established soul mate, confidant, I could go on, but just because her marriage ended to him doesn't she can't still be important to him or his world. Not to mention there will eventually be writers who will want to do something with her and Peter down the line under the right circumstances. The only reason she is'nt being used is because Slott sees nothing interesting about using her with the marriage under lock and key. That changed this summer when he had the rare oppertunity to do something with MJ in a relationship with Peter.

And, again, Peter is still married to MJ in the daily strips, the marriage has never went anywhere in all this time, and Marvel have routinely published stories since OMD about it on an off-and-on basis up to and including this very year. If Marvel wanted us to get over OMD and forget the marriage, they wouldn't still be reminding us of it now would they? They WANT us to keep it in mind so they can make more money off of it at times convenient to them.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ THIS.

Because I personally don't believe Mary Jane is doing anything wrong means I don't know anything about Spider-Man or consistent characterization? Yeah, okay. I don't know if you think I'm saying I want her to be in a serious relationship with Tony or something, but allow me to elaborate a little bit;

The reason I don't think she's doing anything wrong, and don't think she needs to be in Spider-Man's supporting cast at the moment is because of what Bendis himself said: "I found out that nobody had anything going on with Mary Jane,”-- that statement alone lets you know that nobody on the Spider-Man creative team had any plans for her, so if Bendis didn't decide to pick up the character (who has been wrongfully used over the past few years) then that means we'd just get no Mary Jane.

Yes; We got Renew Your Vows, but where does Slott go from there? Back to Parker Industries with Spider-Man swinging around the world. Dan Slott has a way of mistreating characters like Mary Jane, Black Cat, and even his own characters like Carlie Cooper, and Alpha. Hell, he even mistreats Peter Parker for the love of God. So as long as Slott is writing Spider-Man, I can care less what's going on in the title.

I'm not saying her and Peter don't belong together, and I'm not saying they have to be married to be involved with each other. I know their history, and I know she loves Peter for all he is, and vice versa, but that doesn't mean she can't go out and help other heroes. Bendis has done a phenomenal job writing Ultimate Spider-Man, and during his run Mary Jane had went through breaking up with Peter, watching him date Kitty Pryde, watching him date Gwen, holding him as he died, helping him when he was revived, and still ending up with him in the long run. With that being said, I have faith in Bendis' writing, so I think it's a great thing she is going over into the Iron Man title. We don't even know what kind of role she's going to play so just give it some time and see how it plays out.