BW’s Daily Video> Marvel’s Problem With Mary Jane Watson

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1. Ben Kellogg says:

   September 29, 2025 at 1:54 pm

   To answer why anyone would put a “death” setting onto a slot machine-esque power suit (I love that Drake mentioned “Dial H”), well, what could be more appropriate for a gambling metaphor than built-in “life or death” conditions? If I were a deranged comicbook scientist, that’s exactly what I’d do!

   Regarding the actual video, it’s fascinating to me that Marvel’s creatives have kept MJ around for all these years and tried to find a reliable niche for her, and that fans still care about her despite all the damage to her character. Personally, I found the “toxic” relationship between MJ and Venom a worthwhile development, at least in terms of drama, and hoped it would last a heck of a lot longer than just six months. I like Venom best when there’s a bit of tension between the symbiote and his current host, and considering MJ was one of the first people ever to have a negative reaction to him, I was hoping that would be more than enough to carry the book into a more diversified fanbase. Not to mention with all the expansion the symbiote side of Marvel has had in recent years, this could’ve been the best chance yet to move MJ into realms far beyond her typical Spidey side piece role (her “Iron Man” tenure barely even a blip). I don’t care that the majority of readers had problems with this setup; given enough time and emotional distance, I bet it could’ve been a phenomenal read.

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