#seek--rest

anyways personally i like took this URL of mine and made it into a sideblog to support zendaya mj. as it persists today, there was a lot of racist reactions to her being mj and that was upsetting to me. but i watched her on disney channel as a kid and was really excited about her casting. and i love petermj so i was just so excited to make edits and find other people who thought she'd be mj too. and that's kind of how i remember this version of petermjs coming to be.

after the tasm-induced wave of misogyny that mj as a character was facing in the spidey fandom i was so enthralled at even the chance that we'd return to petermj on the big screen. so it was fun to theorize. though at the same time not fun because i just wanted to theorize that she was mj and then there were so many people saying she couldn't be because she didn't have red hair, her personality isn't right, [insert thinly veiled racist excuse here], etc. so it was fun and depressing at the same time. i obviously found people who thought like-minded but eventually everyone moves on in their own directions. i still wish it was a more popular desire to see her get the name, the look, the backstory, etc. i think that's mostly what i find most bittersweet about it. there's such a rich history that could be adapted on screen and so many people just wrote it off and continue to do so. and i understand some of the reasoning but as someone who is a fan of both comic & movie mj i just can't accept that.

there were lots of ups & downs throughout filming & even when the movie actually released. iirc michelle came from the call sheet. jones was pure fanon after needing a generic j name to completely misuse how the initials MJ work and also some people tried linking her to gabe jones from captain america. messy times. there was the obviously the big leak that she was mary jane and tbh idr which came first but i always believed that michelle was just a code name for filming. it's a very common practice for movies/shows and after all mj was hidden & revealed in the comics. zendaya & the rest of the cast could laugh in my face all they wanted but i really just had a devout belief that she was mj. i really didn't care what marvel said. and in july 2017 i was proven right anyways. at the end she says "my friends call me mj." i remember messaging people on twitter who had seen the premiere and asking them who she was playing/credited as before i even saw it. i also have a comic petermj shirt that was sold then with the spider-man homecoming logo printed on it where the branding/tag/size is so to me that was a hint that she was mj. (i still wear it to every new movie too haha) also during press for hoco tom got asked so many times who his favorite love interest for peter was and he always said mj. you'd think he'd be picking liz as she was the female lead in hoco or even gwen given how popular she was coming off emma stone's version but nope. without hesitation he was saying mj.

ofc kevin feige & co had some bullshit comments afterwards about how she wasn't mj but he wanted you to think of mj when they have her say the my friends call me mj line. like give me a break you don't have someone named mj in spider-man and have it not be mj watson. it's kind of a whole other talking point, but the ways in which marvel thought they were being "different" than what came before were not very good lol.

to me that was the lowest point. the outlook kind of being well i won but at the same time i lost. lots of people just completely referred to her as michelle then (with jones for the j even though that was never even used in hoco or ffh) & acted like she was a completely different character. even though as I've said before, i think she's actually quite similar to comic mj but i digress. and i do believe that if more people had been willing to call her mary jane back then things could've been different since they obviously have no qualms taking fan theories & putting them in the movies but unfortunately the fandom just didn't move that way.

after that i really just clung to my own belief & observation about how they were not very serious or committed to her character name. she's only ever credited as mj in the ending credits & in merch mj is the only name advertised/printed. when ffh came out they only ever refer to her as mj in the dialogue. the fact that they never gave her a last name when in ffh you see her passport is even further proof they had no idea what they wanted to do. and a passport should've shown her full name (like everyone else's) not just michelle. like i said very unserious. on that very same passport the numbers at the bottom reference issue 42, comic mj's debut, so once again i'd like to ask the audience who exactly do you think she's meant to be? the answer is mary jane watson. ffh was also when i think zendaya really started committing to the fact that she was mj. she rocked her red hair, posted to her instagram with the caption "Face it Tiger...", etc. in ffh we also got the very tried & true mj storyline of her figuring out/knowing peter is spider-man. their first kiss had a license plate with 143, comic petermj's first kiss issue. the writing is on the wall. she is mj.

anyway it was fun to live thru it all but at the same time i feel quite lonely about it now. it must be more fun for someone who doesn't care as much about mj as i do!! i try my best to mind my business & keep to myself as i know my views on mj are definitely not the popular thought in the fandom. so in that sense it's hard to enjoy it fully at times since i want to enjoy it with other people. i know many people have just moved passed all of marvel's cowardly decisions but i think they'll always bother me to a certain extent. i will definitely never be as bothered as i was after hoco though. in my heart of hearts she's mary jane and i won't let anyone take that from me. if everyone can run off with a fanon name then i'll do the same with mary jane watson, her real name.

started loving them after i saw the raimi movies as a child. i would say i got into comic them more during the tasm movie era. which is ironic since mj hate was probably at its peak then… though i suppose the lasting impact of that is still around today lol

dream adaptation is any adult petermj! i'm easy to please! this was something i loved about the playstation games!! i'm tired of them being super young/in high school. i guess the ultimate dream would be a tv show that has more 616 essence than any other adaptation because i love the second love trope. it's kind of sad all the movies have basically had them be first loves (personally think in the mcu liz is more of a crush & they're underdeveloped so in my mind it doesn't count). with a tv show you could really show everyone's development. and ooh if we got the CLICK moment after gwen died (or maybe just left idk it's 2025, i don't think she needs to die lol) i'd really love that. another specific comic i would love to see is kraven's last hunt. what's more romantic than peter literally pulling himself out of the grave for her!! iconic if you ask me!!

tbh when it comes to them i am not a multi-shipper. i don't mind reading/watching stories where they're with someone else but i have no attachments or big interest in their other relationships. in my head, i do love me a good wlw mj ship though haha

most consistently, i am currently reading the new USM. it has what i consider to be a rare pair in comics and that is great writing & great art. i really like the the take on peter not becoming spider-man until he's an adult. in an era where marvel does everything to keep him young, this was a nice new take! i've seen a lot of criticism for how mj isn't utilized enough, and i agree to a certain extent, but i have enjoyed what we have gotten of her. i loveeee adult petermj <3 i am also reading the continuation of the 90s animated show. i actually just started watching that and am on s2. i know vaguely what happens so it's kind of fun to be in it & read the continuation at the same time. just passed s2e3 and it was such a good mj focus episode!! very fun! i am also thinking about rereading parts of 616 & the og USM. USM was the first spider-man comic i bought & ever finished all the way through so i have a huge soft spot for them. i think it's funny how much influence it has on most petermj adaptations. i also love rereading shorter comics like parallel lives, spider-man blue, and spider-man loves mary jane!