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Black Cat has just realized how much Spider-Man’s greatest loss has impacted every other facet of his life as a superhero, as well as every other relationship he has had.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Mary Jane & Black Cat: Beyond #1, available now from Marvel.
Peter Parker’s recovery from near death at the hands of the U-Foes has not been easy. His convalescence has brought those who care most for him together, even as it left him uniquely vulnerable.
That vulnerability is vividly demonstrated in Mary Jane & Black Cat: Beyond #1 when the Hood arrives at his bedside to hold him hostage. The villain’s invasion forces Mary Jane and Felicia Hardy to team up to save Spidey’s life. With the formerly powerful bad guy desperate to regain his status and capability making demands, the duo have no choice but to play along until they can think of some way out of the situation.
For Mary Jane, the adventure, dire though it may seem, is also the rare opportunity to play the bad girl once more. While Black Cat is irritated, having grown resentful of being relegated to that stereotype, M.J. can’t help but laugh it off. After all, that was the role she played for years with a lot less payoff than saving the man she loves. And that was before she had to live in the shadow of a dead woman.
Before Mary Jane Watson stepped into Peter Parker’s life, there was Gwen Stacy. First introduced back in 1965’s Amazing Spider-Man #31 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Stacy was the first great love of the titular hero’s life. Compared to Gwen, M.J. was the bad girl in Peter’s life, defined more by dancing and flirtation than a realistic romance option. Even now, Mary Jane thinks of Gwen as perfect in virtually every way.
Despite being something of romantic rivals for Peter’s affections, Gwen and M.J. managed to maintain a close friendship of their own. When Gwen tragically lost her life during a battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, the only person whose life changed more than Mary Jane’s was the Wall-Crawler himself.
Losing Gwen in 1973’s Amazing Spider-Man #121 by Gerry Conway and Gil Kane left Peter Parker more distraught than he ever had been. Apart from nearly murdering the Green Goblin immediately after Gwen’s death, Peter found himself floundering in an inescapable depression. Even after finding some closure, Gwen’s death continued to haunt him for years, as most recently demonstrated during the Kindred saga. For better or worse, no aspect of Peter Parker’s life hasn’t been shaped in some way by Gwen’s death. Mary Jane struggled in similar ways, trying to fill the emptiness left in both her life and Peter’s in the wake of Stacy’s demise.
Felicia Hardy’s not wrong when she points out that many cast her as the bad girl for years, regardless of how she’s changed. She’s also not wrong to be frustrated by that unfortunate reality. However, for M.J., if being the bad girl meant she could have her best friend back in her life again, she would gladly take the stereotype over the hole in her life. She knows how it would help Peter; she knows how it would help her. The bad girl seems like a much better place to be when Mary Jane considers what she lost to leave that stereotype behind.
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