[[{“value”:”
In Spider-Man
’s corner of the Marvel Universe, Mary Jane Watson
has had Peter Parker’s back through his many ups and downs in the comic space while consistently dealing with the consequences of his heroic alter ego in both her personal and eventual superhero life. Inspired by the real-life actress Ann-Margret Olsson, Mary Jane shares more than this Hollywood starlet’s good looks and sense of style, with her character owing practically everything to Ann-Margret simply existing.
Technically making her debut in a face-obscuring cameo in The Amazing Spider-Man #25, it wasn’t until 1966’s The Amazing Spider-Man #42, by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr., that Mary Jane made her presence known after she memorably introduced herself to Peter with the iconic line, “Face it, Tiger… you just hit the jackpot.”
Designed and drawn by John Romita Sr., the father of recent Amazing Spider-Man artist John Romita Jr., MJ quickly became an integral part of Spider-Man’s story, with her overall look, demeanor, and fashion sensibilities lifted directly from Ann-Margret’s role in the film Bye Bye Birdie.
Mary Jane Watson Was Directly Inspired by the Music Artist/Actress Ann-Margret Olsson
Mary Jane Watson Debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #42
Rising to stardom in the 1960s, Ann-Margret worked alongside top-tier talent throughout her prolific music and acting career, with her collaborations with Elvis Presley in 1964’s Viva Las Vegas and Dick Van Dyke in 1963’s Bye Bye Birdie — the very film that inspired Mary Jane’s eventual comic book portrayal — making her a household name. Seen in these Reddit posts looking like the spitting image of MJ right down to her stylish fashion sense, Ann-Margret exuded confidence and liveliness at every turn and often depicted characters who were glamorous, fun-loving, and slightly mischievous — a perfect description of Mary Jane.
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Directly admitting that he used Ann-Margret’s look from Bye Bye Birdie as a guide, John Romita Sr. took Ann-Margret’s “coloring, the shape of her face, her red hair and her form-fitting short skirts” to turn MJ into a dynamic, edgy, and unapologetically real person, reflecting the qualities Ann-Margret embodied in her most popular roles and personal life, while also successfully distancing Mary Jane from Peter’s other love interest, Gwen Stacy. Furthermore, MJ was given a career as an actress/model in comics just like her inspiration, solidifying her parallels to Ann-Margret in a way that perfectly dovetailed with MJ’s character.
Since her inception as a character almost 60 years ago, Mary Jane has evolved well past her initial Ann-Margret characterization and has become an even more confident, determined, and independent woman, with MJ’s debut as the randomly-powered superhero Jackpot, further coloring her as a jack-of-all-trades and proving that without her, Peter Parker’s Spider-Man wouldn’t be the same man he is today. Mary Jane Watson owes much to the late Ann-Margret in more ways than can be expressed here, with the actress having one of the most important and influential roles in Spider-Man’s ever-expanding lore that’s still felt to this day.
“}]] Mary Jane Watson was based on a popular Hollywood actress. Read More