Amazing Spider-Man to Give Marvel's Mary Jane Watson a Familiar Superhero Mantle
Mary Jane Watson is about to take on a new role in the Marvel universe. On Thursday, Marvel.com exclusively revealed that Mary Jane will be properly assuming the mantle of Jackpot, beginning in August's Amazing Spider-Man #31. Mary Jane's "Jackpot" powers first manifested in the recent Mary Jane & Black Cat miniseries, but this new chapter will give her the official superhero name and a new costume, designed by Humberto Ramos. The oversized Amazing Spider-Man #31 will feature a backup story from writer Celeste Bronfman and artist Alba Glez that will chronicle Mary Jane's new tenure as Jackpot. The story will then spin out into future issues of Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr.'s Amazing Spider-Man ongoing series, as well as a limited series, which will have its title and creative team announced at a later date.
According to Marvel's announcement, Bronfman and Glez's touching story will see MJ come to terms with the heartbreaking tragedy that occurred to her family in recent issues before taking to the streets to help others in need.
Who Is Marvel's Jackpot?
Since 2007, Marvel Comics have produced two incarnations of Jackpot — first, a scientist named Sara Ehret, and later a young woman named Alana Jobson who literally bought the Jackpot secret identity when the former retired. Alana operated as Jackpot across several Marvel events before dying due to the side effects of blindness serum. Upon learning of Alana's death, Sara decided to return to the mantle and get revenge, and eventually changed her name to Alana after she needed to go into hiding.
The initial gimmick of Jackpot's debut was that her identity was a mystery, but that Sara's personality was incredibly similar to Mary Jane's, and her superhero name borrowed from the iconic "Face it Tiger, you just hit the jackpot" line. The two eventually met in 2008's The Amazing Spider-Man #561, with Sara expressing that she's a huge fan of Mary Jane's acting. Despite these ties, Mary Jane has never previously donned the Jackpot mantle, with other alternate incarnations of her using the name Spinneret.
Will There Be a Jackpot Movie?
A solo movie for Jackpot has been in development at Sony since 2018, with Arrow's Marc Guggenheim being announced as the screenwriter in 2020. It is unclear at this point if the live-action adaptation will revolve around Sara or Alana. The Jackpot film, which is expected to be part of Sony's Spider-Man Universe, does not currently have a release date.
"I'd like to see Miles [Morales], I'd like to see Silk. I think you could do a really cool Jackpot movie," current Spider-Man star Tom Holland said in a late 2021 interview.
What do you think of Mary Jane Watson becoming Marvel's new Jackpot? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
Amazing Spider-Man #31 will be released wherever comics are sold on Wednesday, August 9th.
