The groundbreaking reveal that Mary Jane Watson is Venom‘s latest host has shaken the Marvel Universe to its core by rewriting both characters’ status quo, but believe it or not, she’s bonded with the symbiote before. In Earth-18119’s continuity, MJ joins forces with Venom and receives one of the best costumes in Spider-Man lore as she gives the classic symbiote suit her own unique flair.
In The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #8 by Gerry Conway, Ryan Stegman, Jesus Aburtov, and Joe Caramagna, Mary Jane is able to fight alongside Spider-Man as fellow superhero Spinneret via a costume that lets her share his powers. However, the downside to this arrangement is that she can drain Peter’s strength if she exerts herself too much.
To avoid being a burden to Spider-Man, Mary Jane consults Liz Allan, who gives her a biologically enhanced symbiote suit that enables her to be self-sufficient. With Venom in tow, MJ sports one of the coolest spider-suits in Marvel history, setting herself apart from other hosts.
Mary Jane Watson’s First Team-Up With Venom Introduced Her Best Costume Yet
The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #8 Variant Cover by Clayton Crain
Mary Jane’s fashion expertise gives her an advantage when catering the Venom symbiote suit to her personal style. Within the Renew Your Vows continuity, she runs her own fashion business, which is evident in how quickly she redesigns this costume to her liking. The suit resembles most symbiote suits with its black color scheme and white accents, the latter of which are altered to fit MJ’s frame as opposed to Spider-Man’s. Meanwhile, the mask only covers the upper half of her face as opposed to all of it. Mary Jane’s flowing red hair completes the ensemble, adding a flashy pop of color.
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Marvel Comics’s reveal of Mary Jane Watson as the new Venom would have been a gamechanging move if not for Spider-Man’s most controversial storyline.
What makes this costume so impressive, beyond its visual appeal, is that it doesn’t prove to be too much for Mary Jane to handle. In Spider-Man’s case, he grappled with the symbiote’s control over him for a long time, whereas MJ gets a grip on the symbiote within a shorter period. Once Venom rears his head, Spider-Man helps Mary Jane conquer it, and she ends up wielding the symbiote like a seasoned host before long. MJ’s experience with tailoring the symbiote to her liking and asserting dominance over it suggests that she could do the same in Marvel’s main continuity.
Mary Jane’s Second Stint as Venom’s Host Could Spawn a Better Costume
Venom Has Undergone a Redesign, So MJ’s Turn May Be Next
In Earth-616, Mary Jane has become the official host for Venom, and the two seem to have developed a synergy with one another prior to the reveal of their allegiance. Venom is acting more heroically than ever, indicating that MJ has been a positive influence on him in their time together. With that being said, though we’ve seen that Venom has a new golden form to complement his latest host, MJ hasn’t worn a new symbiote suit yet. There’s a chance that Mary Jane could upgrade her Jackpot costume with a Venom-inspired variant, replacing her first symbiote suit with an even better one.
The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #8 is available now from Marvel Comics!
- First Appearance
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The Amazing Spider-Man
- Alias
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Eddie Brock
- RELATIONSHIPS
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Eddie Brock (primary host and ally), Peter Parker/Spider-Man (initial enemy, later uneasy ally), Anne Weying (former wife of Eddie Brock and occasional host), Cletus Kasady/Carnage (offspring of the Venom symbiote and a deadly enemy)
- Alliance
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Vigilante
