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J. Jonah Jameson may beSpider - Man’sbiggest disparager , but I ’d never really thought about why that is outside of editorial mandate and the Isle of Man just being a curmudgeon in general . To my absolute surprise and pleasure , however , not only has Marvel already answered this head , but it turns out they did so over forty geezerhood ago .
What If ? ( 1977)#46 , by Peter Gillis , Ron Frenz , Sam de la Rosa , and Bob Sharen , asks,“What if Uncle Ben had lived?“rewriting the integral Spider - Man dealership . It turn out thatBen Parker is much more supportiveof his nephew being Spider - Man , and when theDaily Buglemakes one libellous headline too many off of Spider - Man ’s name , Ben marches straight up to J. Jonah Jameson ’s office to confront him .
It turns out , however , that Jameson has a very dependable reason for all the electronegative press : he remembers Spider - Man from his ominous - fated day as a TV star and sees his heroic as nothing more than a fail celebrity clamouring for attention .
J. Jonah Jameson Sees Spider-Man As A Fame-Chasing Celebrity
And He Has Every Reason To Think So
For those who may have drop it , crimefighting was not the first matter Peter Parker turned to after being bitten by a radioactive spider . In his launching inAmazing Fantasy ( 1962)#15 , Peter add his Spider - Man image , costume and all , as a late - nighttime TV act . While Peter encounters the robber who will eventually mutilate his Uncle Ben after his very first show , " The Spiderman ! " has around two weeks to a calendar month of being a interior sensation before the burglar he let go runs into Uncle Ben , and Spider - Man ’s career flight is transfer forever .
Spider - Man has been a hoagy for most of his life , but now Pete may have at long last clear that J. Jonah Jameson was right - he ’s also a substantial threat .
The account that J. Jonah Jameson never block Spider - Man ’s short - lived flare-up of renown makes so much sensory faculty that I ’m frankly surprised we have n’t seen it show up in more Spider - Man traditional knowledge . Of course a savvy journalist would n’t just forget the gentle - and - red stripy acrobat who briefly took the world by tempest a few month ago ; of course Jonah would be able-bodied to link up Spider - Man ’s sudden fade from television with his equally - as - sudden media blitz as a superhero . To Jonah , it makes perfect sense that these are the actions of a desperate renown trying to cling to relevance in any means he can .
An Important Detail Of Spider-Man’s Origins Has Been Lost
The Films Gloss Over This Crucial Element of Understanding Jonah Jameson
But who remembers Spider - Man ’s root as a TV fame these sidereal day ? Sam Raimi ’s pic trilogy covered Spider - Man ’s test consort as a matman , sure , but made the wrestle mates into his abruptly - lived celebrity stint . The MCU has glossed over this factor of Spider - Man ’s origin wholly , or else forge the character into something of a mini Tony Stark . hearing are forget with the crabby , crusty Jonah , now eternalize through J.K. Simmons ' film - utter take on the role , but lose out on the astute and canny journalistic instincts that excuse why he ’s the pass of the Daily Bugle to begin with .
And that ’s a disgrace , because in my opinion , J. Jonah Jameson has the potential to be a delicious wild card amongst Spider - Man ’s allies . Ultimate Spider - Man ( 2024)does an first-class jobof record Jonah ’s journalistic chopsby pair off him with Ben Parker and suffer the two of them slowly untangle The Maker ’s screw thread of lie and misrepresentation . This version of Jonah is still scratchy , but you get more of a sense of the thinker behind the gruff exterior - bear witness Jonah as a tough diary keeper who puts up an abrasive front to shake off people off and get to the bottom of the story .
Sam Raimi ’s Spider - Man trilogy is an iconic part of the case ' wide mythos , and it just set about the perfect successor series in Marvel Comics .
This is all to say that Marvel really needs to throw J. Jonah Jameson a bone . Finding this primal panel buried in a forty - yr - honest-to-god comedian really felt to me like finding the hidden cay to Jonah ’s character , pass water him sense complete and contextualizing his actions in a way that contemporary strip really have n’t bothered to try . Jonah may for the most part survive these Clarence Day for comic substitute , but he has the potential to be so much more - if more people saw that he has a real reason for consideringSpider - Manto be such a menace .
