Marvel’s Spider-Manhas always indulged in colorful antagonists who were more complicated than simply being maniacal ne’er-do-wells and it’s served it well so far.Phin Mason’s Tinkererhad a valid reason to initiate the Underground and go after Roxxon, for example, while Martin Li’s Mr. Negative also had a valid reason for initiating the Inner Demons and going after Norman Osborn.
Perhaps by design, theMarvel’s Spider-Manfranchise has either refused to choose whether its J. Jonah Jameson should be perceived in black and white or made the choice to depict him as morally grey so he can’t be pinned down. It’s odd, then, thatMarvel’s Spider-Man 2draws the line quite thin and makes a staunch answer necessary for a thirdMarvel’s Spider-Mangame with Insomniac unable to hide behind it any longer.
Marvel’s Spider-Man’s J. Jonah Jameson is at His Best When He’s a Good Guy Deep, Deep Down
Even without any supplementary farewells or well wishes,JJJ putting his signature on Peter Parker’s “Good Luck” card from Daily Bugle staffillustrates that he was at least willing to put in that effort and liked Peter enough to do so.
JJJ’s tone is constantly unpleasant and obnoxious. But, when Peter is on his way to meet him and sell his first Spider-Man photograph to the Bugle inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2’s side mission flashbackthey are speaking on the phone the whole time and JJJ imparts on him life lessons Peter then passes onto an aspiring photographer in the present day, which demonstrates that Peter has absorbed JJJ’s words of wisdom positively and probably learned a lot while working for him.
Besides not making it into the story in any significant or consequential manner,Marvel’s Spider-Mandoes adapt the comic book backstory where JJJ fundedMac Gargan’s transformation into Scorpionto have him deal with Spider-Man. This is brushed under a rug and Peter doesn’t appear to harbor any resentment toward him, instead electing to lean into how much JJJ loathes him by making harmless jokes at his expense and never taking him too seriously as a threat to his reputation when he knows Spider-Man is ubiquitously adored and cherished beyond the Bugle’s unsavory clickbait headlines.
It’s often true thatJJJ can be slightly grating when he’s ranting inMarvel’s Spider-Man’s open-world podcasts. However, there is legitimate humor peppered into these digressions, such as the running gag of him berating and beckoning his assistant Jared, and he’s obviously not meant to be taken seriously by players or characters in-universe.
If his words were having an actual effect on how the public perceives Spider-Man that’d be a different story. As it stands, the people of New York City love Spider-Man and that reception is proof that JJJ has no sway over what anyone thinks.
It would be great if Insomniac did more with his character now that he has a legitimate in-game character model, especially if it portrayed a part of him that could tug at heartstrings and dig a little deeper into why he may be so grating. That doesn’t seem plausible now, though, as the route Insomniac has gone in the sequel makes it difficult to side with JJJ without having to tip-toe on eggshells around Mary Jane Watson.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Mary Jane Watson Resenting J. Jonah Jameson Makes It Tough to Find Goodness in Him
Jonah has only recently been cast in a genuinely bad light with an effect on a protagonist concerningMary Jane Watson’s subplot inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2, at least in terms of how this arc is presented to players. JJJ wanting MJ to exclusively write puff pieces and not report on important stories isn’t journalistically ethical, but it doesn’t necessarily make him an antagonist and it isn’t a task he assigns to her as a means to hurt MJ.
It’s only inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2when JJJ returns to the Bugle and MJ’s suddenly given trivial work that she deems unethical and immoral, and yet she also chooses to stay employed there until after Peter helps rid her of thered-and-yellow Scream symbiote.
Here, she finally and abruptly decides she’s worth more by telling JJJ off in a manner that’s particularly crass given that she was never tied down to the job, and her leaving to start a podcast proves that. That turmoil is fully an internal battle she was having with herself and not one JJJ probably ever knew about, so it’s hardly on him that she went through any sort of self-doubt or an identity crisis when he’s allowed to run his paper as controversially as he wants and she could’ve left it ages ago.
Regardless, because she is a prominent protagonist, Insomniac seems to be asking players to take sides inMary Jane and JJJ’sMarvel’s Spider-Man 2conflictand attempts to paint JJJ horribly. Indeed, to make JJJ any more likable in a sequel would now clash with how players are meant to perceive him by the end ofMarvel’s Spider-Man 2and stab MJ in the back by betraying her spiteful feelings toward him.
A third installment probably won’t tackle this much further and may even brush past it. Still, it’ll be quite interesting to see how JJJ is painted henceforth and a redemption arc would be lovely to witness for the curmudgeonly editor-in-chief.
