December 3, 2024 at 3:17 p.m. in Cinema
Going through the MCU mill doesn't work for all Marvel characters. J. Jonah Jameson, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle played by JK Simmons in Sam Raimi's trilogy, arrived in the shared universe of the House of Ideas with No Way Home. But this return does not pay homage to him, as proven by a line he said 22 years ago, and which made him lean more towards the side of good guys…
J. Jonah Jameson, a definitely bad character in the MCU
Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in the 60s, the editor of the Daily Bugle is Peter Parker's employer, aka Spider-Man's official photographer, strangely always well placed to capture the prowess of the mysterious superhero… J Jonah Jameson has a grudge against vigilantes which circulate in “his” city, New York, and in particular against the spider-man. Using his diary, he makes this adversary of criminals appear to be a criminal himselfdenigrating him in the eyes of the inhabitants whom he nevertheless comes to the aid of. We cannot therefore say that he is really a saint, and it is even worse in No Way Home. He reveals Spider-Man's true identity during his television showPeter Parker, and makes him a criminal facing Mysterio, whom he sets up as a savior!
A dark aspect that does not fit with Sam Raimi's trilogy
J. Jonah Jameson has certainly never been one of the good guys in the Spider-Man universe, but one small sentence spoken in the first part of Sam Raimi's trilogy, in 2002 (spotted by Screen Rant), proves that he doesn't have such a bad background as we think. We see in fact the editor-in-chief of Daily Bugle protect Peter Parker from the Green Goblin. When Norman Osborn shows up in his office and threatens him to find out who the Spider-Man's official photographer is, he lies saying he doesn't know who it is and that “photos are sent by post“. We can assume that he has some doubts about the true identity of the superhero, yet he puts himself in danger to protect him from his enemy, putting his own life in danger… An aspect of Jameson's personality that has something heroic thing, and that the MCU completely denies it by making him commit a terrible attack on the public and personal lives of Peter Parker.
And you, which version of the character do you prefer?
