Spider-Man has been involved in some iconic relationships over his life but, when it comes to Peter Parker, two names sit at the top of the romance list — Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy. With that said, they are not the only women that Spider-Man has been in a relationship with. However, while Mary Jane and Gwen are the top of the list, there are other women that fans have not fallen for.
Neither Mary Jane nor Gwen was even Peter Parker's first romantic interest, although the previous attempts at romance never worked out for the high school wallflower. Over the years, Parker became a lot more confident and ended up in some interesting relationships, and here is a look at five Spider-Man relationships fans were for and five they were completely against.
10 CARLIE COOPER - NO
Carlie Cooper had one thing against her from the start. Peter and Mary Jane had made a deal with Mephisto to end their marriage so Aunt May could live. However, fans hated that and One More Day was divisive, to put it mildly.
Then, the first romantic relationship for Spider-Man after One More Day was Carlie Cooper, and fans immediately hated it. It also didn't help that Carlie was hardly original — a mishmash of every past girlfriend Peter Parker had. When Carlie dumped Peter and Mary Jane came back into his life, fans breathed a sigh of relief. Carlie was the worst.
9 GWEN STACY - YES
Gwen Stacy was not the first girl that Peter Parker wanted to date, but she was easily his first true love. She was also a hugely independent and strong character, one that stood much taller than just being a superhero's girlfriend. While Mary Jane ended up being his one true love, Gwen was the first.
Gwen was also someone fans loved. She cared about Peter Parker, made him a better person and helped him grow from a wallflower into the self-assured Wall-Crawler. Plus, her death was (at the time) one of the most devastating in Marvel Comics.
8 BETTY BRANT - NO
Betty Brant is a complicated situation. She was one of the first girls that Spider-Man tried to hit on in his awkward teenage years. She was the receptionist at the Daily Bugle, and things didn't quite work out between the two of them. However, years later, he proposed to Mary Jane and was shot down.
After that, he met back up with Betty Brant, and the two of them got together because she had just left Ned Leeds on their honeymoon. Then when Ned came back, Peter did everything wrong, and most fans just wanted this very uncomfortable relationship to end once and for all.
7 BLACK CAT - YES
The Black Cat isn't someone that anyone thought that Spider-Man would end up with permanently. However, the entire relationship was meant to be fun and playful, and in that regard, it was always great to read.
Once you get past Gwen Stacy (the tragic romance) and Mary Jane (the match made in Heaven), Felicia Hardy ranks third for fans when it comes to Spider-Man's most beloved relationships. It was also different from the other two, as she was in love with Spider-Man and not Peter Parker. Sadly, that was also their downfall because Black Cat could never love Peter Parker.
6 LIZ ALLEN - NO
Liz Allen has appeared in two significant places, and neither made a great impression on fans. The first time, she was Peter Parker's high school crush and the girl that he was infatuated with. However, she was also a snob who was part of the popular clique who bullied other kids, and no one ever believed she was right for him.
She also was the love interest in Spider-Man: Homecoming, but she carried her own baggage. She was a lot more relatable, and it was easier to see her with Peter than her comic book counterpart, but come on — her dad was The Vulture!
5 KITTY PRYDE - YES
Moving over to the Ultimate Marvel Universe and there was an improbable relationship for Spider-Man. Of course, Mary Jane existed there, but she and Peter were not always together. They broke up in the Ultimate Hobgoblin Saga, and Peter ended up with a new girlfriend.
Spider-Man dated X-Men member Kitty Pryde, who just broke up with Iceman. Kitty called Peter, they hooked up, and then they helped each other in their superhero adventures. Peter ended the relationship, but fans seemed to love it for the time they were together.
4 DEBRA WHITMAN - NO
Debra Whitman's relationship with Peter Parker was a bad decision by Marvel Comics and, thankfully, it didn't last. She had no idea that Peter was Spider-Man, and it ended up driving her crazy in the end.
The problem with the relationship is that Peter was always taking off without explanation to do his Spider-Man work. Debra was always trying to figure out why he was always leaving her. She had mental health issues as well and started to have hallucinations that Peter was Spider-Man. Debra then wrote a book and buried Peter just to make money, burying her in the eyes of most fans.
3 MJ (MCU) - YES
MJ in the Spider-Man MCU world was a hard sell at first. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, fans felt that calling her MJ at the end of the first movie was just lip service as she has nothing in common with the character of Mary Jane in the comic books. However, fans warmed up to MJ in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
There was something about the innocence of Peter Parker as he is trying to get the nerve to ask her out that was heartwarming. Her smarmy attitude was also a nice contrast to Peter and Ned, and it just felt right by the end when the two finally became a couple.
2 MICHELE GONZALES - NO
If there is one girl that Spider-Man had a relationship with that fans wanted nothing to do with, it was Michele Gonzales. It didn't help that the entire relationship was brought about due to deceit. Michele was the sister of Vincent Gonzales, Peter's roommate.
The two had a one-night-stand, and that would have been fine if it remained at that level. However, later, Chameleon took over Peter Parker's life and gets together with her again, which made her think there was more to their relationship than there really was. She was annoying and never a good match for Spider-Man.
1 MARY JANE - YES
There is only one woman that most fans want Spider-Man to be with, and that is Mary Jane Watson. She had been around since the start with Aunt May trying to hook Peter up with her and him avoiding every chance to meet her due to the misconception of a blind date being a bad idea.
However, the two ended up together and eventually got married. When One More Day ended their relationship, tons of fans rebelled against Spider-Man comic books because Mary Jane is who most fans want Spider-Man to end up with when all is said and done.