10 Things Only Spider-Man Comic Fans Know About His Rivalry With J. Jonah Jameson

Spider-Man has had many villains to contend with through the years, but few were as much of an annoyance as J. Jonah Jameson. The publisher of the Daily Bugle wasn’t even a true villain, but he hated Spider-Man so much that he used all his power as a journalist to make the Wall-Crawler’s life as hard as possible.

J. Jonah Jameson had a very complicated relationship with Spidey from the start, with the two antagonizing each other every chance they got. This was shown in both Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies as well as the MCU with Jameson now portrayed as an internet blogsite reporter. However, with all that antagonism, there is so much more to Spider-Man and Jameson’s relationship in the comics.

Jameson Was Against Costumed Vigilantes And Not Just Spider-Man

J. Jonah Jameson was not originally just trying to target Spider-Man. For years, Jameson used his platform with the Daily Bugle to fight for social rights and justice. However, he felt that people with superhuman powers posed a threat to the same people he wanted to protect.

When he saw Spider-Man use his powers to stop a criminal, Jameson felt that it was too dangerous. However, Spider-Man was a teenager and took it personally, lashing out at JJJ. As a result, Spider-Man became public enemy number one and that lasted for many years.

Spider-Man Saved J. Jonah Jameson’s Son’s Life

Spider-Man actually believed that if he could help J. Jonah Jameson and prove he was a genuine hero that it would stop his crusade against him. It didn’t work. Jameson’s son John was an astronaut and was on his way back to Earth after a mission.

His space capsule lost control and began to race toward Earth. Spider-Man was able to get to the capsule and saved John’s life. However, instead of calling him a hero and thanking him, Jameson wrote a story that accused Spider-Man of causing the malfunction to make him look like a hero.

J. Jonah Jameson Helped Create The Scorpion

Things went beyond J. Jonah Jameson trying to ruin Spider-Man’s reputation when he actually helped create a supervillain. JJJ actually paid a private investigator named Mac Gargan $10,000 to undergo an experiment to gain superpowers. It worked, but it also cost Mac his sanity.

Mac became the Scorpion and one of Spider-Man’s first villains in the comics. He failed, but over the years, Mac has killed countless people, including a time spent as Venom at one point, and Jameson’s rivalry with Spider-Man is to blame.

Jameson Also Controlled A Super-Villain

Not only did J. Jonah Jameson help create a supervillain in the Scorpion, but he also helped finance the creation of Spencer Smythe’s weird Spider-Slayer creations. Jameson originally controlled the Spider-Slayer, but he only wanted to unmask Spider-Man.

Sadly, over time, the Spider-Slayers were used as a method to try to kill Spider-Man, which went against everything he believed in. Once again, JJJ created something that became bigger than his rivalry with Spider-Man.

J. Jonah Jameson Is Jealous Of Spider-Man

There was one moment where J. Jonah Jameson admitted why he hated Spider-Man and why he wanted to bring him down. Jameson admitted that he always wanted to help people, and he did so with his newspaper for so many years.

However, Spider-Man was able to be the hero who Jameson never could be and he did it so effortlessly. By showing what a true hero looked like, Jameson felt that it made him look even weaker and more helpless. This is when he pushed that thought aside and determined that he would drag Spider-Man down into the dirt with everyone else.

J. Jonah Jameson Paid For Peter Parker’s Wedding

Through his entire vendetta against Spider-Man, J. Jonah Jameson developed a strong relationship with Peter Parker. While Peter was initially just a kid that worked for him, JJJ started to look out for him, even if he didn’t put on a public face about it.

This even led to when Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson got married. JJJ paid for the wedding, and he made sure everyone knew he did, but he did this from the kindness of his heart. He also did this years before he learned the truth.

Jameson Sued Spider-Man

In Civil War, Iron Man convinced Spider-Man to do the unthinkable. He got him to unmask and reveal to the world that Peter Parker was Spider-Man. This caused a lot of problems, including Kingpin setting up a hit that almost killed Aunt May.

However, there was one other problem. J. Jonah Jameson realized that he was paying Spider-Man for photos of himself for years by employing Peter Parker. As a result, Jameson sued Parker for fraud. JJJ forgot Spider-Man’s identity again thanks to One More Day.

Spider-Man Helped Jameson Become A Successful Podcaster

When J. Jonah Jameson lost his position at the Daily Bugle after his wife sold the company out from under him, he found another way to make a living. Jameson used his name and notoriety to start his own podcast, something similar to his role as a minor villain in the Spider-Man movies.

Jameson then forced Spider-Man to appear on it by making a deal with the Wall-Crawler. While Spider-Man wanted nothing to do with it, he relented and the two had a massive argument on the podcast, which drew astronomical numbers and made the podcast a smash hit.

Spider-Man Finally Unmasked To J. Jonah Jameson

Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson had a huge blow-up due to the podcast and Jameson demanded that Spider-Man have dinner with him so he could finally get everything off his chest. The two cut loose on why they hated each other and then things got rough.

JJJ broke down. He talked about his wife dying and losing his newspaper. He said he had nothing left in his life but his hate for Spider-Man. That was all that remained to define him. At that point, Spider-Man unmasked and revealed his identity and let JJJ know that he was always there for him and the two finally reconciled.

J. Jonah Jameson Became Spider-Man’s Man In The Chair

After Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson reconciled, the former newsman decided it would be his job to erase his former accusations and instead focus his life on making Spider-Man look like a hero to the public. He started a new internet news show and then hired Spider-Man to wear a camera on his adventures.

This is when Jameson began to talk to Spider-Man on his adventures, and he turned the Wall-Crawler into a huge internet sensation, directing his one-liners and sending him into missions for the public to see. This ended eventually when Spider-Man decided he was selling out and left Jameson angry once again at his old nemesis.

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