Stephanie Tyler Jones, the facial model for Mary Jane Watson in Insomniac’s Spider-Man games, has issued a new statement regarding her role in the series’ future following complaints of harassment.
Earlier this week, on Jan. 8, Jones said certain followers had “crossed boundaries” that made her feel unsafe, adding how she’s no longer pursuing acting or modelling roles and is currently working in skincare. As such, her skincare page is “not for Spider-Man or MJ fans.”
Some fans likely interpreted this as Jones saying she would no longer have any involvement with Insomniac’s Spider-Man franchise, because in a follow-up post to her Instagram page (one that has been shared to Reddit), she adds that she will continue to portray MJ “as long as the game creators will have me.”
Jones explains further how her career change wasn’t recent; it happened years ago, with MJ being the only role she was “open to being a part of” after the fact. She also clarifies how the harassment she received didn’t come in the form of death threats, which makes it sound like the people responsible were overly enthusiastic fans who think unsolicited calls and messages are totally okay if you like someone’s work.
So, if you were worried Jones wouldn’t return for the inevitable Spider-Man 3, don’t fret—unless Insomniac decides to replace her, or doesn’t include MJ in the sequel at all, though I can’t think of a single reason why it would do either of those things. Speaking of Spider-Man 3, don’t expect that for many more years, since Insomniac is currently focusing on its Wolverine game.
A lot of confidential info about Wolverine leaked online after it was stolen in a cyberattack, including a playable build. This incident has obviously been distressing for the team (especially since employee info was stolen, too), but Insomniac assures fans production on the game will continue and evolve, though the leak hasn’t pushed the studio into sharing any formal details about Wolverine.
In the meantime, the next best thing for Insomniac and Marvel fans to look forward to is Spider-Man 2‘s New Game Plus mode, which will be added as a free update. It currently lacks a hard release date, though, with Insomniac only saying it’ll be out in early 2024.
