Tom Holland and Zendaya might be the Peter Parker and Mary Jane duo breaking the internet at the moment, but this meme of their 2002 Spider-Man predecessors is taking over the web.
Anyone with a Twitter account will likely have stumbled upon the "Mary Jane Defending Peter Parker" meme, or had their timeline's filled with it. The meme utilizes a still from the iconic movie, featuring Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire, in which Mary Jane Watson shouts at an off-camera character.
In the scene, Watson ran into Parker in the street. While discussing her hopeful future as an actress, her boss at the restaurant she worked at shouted at her for making a money-based mistake. As captured in the meme, Watson then turned around and hastily responded.
"Your drawer was short six dollars. Next time that happens, I'm going to take it out from your check. Excuse me, miss Watson! I'm talking to you, hey!" shouted the boss.
"Yes, Enrique, okay, I get you," responded Watson.
As reported by Know Your Meme, the first use of the Mary Jane Defending Peter Parker meme can be tracked down to Twitter user @lillieswamp on August 21. Playing with the popular "Excuse Me, He Asked for No Pickles," joke, the still included the text: "He asked for no pickles."
Since 2020, the internet has had a running meme using different images with the text: "Excuse me, he asked for no pickles." Often, the pictures will include one person coyly standing behind another, just like a child, as they complain about the food for them.
The "Mary Jane Defending Peter Parker" meme has only blown up online since then and has found itself a welcoming fan base. Mainly, the memes depict one person defending another, either against a correction or harassment. Users will either leave the characters as they are, or edit them with new faces.
"Mary Jane memes have been taking me out," tweeted one user.
"Whoever is responsible for that Mary Jane defending meme, thank you!" wrote another Twitter user.
Some Spider-Man meme purists however feel differently, arguing that the meme doesn't really reflect the scene. In the movie, Mary Jane is simply shouting at her boss, rather than defending Peter Parker, as the meme suggests.
The surge in people using the meme comes as anticipation for the new Spider-Man movie reaches fever pitch. The trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home, the third solo outing of Tom Holland as the New York wall-crawler, smashed the record for the most watched trailer in 24 hours, ratcheting up an astonishing 355.5 million views across all online platforms on its first day.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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