AboutWhat does the meme depict?

The 'Mary Jane Defending Peter Parker' meme features an image from the 2002 superhero film 'Spider-Man,' where the character Mary Jane Watson, played by Kirsten Dunst, is turning towards the camera with a significant expression, while Peter Parker, portrayed by Tobey Maguire, stands behind her, slightly out of focus. This reaction image is typically used online to humorously depict situations where Mary Jane is defending Peter or addressing someone else in defense of him.

OriginWho did it first?

The meme originates from a scene in the 'Spider-Man' film which was released in the United States on May 3, 2002. In this particular scene, Mary Jane Watson is being reprimanded by her boss at a restaurant, to which she responds in displeasure. The capture of her reaction has been leveraged for various humorous purposes on the internet. The first notable use of this image as a meme was by a Twitter (now X) user @lillieswamp on August 26, 2021, who crafted a joke about a restaurant order being incorrect, significantly amplifying the meme's popularity among social media users.^[1]

Origin: 2021

Also known as: mary-jane-defends-peter-parker-hey-he-said