Jean Is the Only One Who Truly Saw Peter’s Lost Life

One thing I keep thinking about after Brand New Day is that rightnow Jean may be the only person who has seen the life Peter lost through his own memories.

MJ knows that Peter claims they had a past together, but she does not remember living it. Ned does not remember their friendship. Peter could explain the facts to them, but he cannot make them feel those memories or understand what that life meant to him.

Jean is different.

When she enters Peter’s mind, she does not just learn that he was once close to MJ and Ned. She experiences the emotional reality of it. She sees the version of Peter who was happier, more open, and surrounded by people who loved him. She sees what May meant to him, how he had to watch her die, and how he chose to stay away from MJ even when he had an opportunity to return to her life.

Jean sees that present-day Peter is not simply a lonely guy in his twenties. She sees that he is someone who lost an entire life—his family, his best friend, his girlfriend, and his future—in one day.

That is why their “You have me” scene hits differently for me.

Peter gives Jean something she has not had: the feeling that she is not alone and does not have to become the monster everyone expects her to be. But Jean gives Peter something nobody else can give him: recognition. She knows that the quieter, sadder Peter is not who he always was. She has seen the person underneath the grief.

That does not mean Jean should replace May, MJ, or Ned. Nobody can replace them. But Jean could be the one person who understands why Peter keeps people at a distance and why moving forward is so difficult for him.

To me, that is why Peter and Jean’s bond has so much potential. Peter gives Jean hope for a future; Jean is one of the only people who has truly seen Peter’s past. Whether Marvel develops them as close friends or something more, I hope they do not ignore how uniquely they understand each other.

What do you guys think?