Spider-Man has always hoped that his villains could be redeemed, and he's tried to help a few of them reach redemption over the years. He's forgiven Venom and even ed Norman Osborn as a hero. But there's one antagonist to Spider-Man that Peter Parker knows, of all his villains, could become so much more: J. Jonah Jameson.

A lot of comic book villains are criminals simply because of circumstances. Curt Conners - on of Spider-Man's oldest villains, for example - isn't some supervillain out for world domination; he was trying to create something that would benefit the lives of millions of people, but instead, he ended up transforming himself into a monster.

While a lot of villains find themselves in similar circumstances, it can often be impossible for them to find a way out of their situation. But that's not the case for J. Jonah Jameson, who is the one antagonistic force in Peter's life whom Peter truly believes could find redemption.

J. Jonah Jameson Is a Major Spider-Man Antagonist - But He Has Heart

J. Jonah Jameson First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #1 by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Stan Goldberg, and Jon D'Agostino

While plenty of villains have hurt Spider-Man over the years, none has been nearly as consistent as J. Jonah Jameson. Because of the lies and stories that Jonah pushes through the Daily Bugle about Spider-Man, Spider-Man's reputation is almost constantly in the trash. The average citizen is either terrified of Spider-Man or outright hostile towards him, and in some interpretations, even Aunt May believes the papers about him. Jonah's libel has worked to isolate Spider-Man and really push his sense of responsibility over the years, making Jameson one of Spider-Man's most important villains.

In some extreme instances, Jameson has even gone out of his way to try and get Spider-Man killed. In one such case, Jonah hired Dr. Farley Stillwell to create the Scorpion to fight Spider-Man, as seen in The Amazing Spider-Man #20 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Another time, he paid for the first batch of Spider-Slayer robots from Spencer Smythe in The Amazing Spider-Man #25, also by Lee and Ditko. It seems like there was just a hardcore month, early in their history, when Jonah really wanted Spider-Man dead.

Despite J. Jonah Jameson's Threats Towards Spider-Man, He Isn't an Evil Person

Jonah Has Tried to Be a Hero in His Own Way

As messy and as hateful as Jonah can be, he's also far from a true "super" villain. Deep down, Jonah really is a good person. He truly believes that criminals should be brought to justice, and several times, he's laid his life on the line for that belief. In multiple universes, Jonah has used the Daily Bugle to try and expose the evil dealings of criminals like the Kingpin. He's not some corrupt mouthpiece that's going after Spider-Man because he hates heroes; his actual reason for going after Spider-Man is a bit more complicated.

While Jonah has primarily focused his ire on Spider-Man, he's also expressed his dislike of Daredevil, with only Captain America seemingly earning his respect.

Marvel has been careful about never giving a solid reason why J. Jonah Jameson hates Spider-Man. There have been a few differing explanations, and sometimes there is no explanation at all. The two biggest reasons often include that Jonah simply doesn't trust superheroes, especially ones who wear a mask. While Jonah has primarily focused his ire on Spider-Man, he's also expressed his dislike of Daredevil, with only Captain America seemingly earning his respect. The other explanation for his dislike of Spider-Man is way more personal.

Jonah has a son who is an astronaut, and Jonah is immensely proud of him. Jonah will take pretty much every moment he gets to praise James and state what a true hero James is. This love and iration doesn't just extend to his son, though. Jonah has also expressed similar pride in all public servants. Jonah believes that all public servants are heroes, and that's part of where his distaste for vigilantes comes from. Spider-Man doesn't answer to anyone. He can use however much force he wants, and he isn't formally trained by any known government agency, which is a major problem for Jonah.

When Jonah Knows Who Spider-Man Is, He Becomes an Ally

Strip Away Jonah's Complaints About Spider-Man, And He's Happy To Help

While Jonah has very serious ethical problems with Spider-Man, he's not above itting when he's wrong or getting over those problems. In the few times when Spider-Man has revealed his identity to Jameson, he almost immediately starts working with Spider-Man. Jameson is a good person; he just has very serious qualms about the existence of vigilantes, even if those qualms might be misguided. The fact that Jameson becomes an ally nearly every time he realizes Peter is Spider-Man proves that he's perfectly capable of redemption; it's just a matter of getting Jameson to a point where he wants to work alongside Spider-Man.

Check out a different - and definitely heroic - version of both Peter Parker and J. Jonah Jameson in Marvel's reboot of Ultimate Spider-Man by Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto, which is available now in single issues and collected editions from Marvel Comics.

Jonah is the mouthpiece of one of the largest and most powerful news stations in New York. If he was able to use that power to try and rehabilitate Spider-Man's image, it'd do wonders for Spider-Man. The problem is just trying to reach Jonah and getting him to drop his vendetta against Spider-Man. While this was achieved in the 616 universe by Peter revealing his identity, that was a major risk, and it's not one that every Spider-Man would want to take. After all, it's probably not smart to reveal one's secret identity to a man who owns a newspaper with millions of readers - and who hates vigilantes.

Peter Parker Knows That Spider-Man Can Be Better, and Jonah Helps Him See That

Spider-Man: Life Story Annual #1 by Chip Zdarsky, Mark Bagley, Andrew Hennessy, and Matt Milla

Hatred is a difficult thing to get over, especially when someone believes so strongly that they're justified in the hatred that they have for another being. Jameson didn't spend years publishing Spider-Man libel because he was a villain looking to gain something from taking Spider-Man down. He did it because he truly believed that Spider-Man was a menace who needed to be dealt with for the good of New York City. If that belief is taken away, then there's still a good man underneath who legitimately wants to make a difference in the world.

That's why, out of all of Spider-Man's villains, J. Jonah Jameson is the one with the most potential for redemption. When Norman Osborn became the Gold Goblin to earn redemption, he still had a lingering madness in him. The trait that made him a supervillain never really went away. But with Jameson, if the reason he hates Spider-Man is removed, then all that's left is just a good person who wants to help. That's why Spider-Man knows that of any other villain, it's Jameson who could do so much good for the world if he'd only let go of his hatred.