The thing is, the way Stern has described his opinion on Mary Jane in that interview and elsewhere, stating that because of they were such different personalities that a long term relationship would never have worked in the long run (even going so far as to compare to Sam and Diane from Cheers) and that MJ works better as a "spoiler" and an "ex-girlfriend" who is now just good friends with Peter and not interested in him on a romantic level--he was the only person to ever write her in that manner.
Yes, she's a "spoiler" when Stan Lee wrote her, but as a rival to Gwen to compete for Peter's affections. When Conway wrote her, she was the person who tried to be a good friend to Peter after the loss of Gwen who grew more and more in love with him. Deflaco, after taking over from Stern, wrote pretty much the same way. Lein Wein, of course, wrote her as Peter's happy go-lucky girlfriend. Even when Marv Wolfman broke them up, it's still apparent that MJ has fellings for Peter. Of course, there's all those years when the two were married to each other. And even in Dan Slott's Paper Doll arc, it's clear she still loves Peter even though she's dating some other *****ebag. In short, whether she was dating Peter, married to him, or was "just a friend" she always in love with Peter.
To me, Stern's vision for MJ sounds for more suitable to Betty Brant, and Betty has been characterized that way consistently for years now. MJ, not so much.
Yeah, broking a deal with Marvel's version of the devil tends to diminish that message. Not to mention makes it a bit difficult to get behind even if the current status quo is more of a "back to basics" approach and there's great talent involved.
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