Fictional Character Biography
Betty Brant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her mother had originally been the "Girl Friday" of Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson, and Betty took the position after her mother's death. Peter Parker (secretly Spider-Man) and she were attracted to each other because Betty wanted a normal, ordinary man, and they were romantically linked. However, her brother was accidentally killed during a fight with Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus, and she blamed Spider-Man. Later she forgave Spider-Man when she realized he was trying to protect them.
Betty Brant, not Gwen Stacy, was Peter Parker's very first love—in issue #142 page 17 Peter tells Mary Jane Watson that Betty was his first. A year later (after their relationship), Betty broke up with Peter due to his inability to commit time to her—the two going on to develop a more sibling-esque relationship—and she eventually married Bugle reporter Ned Leeds. However the marriage proved turbulent as Ned was often posted overseas. When he was stationed in Paris she found the life impossible and left Ned to return to New York. She turned to Peter Parker once more but Ned followed her home and she was caught between the two men. Peter regretted getting involved with Betty again and allowed the affair to break abruptly, driving her back into the arms of Ned.
Later on in the series, it became clear that Ned Leeds was in fact the villain Hobgoblin, although it later turned out that he was a pawn of the real Hobgoblin. As Leeds became more hostile, Betty drifted into the arms of old friend Flash Thompson. A jealous Leeds framed Thompson as the Hobgoblin after he insulted Hobgoblin in a televised interview, but when the two battled, the Hobgoblin's mask slipped, and Betty discovered that Ned and the Hobgoblin were one and the same. This revelation, coupled with Ned's murder by the Foreigner, sent Brant over the edge into insanity.
Betty joined the Students of Love cult, led by the Teacher, before being saved by Flash and Spider-Man. Because her house had been sold during her time with the cult, Betty stayed with Flash for a time. During this, the demonic events of Inferno happened, overwhelming much of New York City. Betty and Flash were attacked by demonic duplicates of Spider-Man and Ned Leeds. Betty overcame physical and psychological barriers and succeeded in destroying the monsters.
Flash and Betty drifted apart as Betty's recovery continued. She rejoined the staff of the Daily Bugle as an investigative reporter whose newfound courageous assertiveness and investigative skill impressed her colleagues. She finally cleared Ned's name when she revealed that Roderick Kingsley was the real Hobgoblin. She remains a recurring character in the Spider-Man comics.
Currently, she has met up with one of Peter's old college friends, Debra Whitman, during a book signing event for Debra's new book Two-Faced. The book described her relationship with Peter Parker/Spider-Man, which ended in Debra being the victim. However, when it was later revealed that the book was actually altered by the Bugle's staff to make Spider-Man look like he ruined Debra's life, Betty secretly leaked information to the Daily Globe, exposing the fraud. Her boss, J. Jonah Jameson, furious with the possible libel suit, now orders Betty to find out who had given the information.
She manages to keep her role even after J. Jonah Jameson's heart attack forced his wife to sell the Bugle to Dexter Bennett, who renamed it The DB. As Dexter is trying to sidestep Betty and make her his "Girl Friday" again, Peter Parker drops hints of a fake family relationship between Betty and the deceased actor Marlon Brando, bolstering her position in Bennett's eye as a gossip reporter.
Recently, she celebrated her birthday and asked Peter to organize for her friends to come over for a dinner, but due to her work at the new DB, nobody feels like befriending her. Betty is initially furious at Peter, angrily accusing him of ruining her night until he tells her the truth. She is sad, but he reassures her that everyone will forgive her soon. Betty realizes that Peter really is her best friend.
Following the DB's destruction she went on to create a successful journalism blog; she is last seen with having gotten back together with Flash Thompson.
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