>>95859753The series was something of a love letter to the early Lee/Ditko issues. For that reason, MJ and Gwen were a given as love interests, and for the reason, Liz wasn't.
Liz was the girl that treated Peter like crap until she realized he was hot, but by then it was too late. He had moved on to Betty. Sure, the two fought over him a lot, but Peter never took her seriously.
This version of Liz, however, ended up being a more lovable character. We ended up caring more about her and her relationship with Peter. Problem is she was never intended to win from the start.