While the industry is still figuring out what it wants to be when it grows up, another controversy has arisen… should Peter Parker still be married to Mary Jane?
Every so often, we comics fans like to debate each other on subjects of our interest. Who would win in a fight, Superman or the Hulk? Should teams like the FF change their membership roster or stick with the original group? What’s better, using legacy numbering or restarting with number one’s every so often? You know, things like that!
Well, the recent thing that some of us fans have been “debating” is the relationship between Peter Parker, Spider-Man, and his previous wife, Mary Jane Watson.
For years, Marvel teased us with their relationship being consummated, which they did in that giant-size Spider-Man annual. Granted, there were other possibilities, like Gwen Stacy, now Ghost-Spider (what an awful name!), and Black Cat, among others. But MJ won Peter’s heart, at least for a while, and Petey tied the knot.
I remember that marriage because a local comics shop near me actually served wedding cake with that issue! I think they are STILL cleaning cake out of the issues they were selling at that time. So much for pristine condition! Never again!
Of course, I’m abbreviating this story by jumping ahead to the time when Mephisto did what some of us call a “spiritual annulment” of their wedding, wiping it out of existence. Since then, of course, there are a significant number of Spidey fans who want what they consider an “injustice” to be remedied, put Peter and MJ back at the altar!
In a recent Substack column of his, Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort was asked a question—“Is there a threshold that a book like Ultimate Spider-Man could reach that would cause editorial to say “okay, clearly the thing the audience is responding to is married Spider-Man, we should bring that back into main continuity?”
While Brevoort prefaced his remarks with “You never say never,” he went on to say, “I believe that we’ve concluded decisively that the best platonic ideal of Spider-Man is one that is unattached, and that conclusion isn’t going to be changed by a particular alternate interpretation momentarily performing well.” He pointed out that Amazing Spider-Man has been Marvel’s best-selling regular title for a decade and a half and that sales of that book “continue to click along just as they’ve consistently done.”
So, Spidey fans wanting MJ back with Peter aren’t going to see that happen any time soon, Brevoort seemed to indicate.
But this isn’t new in the comics universes! I could list several relationships that apparently were going to come to fruition, as it were, but the powers that be simply don’t think fans are as interested in married heroes or heroines. Yes, you do remove a potential storyline if the person has a regular partner, and the ones in charge of many comics companies just don’t think that’s as appealing as someone who is still looking.
Batman and Catwoman, anyone?
Look, there have been several successful married couples in comics, and that includes, of course, Reed and Sue Richards from the Fantastic Four, Superman and Lois Lane, and many others like Wally West and others. Yes, you can throw a wrench into the works of their relationships, but when push comes to shove, they are NOT turning away from those wedding vows.
I just mentioned the Batman and Catwoman relationship, and that possible wedding that never happened still bothers me. All that build-up just so they could turn from each other and jump away in different directions in the dark. Bleh.
I’ve long been a Bat-fan, and I haven’t read many stories (outside of Earth-2 ones) where Bruce and Selina are hitched. And we all know how that one turned out!
I always point back to the wonderful Kurt Busiek Superman story where Clark Kent had fallen so far behind in his job duties because he was busy saving the world that he was given an ultimatum by Perry White: Turn in this one story by 5 p.m. today or you’re fired!
Of course, his Superman duties again got in the way, and when he finally got home, dejected, he told Lois that he was no longer employed at the Daily Planet since he hadn’t met that deadline. She responded that he indeed HAD met that deadline, which puzzled Clark. Turns out Lois “ghosted” the story that needed to be done, so she had saved his job.
To this day, that story still touches me. A helpful spouse who saves the one who usually does the saving. Love that! I wouldn’t mind reading more of that kind of story, actually!
I still have friends who talk about having Marvel “Mephisto” some storyline they don’t like or want to significantly change. That means, make it so it never really happened.
While I get the notion that unattached adventurers are often more fun to read because they can get into more tangled situations more easily than someone who is attached, I also think that, if we truly want to read diverse stories, we need to have more who are in committed relationships. If every person in comics is single, that’s truly not very representative of people today. Granted, about 50 percent of marriages do end in divorce, but we often forget the other 50 percent who are still in those relationships. We need to see people struggling to meet those needs as well as how single people are doing. Let’s see some of that kind of diversity, I say!
So, in my mind, yes, I would like to see Peter and MJ back together again. I found their married times a lot of fun. Yes, Peter is the perpetual loser, but even he hits it big every once in a while. He should be lucky in love, seems to me! At least, in some universe!
So, Mephisto, undo what you undid! Make Peter win at least in one arena, when it comes to MJ! And if you ever get to DC, get Batman and Catwoman together, okay?
What do you think? Would you like to see more committed relationships in comics? Or are single adventurers the only thing we should read about? Should Peter and MJ get re-hitched or not? Feel free to share your opinions below!
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Wayne Hall creates the Wayne's Comics Podcast. He’s interviewed Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, John Layman, Kyle Higgins, Phil Hester, Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray, David Petersen, Christos Gage, Mike Grell, and Matt Kindt. On this site each week, he writes his "Comics Portal" column (general comics comments and previews) and reviews comics.
1 Comment
I’m not against the marriage. But, I’ll admit…I only kind of want the marriage back because it “feels nice”. I’m not sure what the best move actually is for the character.
Because, we kind of have to face facts. Peter and MJ have been “separated” for almost as long as they were ever together in the first place. The marriage happened in 1987. And One More Day happened in 2007. They were only married for 20 years. And it’s been 18 years since then. There are plenty of kids who’ve grown up with a completely single Spider-Man their entire lives. Do we, as a fanbase, just need to let it go?
Because, as much as I have warm and fuzzy nostalgic feelings for the Spider-Marriage, we shouldn’t pretend it was all sunshine and rainbows. The marriage only happened because it was happening in the newspaper strips, and Marvel didn’t want to be outdone. (Funny how basically the same thing caused Superman and Lois to finally tie the knot, isn’t it?) Can you actually name a longer story arc where the marriage played a important role? What are the classic “marriage” era stories? What are the classic stories where Spider-Man NEEDED to be married to make them work? There were nice moments, here and there. There were good one-shot stories and shorts from annuals. But, that’s also ignoring all the times when MJ wanted to break up. Where they turned MJ into a shrew, or Peter into a total moron. Because, it feels like writers or editorial have never really had a “plan” for the marriage. And always wanted it to end, without harming the character’s reputation with a messy divorce.
And I, personally, think that’s because editorial sees Spider-Man as “miserable”. That’s his thing, that’s his niche. And a happy marriage? That kind of breaks the consistency of Peter Parker’s misery. And it just feels out of place, when everything else goes wrong in his life, as it MUST always do. This attitude, I feel, is the single greatest problem with Spider-Man as a whole.
You know what? I’m going to go one step further! Here’s a question that no one wants anyone to ask: Should Peter Parker be de-aged back into a High Schooler? Would THAT actually be what’s best for the longevity of the character? I mean, every single adaptation, whether it’s movies or cartoons, usually starts with Peter in High School. And they don’t usually last long enough for him to ever get out of college. Is Peter being around school-age, or at least college-age, actually central to the character moreso than being single or married is? Because, I could see editorial doing that eventually.
“With great power, comes great responsibility” is a great lesson for a kid to learn. As they’re growing and learning, it’s a good lesson to keep in mind. But, for an adult? Meh…it usually ends up either being an anchor around their neck, or it turns them into a Orwellian monster. It’s something you could see Amanda Waller or Nick Fury using to justify doing something horrible “for the greater good.” I think this central theme of Spider-Man just works better when he’s a kid, rather than a supposedly grown man. Because, at this point, Peter Parker SHOULD already be responsible. He SHOULD be a bigger pillar of the community. He SHOULD be Mayor or a leader in his local community. But…instead, he’s kind of just a loser, who can’t even keep a job because newspapers aren’t really a thing anymore. Because, editorial or writers are obsessed with him being miserable.
So, you know what I REALLY want to see? I want to see Aunt May finding out about The Deal! Just have Mephisto show up at her place for coffee and wheatcakes one morning and let her in on what Peter did for her. Because Aunt May was NEVER given any agency in One More Day. She didn’t get to give her opinion on what she wanted Peter to do. So, let Aunt May find out about The Deal.
Because, I think Aunt May would HATE that! She would HATE that Peter basically gave up his future for her. Think about the drama! We could even get a book out of it. “The Unkillable Aunt May”! Where Aunt May takes on some high-risk spy jobs like Peter’s parents were on. All because she now knows she CANNOT die, due to the deal with the devil. Working out some of that aggression she now feels towards Peter.
Because, I think THAT’S how you get the marriage back! You will NEVER get the marriage back, just by asking for it. You need to do something SO STUPID that Marvel basically has to backtrack everything. Something SO over-the-top that it cannot be ignored anymore. Nuke Peter and Aunt May’s relationship so that it can NEVER be the same again, without undoing The Deal. That’s how you get Marvel to reset Spider-Man, one way or another. It might backfire, and they reset Spider-Man WAY back to High School age. But, at least it’d be a ride getting there.
So, I don’t know. I like the marriage, on paper. But, in practice, I’m not sure it’s necessary. I’m not against it, but I’m also willing to just let it go, at this point. Editorial clearly doesn’t want it. And Disney probably doesn’t want it, either. I mean, Mickey and Minnie aren’t even married, and they’re Disney’s power couple. Disney clearly doesn’t want to change it’s “evergreen” properties. And maybe they just don’t want Peter being married in the comics PURELY because they’re using the comics to “farm” ideas for the movies and cartoons, where Peter WON’T be married anyway, because he’ll be too young. Maybe this whole problem just stems from their ideal of Spider-Man being younger. I just don’t know.