By mentioning one of the most infamous moments in the comic book’s history, you can bring a grimace to any Spider-Man reader’s face in just three words: One More Day. Sore fans are still begging for the highly controversial storyline that removed Peter Parker’s marriage to longtime love Mary Jane Watson to be undone… but don’t expect that to happen. Ever.
Image: Marvel Comics. Amazing Spider-Man Annual Vol 1 #21 cover art by John Romita Sr.
The reality check comes from a series of stunningly frank Comic Book Resources forum posts by current Spider-Man writer Dan Slott, who flat out told readers that Marvel has zero interest in bringing Peter and MJ together in holy matrimony again — unless it’s in the pages of Gerry Conway and Ryan Stegman’s Renew Your Vows spinoff series, set in an alternate reality first introduced in Secret Wars in 2015:
Believe all you want.
It AIN’T happening.
I’ve told people this for 9 years.
Me pitching RYV and getting permission from the Powers That Be to do it — and it selling well enough to merit an ongoing — is as good as you’re going to get (so please keep the sales for Gerry & Ryan’s book up, up, UP!).
Every single editorial team since the marriage worked hard to undo it.
You will not see the marriage restored in the core continuity ever.
It’s far more likely that you’d see a line-wide reboot that reset Spider-Man to high school years (and on model with the creators’ original intent) then the marriage being restored. And THAT is never going to happen either.
Again, believe all you want. Put MJ and her wedding dress or showing off her wedding ring in EVERY message board avatar in the world. Still never happening. Ever. Ever. Ever.
I’m sure I’ll be here next year telling you the same thing.
Just in case you weren’t quite convinced, here are a few more select quotes from Slott:
Not happening. Over a quarter of a century has been spent by Marvel to undo it. The change from 2007 is the one where they put their collective foot down. It ain’t happening. Sorry. Ever. It’s not a question of “current writers” or “current editorial”. Marvel wants it to stay undone. Could the CHARACTERS come back together in the core continuity in a relationship that’s not a marriage? Sure. But the marriage is NEVER being officially restored.
I think there could be a run or a storyline that resolves OMD. Or one that gives Spidey a win over Mephisto. But the end result of that story would still NOT be the reinstatement of the marriage. That’s never happening for many, many, many ironclad, set-in-stone reasons.
This is obviously a debate Slott has been a part for years at this point, but the arrival of Renew Your Vows as its own ongoing series sparked a lot of hope for the future of Peter and MJ’s relationship. According to Slot, at least, that hope is deeply misplaced, given where Marvel actually plans to take Spider-Man as a character. And considering how rare it is for a prominent comics writer discuss a controversial issue with fans like this so frankly, such a reunion seems especially unlikely.
So yeah, if you’re waiting for Peter Parker and Mary Jane to get back together, it seems like you’re better off picking up Renew Your Vows. Because it’s gonna be a very long while before Marvel considers doing it for the “main” continuity.
[Via Bleeding Cool]
Comments
4 responses to “Don’t Expect Peter Parker And Mary Jane To Get Married In Marvel’s Comics Any Time Soon”
Sad. Bad. Bigly. ?
Would have been nice to hear the reasons why. Does it being married “ages” him too much? More than owning a million-dollar corporation? Do they want him messing around with different characters (black cat, etc.)? Is being a “bachelor” such an ingrained part of his character? I just don’t understand why is it so anathema for them.
Thinking about it… Marvel is not too much into stable, solid, long-term relationships as of late at all, are they?
Because Marvel hates evolving their characters beyond the “core concept”. By allowing the marriage to be reinstated, they are aging the character, allowing him to be seen as a normal person. Marvel needs to keep their characters “time locked” at their prime so that they can write the story’s they do with them. It’s why characters never retire, die or anything that is a change from their prime selves.
It’s Peter Pan syndrome, Marvel just doesn’t want to grow up and handle adult issues, they are forever stuck in their teens through mid-20s story set. Marvel is a mid-life crisis company, recapturing their own misspent youth through the characters
Undoing the marriage was jumping the shark and the series has only gone downhill from there.