Spider-Man: Married or Not?

[Nick Ryder]

I didn't so much mind Pete and MJ breaking up... again. They've split for varying amounts of time in the past, but I could see Civil War as being a reason to split them up, maybe MJ wants to get her career back on track, but being "Mrs. Spider-Man" just doesn't work. Hell, they could have USED THAT as a reason for her to go her own way.

I really hope the Mephisto thing goes away. Mephisto is not a Spider-Man villan, he should be more in Ghost Rider or something like he used to be. Not fuckin with Spider-Man.

And the whole Osborn thing really irks me, he's gotten way too powerful and has been sort of no longer a Spider-Man villan but a MU villan. So I'm thinking maybe OMD is an Osborn/Mephisto pact or something and maaaaybe things will right itself again. I'm really hoping so. Even if Peter and MJ aren't living together as a married couple again, that wouldn't bother me so much as the whole 'reset button' that was BND. I still keep thinking he'd be a great match to Black Cat or even and this maybe silly sounding, but I keep thinking Arachne (the second Spider-Woman) and he would make an interesting couple. Considering she's already got a kid and after Civil War was a bit of an outlaw too. Plus she's a red head Would give Peter the family life he's sorta wanted and she's powered too, so there's no real worry about her being attacked by his enemies, and even her daughter is kinda used to it LOL.

Although Black Cat... mmmmrrrrrrow...

 

[Captain Craig]

I think the marriage was damaging the character. A married Clark Kent makes perfect sense. A married Peter Parker (married to supermodel/actress) doesn't work as well. It's about as appropriate for the character as if Batman opened a restaurant or if Wolverine became a lawyer.

Disagree. Being a single loner isn't Peter's desire. He's always craved a loving relationhip akin to Ben&May's. Marriage is the natural extension to that end.
Furthermore Peter married someone with whom, like Clark, was a well established relationship. Clark & Peter share that commonality of being raised by married loving role models. It works for both of them regardless of reporter or model. Both characters ambitions were known and it was very organic.

Had Peter just met some model and gotten married in a short time then yeah it would've been crazy. He didn't though, MJ was who she sought out to be and their love was moot to their profession.

 

[SpokOdo]

OMD seems silly because they already had an umarried Spider-Man series called Ultimate Spider-Man. The torch had been passed. They had Spidey unmask and join Avengers, allowing the writers the chance to really cut loose with Spidey joining the big leagues while Ultimate delivered the traditional classic Spidey formula. Seems like a missed opportunity to me.

It will blow over, but OMD was such an extreme overreaction to the problem. Couldn't they just have them seperate? Having divorced characters isn't as extreme an idea as it was when these characters were created in forty years ago after all.

 

[The Evil Dead]

At this point, I wish they'd take Ultimate Spider-Man and just make him Spider-Man in the 616 universe through some insanely stupid alternate reality merging bullshit.

The Peter Parker I read the adventures of throughout the 80s and 90s would never make a deal with the Devil. He made a mistake, it led to his Aunt's death... He relearns Uncle Ben's famous lesson, "With great power, comes great responsibility"

As for the marriage itself...I don't care either way so long as Spidey's adventures are good.

 

[Mr Light]

So how come it's alright for Reed Richards to have a wife and TWO small children?

 

[Dream]

Don't care. As long as Marvel doesn't do some stupid shit like have Peter make a deal with the devil to forget his marriage to save Aunt May. Now that would be LAME...

 

[Forbin]

Actually, I'm an old school Gwen Stacy fan. Much as I love MJ, in the back of my head, I still think Gwen was the perfect woman for Pete.

...if you ignore JMS's chaaracter assassination of her.

 

[barnaclelapse]

I'm pretty damn close to giving up on DC and Marvel, between this and the stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid bullshit that's been going on with Batman.

 

[Ayelbourne]

I'm pretty damn close to giving up on DC and Marvel, between this and the stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid bullshit that's been going on with Batman.

I've got no problem with what they did on Batman, because they already made it clear that Bruce will be back at some point.
However, wether I will ever see the real Peter again (as in: the one I grew up with and who grew up himself as well) is unclear, and I dare say unlikely.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

However, wether I will ever see the real Peter again (as in: the one I grew up with and who grew up himself as well) is unclear, and I dare say unlikely.

You never know. After all, they brought back the real Peter Parker (the one I grew up with).

 

[coolghoul]

Actually, I'm an old school Gwen Stacy fan. Much as I love MJ, in the back of my head, I still think Gwen was the perfect woman for Pete.

...if you ignore JMS's chaaracter assassination of her.

I too like Gwen Stacy as a character quite a bit. Is it in Spider-man: Blue where he is recording his thoughts about their relationship? However, in a sense, I forgive JMS in a way - you got to use Gwen Stacy to keep her character relevant. And she's dead. So how do you keep using a great character that's dead? And that's why all these returns from the dead... It's a bad deal all around - sometimes the deaths are done so well (Aunt May eg) that bringing them back almost dishonors that storyline where the character died. But then, without bringing them back there's no way to keep using a great character.

I absolutely hate Jason Todd's death storyline in A Death in the Family. (Oh please - Joker as a UN ambassador - even John Bolton doesn't think the UN is that stupid. What a stupid storyline to kill a character) But love how it affects Bruce throughout his remaining life. I am iffy on the resurrection storyline... But somebody has to go back to that well...

 

[Captain Craig]

However, wether I will ever see the real Peter again (as in: the one I grew up with and who grew up himself as well) is unclear, and I dare say unlikely.

You never know. After all, they brought back the real Peter Parker (the one I grew up with).

No they didn't. That Peter Parker was an adolescent and college man. The Peter Parker now is mid/late 20's but behaving like an adolescent. BIG DIFFERENCE. Maybe that immaturity is what prompted MJ to call off the wedding(post OMD excuse anyway).


Your Peter Parker had a book called Ultimates. Your Peter is dead as well, what you have now is a perverse amalgamation.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Your Peter Parker had a book called Ultimates. Your Peter is dead as well, what you have now is a perverse amalgamation.

I'm not that old. My Peter Parker was the lonely, hard-luck 25-year old character from the early 1980's. He's back. Not that I'm interested, mind you, because I haven't read Spider-Man for years. But he's back.

 

[hyzmarca]

Re doing a divorce, I think Marvel would have considered it and rejected it. While some stories/heroes have done questionable things (who's the wife-beater?) , a "main" hero like Spidey with a divorce storyline, they might have considered as "unsafe" or "too controversial". Better to do the "magical reset" (literally in this case!) than risk all that controversy?

I think they had done storylines where Peter and MJ had gone separate ways (she's pursuing her Hollywood career or she's disappeared etc. etc.) but because of Peter's sense of responsibility and attachment to MJ, things always have to come back. Also, showing Peter being adulterous might not have "jived" with his "great responsibility" line. And for some reason, I think they're heading there. Q for all you dedicated fans - was the pairing with Kitty Pryde in the Ultimate universe popular? Maybe the eds took their cue from that.

Re my own feelings - I feel "affection" towards both Peter and Mary Jane. That probably colors why I think they need to be together (married or not).

The last time they tried to break up the marriage (Maximum Clonage, which was so much worse than One More Day that it isn't even funny), they had Spiderman try to kill MJ (He was brainwashed in some absurdly stupid way, but still). The big break up stories are all worse than a subtle believable organic beak-up.

And really, how exactly is selling your daughters (two of them, in fact) to the Devil less morally reprehensible than an amicable divorce?

 

[Mr Light]

Actually what JMS did to Gwen Stacy was reveal that she had nasty sex with NORMAN OSBOURNE and then HAD HIS TWINS who were then whisked away to be raised in Europe. It was pretty ****ed up.

 

[hyzmarca]

You can actually blame Joe Q for that, about as much as JMS. JMS originally intended the kids to be Peter's, which still didn't make too much sense, but was at least plausible.

 

[Nick Ryder]

Well I was ikked out by the whole Gwen/Norman twins thing too, but it fits his character, although WHY Gwen would willingly sleep with the bastard... I really kind of wished they would have just said 'Norman raped Gwen in Europe, but threatened to kill you Peter and she didn't want that, so she gave in.' which would have given more excuses to hate Norman even more.

But now Norman is some high end baddie that runs HAMMER, has an army of super villans at his beck and call and Obama on his speed dial. (See tolja that Obama was evil LOL).

"I believe in hope and change... unless you're Spider-Man, then you're fucked."

 

[Turtletrekker]

But now Norman is some high end baddie that runs HAMMER, has an army of super villans at his beck and call and Obama on his speed dial. (See tolja that Obama was evil LOL).

Of course, it was Bush who appointed Osborn to the position...

As for Peter and MJ, as far as I'm concerned, they will always be married, and I won't read any Spider-Man books that say otherwise.

Slighty related, even though I don't buy Spider-books anymore, MJ will be returning to ASM in #601 for the 3-part "Red-headed Stranger" storyline, and I think that the cover to ASM 601 is the best-ever depiction of M.J. ever. I think it's the freckles that do it...

 

[Technobuilder]

Spider-Man used to be something I read regularly. As it stands now, I haven't picked up a Spidey Book since the whole OMD/BND fiasco occurred and things went hinky. I tried reading the new series, but it felt like we'd been there already and done it all before.

Everyone talks about how they killed Captain America... but Steve died with more dignity than what they did to Peter. (and they shot Cap in the back)

 

[Forbin]

Spider-Man used to be something I read regularly. As it stands now, I haven't picked up a Spidey Book since the whole OMD/BND fiasco occurred and things went hinky. I tried reading the new series, but it felt like we'd been there already and done it all before.

I think that's what's bugging me too.
I've grown with Pete over the years, now they've regressed him and I'm still where I am.