Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates, Spider-Man | Tagged: amazing spider-man, nick spencer

Nick Spencer Teases Return of the Spider-Marriage in Amazing Spider-Man #1 [Major Spoilers]

Published Wed, 11 Jul 2018 06:32:10 -0500

Last updated Wed, 11 Jul 2018 09:22:23 -0500

When Dan Slott wrote Amazing Spider-Man, he categorically stated that Marvel Comics would never bring back the marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson to official Marvel continuity.

The characters were married in the '80s in Marvel Comics but, in the noughties, the marriage was erased from continuity at the behest of then-Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada (who drew the comics in question) by demonic magic with the One More Day storyline.

The Brand New Day story then revamped the character as a singleton who had merely dated Mary Jane Watson. And that was the Spider-Man whose stories Marvel wanted to tell.

But a vocal section of the fanbase still want that reversed almost two decades on.

Dan Slott, who certainly did tease the idea of a Peter Parker/Mary Jane Watson relationship returning, also stated that it wouldn't happen due to executive demands at the very top of Marvel — and Disney — to keep things that way. And the Renew Your Vows series with an alternate married Spider-Man was a long battle to get greenlit and spin out of the Secret Wars stories — but only if it would remain a parallel universe, or Marvel continuity. With lines like these:

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.

There is no administration in the near or distant future that will ever reinstate the marriage to the core continuity version of Spider-Man EVER again.

There is no person, no matter how passionately they cared about the pre-OMD setup who could ever make it through all the steps and paces to get to a position of editorial power AND be given the reins of the Spider-Unit who would EVER be allowed to put this back into play.

This is something even above an EIC at this point. Using the example of "well some day a new EIC might change it on a whim" argument is inapplicable. It feels right from a fan perspective, but it has no bearing on the reality of the situation.

There is no amount of writer-clout in the world that could make this happen. Zero. J.K. Rowling could show up tomorrow and ask this. Wouldn't happen.

Which is pretty solid. Of course, since then, Dan Slott has left the title he said he never would, and Nick Spencer is the new writer for Amazing Spider-Man #1 with Ryan Ottley as artist. And, of course, Marvel has a new Editor-in-Chief. And there is no suggestion that they are bringing back the Spider-Marriage. But Nick Spencer, it seems, like to tease.

And so in the first issue of the flatshare sitcom issue, in which Peter Parker, already brought crashing down from his executive job to a jobbing reporter by Dan Slott, now sinks even further, we get to see some more of those teases.

Starting with the importance of stories…

An opening Titanic-style tribute with an older black-costumed Spider-Man and Mary Jane on the Empire State Building..

The Empire State University having a familiar slogan for Spider-Marriage watchers…

And memories of what was once….

…and could be again? Memories of something missing? As a recent Spider-Man/Deadpool showed us… there is something residual. And while Amazing Spider-Man Vol 4 #798 from Slott and Stuart Immonen gave us this scene…

Amazing Spider-Man Vol 5 #1 ends like this. Its first ending, anyway…

Yeah, okay, we needed that.

One more time.

Okay, you've had enough now.

Looks like Spider-Man isn't the deciding factor he once was. Kiss a man when he's down?

Oh, he's a cruel bastard, that Nick Spencer. But there are plenty more surprises to come… and I think a lot of people are going to like this comic book for all the right reasons.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1
(W) Nick Spencer (A/CA) Ryan Ottley
An alien invasion hits New York City and the only one who can stop it is…Spider-Man?! But that's far from all you'll find here – a revelation from the past puts Peter Parker's job, relationships, and whole life in jeopardy! And if even that's not enough, you'll see a new roommate, new love interests – and a new villain! Spider-Man goes back to basics courtesy of Nick Spencer (SECRET EMPIRE, SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN) and the Marvel debut of RYAN OTTLEY (Invincible)!
Rated TIn Shops: Jul 11, 2018

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!