Spider-man and Mary Jane are no longer married
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from http://www.usatoday.com
Those who know Spider-Man only from Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst in the movies might be surprised to learn that in the comic book, the web-spinning hero has been married for almost 21 years.
That's why the comic world is in an uproar over Marvel Comics' decision to undo the marriage of Peter Parker and red-haired bombshell Mary Jane Watson, reversing two decades of storytelling.
In Amazing Spider-Man #545 last week, Peter and Mary Jane make a tearful deal with the devil-like character Mephisto: In exchange for saving Aunt May's life, Mephisto erases all traces of the Peter-Mary Jane marriage from memory.
In the issue out this week, subtitled Brand New Day, Peter Parker returns to his roots — young, nerdy and single. Aunt May is alive and well and Mary Jane is again just part of the cast. The marriage never happened.
"People are very upset. They erased a lot of stuff that had been set in stone," says John Newman, manager of Ultimate Comics in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Wednesday as customers came in to buy the opening chapter of Brand New Day. To help emphasize the new start, Amazing Spider-Man will go thrice-monthly.
"We knew it would be a very controversial thing to do," says Joe Quesada, Marvel's editor in chief, who believed so much in the project that he drew the crucial issues himself. "Looking into the future, this is really the right thing to do for the long-term health of the character."
Spider-Man, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962, was a hit, connecting with young readers because he was a geeky teenager, shy with girls and uncertain of how to use his powers. But in 1987, Peter and Mary Jane, by then a fashion model, got married. Marvel had instant regrets.
"I remember editors and editors in chief lamenting that a married Spider-Man was not where we want to be," Quesada says. "A married Peter Parker makes for a less interesting soap opera than a single Peter Parker going about his nerdy kind of life."
Writers tried everything: The couple separated for a while. She miscarried. And in a much-criticized story line, Marvel tried to convince readers that Peter Parker had not gotten married, but his clone. That didn't stick, either. Then Quesada took over and insisted the marriage just couldn't continue.
"Nobody wants to read about a married Spider-Man," says Craig Shutt, a columnist for Comics Buyers Guide. "But in the short run, it's a terrible idea. It disrespects the readers by saying everything they read is wrong."
At DC Comics, Superman is married to Lois Lane, disrupting that title's long-standing tensions. DC declined to comment for this story.
Quesada is steadfast that for Spider-Man, the move is the right one: "Ultimately we have to do this to keep this character fresh for this generation and generations to come." -
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What the hell! Redo la!
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Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!
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cb, fark off laOriginally posted by caleb_chiang:
spammer -
Originally posted by gigabyte14:cb, fark off la
spammer
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simi laOriginally posted by wonderamazement:
he not spiderman fan, i dun care
still come roll for fuck -
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Originally posted by devilplot 4:
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YAY! Mary Jane is now single.
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Even though their marriage has ended, I'm betting that future issues would still depict them as having the hots for each other. It would be cool to see peter and MJ dating as they did again.
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It is a lot more interesting if spiderman and mary Jane continues dating but not married -
At least it's better than a retcon
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Tsk aiya heck care la...Originally posted by gigabyte14:simi la
he not spiderman fan, i dun care
still come roll for fuck -
Technically speaking, this is a major retcon in that the marriage has been wiped out from the memory of everyone.Originally posted by jondizzle foshizzle:At least it's better than a retcon
On top of that, Harry Osborn has been resurrected and Spider-Man's webshooters (which turned organic a couple of years back) are mechanical again.
And finally, Spidey's unmasking a few months ago has been erased from memory as well. Now the general public once again does not know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. -
marvel what the hell are u doing?
i guess they are making all these changes to suit the younger generation of comic books readers. -
I swear to kill the new scriptwriters virtually. Tell them to get a life please! Spidey better stay married and have a new mutated son.
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sads =[ i somehow feel they will get married again
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aunt may old already wat
wats wrong with her dying?
die die la
knn -
Honestly....Originally posted by Rockhound:aunt may old already wat
wats wrong with her dying?
die die la
knn
I'd rather see Aunt May die with dignity than have Marvel come up with all sorts of lame-brained ideas to keep her alive.
Aunt May actually died once, and it was a very moving storyline.
But then Marvel stupidly brought her back to life by explaining that the Green Goblin had kidnapped her and replaced her with an imposter. -
Comics always do that once they reach their umpteenth-hundred issue and they start running out of ideas and start using cheap gimmicks like deaths to keep people reading.Originally posted by fudgester:Honestly....
I'd rather see Aunt May die with dignity than have Marvel come up with all sorts of lame-brained ideas to keep her alive.
Aunt May actually died once, and it was a very moving storyline.
But then Marvel stupidly brought her back to life by explaining that the Green Goblin had kidnapped her and replaced her with an imposter.