After 21 years of marriage Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson have split up.
However, the break-up of their happy union is not due to irreconcilable differences and there will be no divorce lawyers involved. They were still very much in love with one another but in order to save Auny May, they had to allow the incredibily evil Mephisto to wipe their memories clean so that they have no recollection of their love for one another or their two decade old marriage.
It all got spelled out in last week’s Amazing Spider-Man Issue #545.
Now, with issue #546 titled “Brand New Day,” Aunt May is alive, Parker is single and Mary Jane still doesn’t have a clue.
“People are very upset. They erased a lot of stuff that had been set in stone,” John Newman, manager of Ultimate Comics in Chapel Hill, N.C. told ABC News.
“We knew it would be a very controversial thing to do,” says Joe Quesada, Marvel’s editor in chief. “Looking into the future, this is really the right thing to do for the long-term health of the character.”
Spider-Man, is the creation of the legendary Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. It first hit comic book shelves 46 years ago in 1962.
The franchise has spawned a live-action television series, animated series, toy action figures and three blockbuster live-action films starring Tobey Mcguire as Parker/Spider Man and Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson.
“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.”
“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.”
Super RETCON! Gah!
Sounds like a GRR Martin-inspired major character kill-off. Except HIS work! This is just stupid.
why can’t marvel let anything stick?
I always liked that Spider-man was one of the few superheroes to have a married life. It made him more “regular Joe” than most others.
Hey, guys… don’t you think this kind of thing might qualify as a spoiler? I didn’t wanna know this yet.
I’m so glad I stopped reading Spidey years ago.
This is just ridiculous. Spider-Man’s life is marked by one tragedy after another. I have the wedding trade paperback, and that was great. Then the whole wedding in Shea Stadium, conducted by Stan Lee….wow. But I digress.
Mary Jane was Spider-Man’s one saving grace. They absolutely ruined her by having her smoke, or when they lost the child. This splitting them up idea is hardly new either. Just done differently.
And it’s all because they have Spider-Man acting out of character by revealing his identity. I mean, c’mon. It’s the LAST thing he would do!
I’m done with Spider-Man. I’ll collect the trades from the good times, but this junk…forget it.
Don’t make mine Marvel. 🙁
Wait… what about people who know mary and peter? Won’t anyone walk up to pete and say “Hey where’s your wife?”
i liked mary jane in the comics but in the movie she was way to whiney for my taste i mean really she had to be saved every five minutes in spider-man three and dunst is just annoying i admit i havent always been in favor of MJ BUT THIS WAS HARSH cmon cant they leave it be! Maybe theyll get felicia hardy in the picture but still