It has not been a great time for young, funny superheroes like Invincible’s Rex Splode and Marvel’s Spider-Man. While the former faced a terrible fate in the latest season, the Spider-Man comics seem to be out to get Peter Parker and stop him from being genuinely happy in his life. This was confirmed by comic book writer and editor Tom Brevoort.
Brevoort, who is currently the editor for the X-Men comics, was reportedly asked about Marvel’s editorial guidelines and how much freedom writers have when writing legacy characters. When asked if Spider-Man and Mary Jane not getting married was part of Marvel’s guidelines, Brevoort confirmed it was.
Marvel editor Tom Brevroot reveals why Spider-Man and Mary Jane can never marry
OG movie fans know Kristen Dunst’s Mary Jane Watson running across New York in a wedding dress to Peter Parker’s apartment and declaring her love for him in Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man 2. However, that hopeful ending was never to be seen after Spider-Man 3 had many more gut punches that tested Peter.
Mary Jane and Spider-Man have been the most popular ‘will-they-won’t-they’ couple in Marvel comics. Every Peter needs an MJ and while his romance with Gwen Stacy has a lot of fans, Mary Jane will always be his girl. However, they just don’t seem to get it right in the main timeline (the Spider-verse films show Peter B. Parker and MJ making it work).
This is reportedly not a bug but a design by Marvel’s editorial department. X-Men editor Tom Brevroot was asked about the freedom writers have in tackling legacy characters and was also jokingly asked by a fan at Baltimore Comic-Con if MJ and Peter not getting together was one of Marvel’s guidelines. Surprisingly, Brevroot confirmed it (via PopVerse),
He can get back with Mary Jane. He just can’t actually tie the knot with Mary Jane…Those are the ground rules going in. If you’re going to work on whatever character – if you’re going to work on Daredevil, you’re going to have to deal with the fact that he’s blind and he’s probably going to stay that way for a while.
The senior editor also described how the editorial process works at Marvel Comics and how there were specific mandates on how storylines should go.
Mary Jane and Spider-Man were married once in the comics, but it did not last
Spider-Man is probably the most popular superhero and it is mostly due to his relatability. The teenage hero often has to balance his school life with vigilantism and has to deal with the problems any other teenager has to deal with, such as dating and finances. However, he seemed to finally get a win when he married Mary Jane Watson.
The ‘it couple’ shared an incredible domestic life for a while, but the happiness did not last forever. In the controversial ‘One More Day’ storyline, Mephisto offers to either save Aunt May from death or wipe the memory of Peter Parker and Mary Jane’s life as husband and wife. Peter is left to choose between two extremely important aspects of his life.
However, MJ makes the choice for him to save Aunt May instead, reversing their marriage. She also puts a condition that Mephisto revert Spider-Man’s secret identity and put his life back as it was. Since then, MJ and Peter have not married but have only dated each other multiple times. Marvel just doesn’t want to give the guy a break.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
