The Fan Reaction
To say fans were outraged is something of an exaggeration; there are still massive campaigns on social media, and Dan Slott was a brave soul in taking some of these fans on in the CBR forum. Some fans had grown up with the idea of a married Spider-Man, and to them the annulment of the marriage was experienced as almost a personal insult. Spider-Man fans of the late ’80s, ’90s, and early 2000s had grown up reading comics where Spider-Man was married; simply erasing the marriage from continuity was, to them, a huge blow.
Meanwhile, of course, the method left a lot to be desired; fans were outraged at the idea that Peter Parker, a superhero, would make some kind of ‘deal with the Devil.’ The “One More Day” arc twisted the knife still further, with Mephisto taking on the form of little Mayday Parker – the child Peter and MJ would have had, had the marriage not been annulled. As long-term Spider-Man fans will know, Mayday was the star of a popular alternate-future series as Spider-Girl, one that Marvel had tried to push back on many times – but that had a passionate fanbase. For fans of Spider-Girl, that particular plot detail felt like trolling.
Over the last decade, this new continuity has become the norm, and Dan Slott has cemented his place as one of the most prominent Spider-Man writers of all-time; he’s basically been writing the book for over a decade. We’ve seen some nods towards the marriage over the years, too; the “Spider-Verse” event reintroduced fans to Mayday Parker’s timeline, while “Secret Wars” gave Slott a chance to set up a reality in which Peter and MJ were still together. That timeline’s now launched an ongoing, Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, which is selling pretty well.
But will Marvel ever dial back on “One More Day” and restore the marriage? A vocal group of fans demand it, but Dan Slott is hardly convinced it will ever happen.
