What Was Marvel's Best Option for the marriage?

[lazlo_toth]

That's essentially the "maintain the status quo" option.

Well, Harry being alive counts as a pretty big paradigm shift in my book, can't really say THAT'S maintaining a status quo...

For the record, I'm all about keeping them married. If Jonah is still around being a jackass, some member of the Osborn family has a purple outfit and a jet-powered flying skateboard hanging in the garage, and Spider-Man is on the run from the cops at least once every calendar year, and Peter's inner life reads like one of Shakespeare's lost tragedies, I' say let him have the hot supermodel wife. He's still Spider-Man, it still sucks to be him, and I'm copacetic...

[metalhead_dave743]

I voted maintain the status quo, but I'm not against any kind of change. Just as long as the change doesn't screw up the continuity in so many ways and turn Peter into a selfish asshole who makes deals with demons.

If they want Peter and MJ to get divorced, fine with me. If they want Peter to have a kid, fine with me. If they wanted Peter to get old and die, not so fine with me but whatever. If they wanted Peter to lead the avengers, I'm up for that.

They can change the status quo, just as long as they evolve it with stories that PROGRESS not REGRESS.

[ZT4]

I'd like ASM to slowly be given an ending and "phased out", with maxi-series every few years detailing the characters quietly developing.

[Alan2099]

I'd like ASM to slowly be given an ending and "phased out", with maxi-series every few years detailing the characters quietly developing.

That's never going to happen. Be realistic.

[jeffgamer]

You know, there's an expression..."If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Amazing Spider-man has been on the top seller list. Spider-man has been married during that time. MANY new readers have jumped on board in the past 20 years.

The idea that ANYTHING needed to be done to "fix" Spider-man's marital status is absolutely preposterous.

Many people were reading for a reason.

And many people are stopping for that same reason.

Put it back the way it was, Quesada. FAST. If you're sitting there waiting for it to blow over and to see fans return, you're playing for the wrong team. What's more likely to happen is that, if you don't IMMEDIATELY switch this (or as close to immediate as you can), the fans that have been driving your ASM sales will decide they really CAN live without Spider-man...or, for some, Marvel en toto...and you won't be able to win them back.

Fix it. Now. And pretend that you planned to do that all along.

[Brian M.]

You know, there's an expression..."If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Amazing Spider-man has been on the top seller list. Spider-man has been married during that time. MANY new readers have jumped on board in the past 20 years.

The idea that ANYTHING needed to be done to "fix" Spider-man's marital status is absolutely preposterous.

Many people were reading for a reason.

And many people are stopping for that same reason.

Put it back the way it was, Quesada. FAST. If you're sitting there waiting for it to blow over and to see fans return, you're playing for the wrong team. What's more likely to happen is that, if you don't IMMEDIATELY switch this (or as close to immediate as you can), the fans that have been driving your ASM sales will decide they really CAN live without Spider-man...or, for some, Marvel en toto...and you won't be able to win them back.

Fix it. Now. And pretend that you planned to do that all along.

That's a stupid idea and hurts the fans who like this new status quo. Why do you get your way?

[StoneGold]

At this point, I think the reboot was for the remasking, but not for the reasons you might think. The two were close enough together that I think they did the unmasking knowing in advance that they were just going to wipe it clean a story arc or two later. So you get a few short term stories with people confronting Peter about being Spidey, and then you get to start over again. But they happened too closely together, without any sales drop, for it to have been "oops, we made a mistake."

[Galvatron]

The solution was very simple:

After no human or non-human being could help May, the next thing happens:

A) Peter goes back to the Spider-God temple from the JMS run
or
B) Loki's Daughter comes to Peter to pay back Loki's Debt to him

Either way, their magical power/spell can't do it alone (to change one's fate/destiny)

so Peter must give some (most) of his new powers to make the spell work.

After aunt May is saved, Peter tells MJ that he loves her but can't stand the thought that something will happen to her and so files for divorce (or maybe destroys any and all documents that say they are legally married).

- MJ is very angry at Peter due to his decision and moves to LA.
- Aunt May now lives with the Avengers Butler; she has a new romance in her life.
- Peter now has only his basic/original powers and returns to use the web shooters.
- Due to the story in "Avengers: Initiative" #7, the public now thinks the Peter isn't the real Spidey but he cant find a new job because of the whole thing (due to trust issues).

See, Simple.

No retconed stories. No deals with the devil. Peter is once again single with web shooters.
Aunt May remembers and has a new love interest (and its about time). Most of the public thinks Peter wasn't the real Spidey. Peter now has money problems.

and if they simply "HAD" to bring Harry back they should have just bring him back (like father like son) - Harry was in Europe (or better yet Asia - we don't want Harry and Norman to be on the same continent do we?) for all those years trying to put himself together and he now wants to be friends with Peter and get a new chance in life.

[jeffgamer]

That's a stupid idea and hurts the fans who like this new status quo. Why do you get your way?

Two comments:

1. Most of the people reading BND now would have continued if the new status quo maintained the marriage. However, the reverse is not true...many of the readers are leaving because the marriage and its continuity/history have been erased. Putting it back stops the massive bleeding of fans away from Marvel.

2. Here's my proposal to satisfy everyone. PUT IT BACK, as soon as the first three arcs that have already been written have been published. Quesada & Co should highly publicize that the marriage and the continuity will be restored in, say, April. The unmasking can remain...they already laid those maps in Avengers: Initiative #7, so he can have his identity back...but the marriage and the last few decades of Spider-man history evolved as we've all experienced them.
HOWEVER, they start a new series...Spider-Man: Universe S. It continues the tale that will have been started in Brand New Day. Just like the MC-2/Spider-Girl universe grew from a single What If? tale, so too could they have a Universe S grow from BND.
This satisfies the huge number of fans who feel betrayed and who will not return unless the marriage is restored and their collections of comics are all part of the true timeline, and it restores the integrity of the Marvel Universe continuity...something that, until now, had seemed somewhat more sacrosanct. AND, it also provides an offering to those fans who prefer a single Spider-man apart from the Ultimate and Adventures versions.

[hmnut73]

well the easy answer is "don't undo the marriage."

but assuming Joe q really did know millions of readers who hated the marriage (I have not met one, but what ever, assuming he was right, there were still better ways to end the marriage).

Easy: May is hurt, blah blah blah, no doctors can help blah blah blah....and somehow Dr. Doom says he can help, but he wants something in return. He tells Spider-Man he needs him to go back into the past and get some do-da (a la the classic FF story) Spidey goes back in time and gets it. When he comes back he finds things have changed, he never de-masked, Harry is alive, but the bad thing ... He never married MJ. Pissed off Peter goes to Doom demanding that he sends Peter back again, but Doom says the deal is done. For a moment Peter thinks about trying to get back with MJ but he sees that she is happier this way and he loves her too much to take that away from her.

Easier: Superman Prime reality punch effected Marvel too.

[Venom]

It would've been nice to experience Peter as a dad in the main Marvel universe.

[Karl Cook]

It would've been nice to experience Peter as a dad in the main Marvel universe.

Hear, hear, Venom! Just one last rant about OMD; I can't believe that a very intelligent man like Peter Parker/Spider-Man could not realise that the little girl in his visions was his future daughter. She tells Peter that she wants to be famous and pretty like her mommy (which other famous and pretty redhead does Peter know!?) and as smart as her daddy. I guess it turns out daddy's not so smart after all...

[rwsmith]

I voted "Other," as I think they should've just Ultimatized the entire Marvel Universe at the end of House of M. Instead of ending with Wanda casting her "no more mutants" spell, she instead says something like, "Enough, father! I want a chance to do things over. To make a better world. Your hate has ruined this one." And with that, everything reboots.

Why not? That's where Marvel is heading anyway. They're undoing the "no more mutants" thing in Messiah Complex as we speak...Spidey is single now... superhumans have to be registered with the government...they might as well have just gone "whole hog" with the magical retcons and Ultimatized everything at the end of HoM as far as I'm concerned.

Then, when everything picks back up some time has passed:

- Spidey is just out of high school and trying to balance college (at ESU) and his job at the Bugle.

- The older X-men are in their mid-twenties (Cyclops, Beast, Marvel Girl, Storm, Colossus) while the younger ones are about Spidey's age (Iceman, Rogue, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler). Naturally Logan is much older than all of them, but looks about 30.

- The FF are also mid-twenties, but Johnny is around 18 or 19.

- There is both an Ultimates team and an Avengers team. The Ultimates are the government-sanctioned group consisting of Nick Fury, Wolverine, Spider-man, the U.S. Agent (a.k.a., Luke Cage), Falcon, the Vision and Elektra. Meanwhile, Tony changes the name of his team to the Avengers (based on some market research he had done, which told him that it was a more marketable name or something) and his team is Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Wasp, Black Panther and She-Hulk (who gets created when Jennifer Walters decides to sample the Hulk serum herself).

- The Hulk is more of a free agent, roaming around from place to place.

- Everything else gets rebooted as well (Daredevil, the Punisher, etc.), but stays pretty close to the way it was before the Ultimatization (as the Ultimate versions of these characters aren't very different from the original versions).

Just my $.02, but that would've been a lot easier than just making everything more "Ultimate-like" one event at a time. Less profitable for Marvel, though.

[Mister Mets]

It would've been nice to experience Peter as a dad in the main Marvel universe.

The poll includes three options that allow that to happen.

"Maintain the Status quo" has Peter & Mary Jane remain eternally married in their mid to late twenties, and allows for the discovery of Baby May, who will remain at whatever age she is when she is found.

"Growth" allows for Peter and Mary Jane to slowly get older, and for their family to expand.

"Ending the Marvel Universe" gives Marvel the most leeway as keeping the series interesting for decades to come is no longer relevant.

[Mister Mets]

I voted "Other," as I think they should've just Ultimatized the entire Marvel Universe at the end of House of M. Instead of ending with Wanda casting her "no more mutants" spell, she instead says something like, "Enough, father! I want a chance to do things over. To make a better world. Your hate has ruined this one." And with that, everything reboots.

Why not? That's where Marvel is heading anyway. They're undoing the "no more mutants" thing in Messiah Complex as we speak...Spidey is single now... superhumans have to be registered with the government...they might as well have just gone "whole hog" with the magical retcons and Ultimatized everything at the end of HoM as far as I'm concerned.

Then, when everything picks back up some time has passed:

- Spidey is just out of high school and trying to balance college (at ESU) and his job at the Bugle.

- The older X-men are in their mid-twenties (Cyclops, Beast, Marvel Girl, Storm, Colossus) while the younger ones are about Spidey's age (Iceman, Rogue, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler). Naturally Logan is much older than all of them, but looks about 30.

- The FF are also mid-twenties, but Johnny is around 18 or 19.

- There is both an Ultimates team and an Avengers team. The Ultimates are the government-sanctioned group consisting of Nick Fury, Wolverine, Spider-man, the U.S. Agent (a.k.a., Luke Cage), Falcon, the Vision and Elektra. Meanwhile, Tony changes the name of his team to the Avengers (based on some market research he had done, which told him that it was a more marketable name or something) and his team is Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Wasp, Black Panther and She-Hulk (who gets created when Jennifer Walters decides to sample the Hulk serum herself).

- The Hulk is more of a free agent, roaming around from place to place.

- Everything else gets rebooted as well (Daredevil, the Punisher, etc.), but stays pretty close to the way it was before the Ultimatization (as the Ultimate versions of these characters aren't very different from the original versions).

Just my $.02, but that would've been a lot easier than just making everything more "Ultimate-like" one event at a time. Less profitable for Marvel, though.

The Ultimate books have lost some of their luster and I don't think they work as well when you've got 50+ books a month.

Plus, having Ultimate Spider-Man go to college defeats one purpose of the book, which is to show Spider-Man the way Ditko thought it should have been done.